FISHING TACKLE AND COMMENTS 



to the tenets of the sport form an unpopular minority. We 

 have a new crowd who are record happy and constantly fish- 

 ing only 3 -thread and 6-thread to try to make the record 

 charts. 



Harpoonifig Swordfish 



It has always been a major mystery to me how owners of 

 yachts, motorboats and other fishing craft in the Atlantic can 

 harpoon the defenseless denizens of the deep such as tunles, 

 sunfish and giant ray. Why molest these harmless and fasci- 

 nating creatures that people the vast ocean and are part of its 

 unfathomable mystery? What skill is there in hurling a har- 

 poon into such targets from the bow of a boat that is barely 

 under way? 



Off Palm Beach many turtles may be seen mating and on 

 occasion I have witnessed boat owners or some members of 

 their crews drive a harpoon clean through the male turtle 

 and into the female. And I have seen porpoises harpooned. 

 Why should anyone want to harm these playful, warm- 

 blooded children of the sea? With the exception of some of 

 the turtles the carcasses are simply left to rot on the docks 

 when the killers have brought them ashore. 



I also feel strongly about the harpooning of swordfish on 

 the Atlantic coast. Some of the gentlemen engaged in this 

 pursuit haven't even a rod and reel aboard their elaborate and 

 costly craft. I know of wealthy men who harpoon fish and 

 bring it ashore to market. Still others harpoon fish only for 

 the so-called "sport" of it, and I know others who will har- 

 poon a swordfish after it has refused to strike a bait when 

 it has been presented only once or twice. What thrill they 



^55 



