On the Trail of the Sailfish 223 



est point of contact to the shores of Florida, from which 

 famous resort one may embark in surf or power boats for 

 the fishing grounds. There is a fairly good chance of find- 

 ing them on warm, sunny days, swimming with their great 

 dorsal fins projecting slightly out of the water, and imme- 

 diately a school is discovered, all power must be used to 

 forge ahead of these fast-swimming denizens of the deep 

 and cross their path a hundred yards in advance, then stop 

 and allow the boat to drift slowly along, when the rod 

 should be cast with a lively fresh bait. While they often 

 strike at cut bait or a spoon in trolling, they are seldom well 

 hooked, owing to the peculiar character of their jaws. As 

 a rule they bite very quietly, and must be given thirty to 

 forty feet of line before striking, as their mouths are small, 

 hard and bony, not unlike the tarpon in their internal struc- 

 ture, and can rarely be captured unless the bait is well 

 swallowed. When once hooked they become frantic and 

 create a terrific commotion, first endeavoring to peel the 

 most powerful reels in their mad rushes, then making fre- 

 quent perpendicular leaps in rapid succession, clearing the 

 waves by many feet, trying desperately to shake out the 

 hook, and finally varying these sporty tactics by making 

 long side dashes just under the water, somewhat like a king- 

 fish, only these movements are occasionally interrupted by 

 low, rapid flights just above the water, when their immense 

 sail seems to play its part in aerial navigation. The sail 

 just referred to is a remarkable development of the dorsal 

 fin in which the ribs are connected by a sort of silken mem- 

 brane, thus giving in large specimens of seven to eight feet 

 in length an equal number of square feet of sail area and 

 this in turn is balanced by a long, narrow pectoral fin which 

 apparently plays the part of a center-board. Their power- 

 ful spears have been known to create consternation among 

 the occupants of a fishing boat, as records exist of these fish 

 having jumped into small boats and even charged them 

 under the water line. It generally takes half to three- 



