The Silver King 



lot of slack line is pulled from the reel and 

 coiled in the boat, in order that the fish may 

 carry off the bait without hindrance, and 

 so be induced to swallow it, when he is 

 hooked in the gullet. Then the trouble 

 begins. Feeling the prick of the hook he 

 vaults into the air several feet, and contin- 

 ues to do so until exhausted, when he is 

 reeled in to the gaff or taken ashore into 

 shallow water, the latter plan being the 

 best. 



Huge fishes like the tarpon, jewfish or Pumping Them 

 tuna are sooner brought to gaff by " pump- 

 ing," as it is called. It is effected in this 

 way: The rod is raised upward and back- 

 ward and then quickly lowered to a hori- 

 zontal position, when advantage is taken 

 of any decreased tension or slack line by 

 reeling it in as rapidly as possible. This 

 operation is repeated whenever practicable, 

 and as often as possible. 



The plan of having a quantity of slack Tarpon Reel 



line in the boat, as mentioned, is really not 



necessary with a reel of the best quality, and 



is open to several obvious objections. A 



127 



