CHAPTER VIII 



A REMARKABLE CATCH 



{The Black Sea Bass) 



THAT the work of the clubs of the Channel 

 Islands in elevating the standard of angling 

 is being appreciated all over the country, 

 is shown by the adoption of its methods and the use 

 of light tackle. To-day all the large fishes, except 

 the leaping tuna, are taken with a nine-thread line and 

 a nine-ounce rod, and many of them with a six-ounce 

 rod. The photographs which accompany this chapter 

 were taken at my request to illustrate the catch by 

 Mr. Alfred L. Beebe, of Portland, of a large bass with 

 the nine-ounce rod and nine-thread line, which had 

 been tested to a dead weight of but eighteen pounds. 

 The photographs tell the entire story of an extraordi- 

 nary catch, from the time Mr. Beebe stepped aboard 

 his launch, and Tad Gray, his clever boatman, pushed 

 off, until he stood by the Tuna Club scales at night 

 and saw the game weighed. 



The launches described are peculiar to the islands. 

 The angler has every comfort. He can go out in a 

 white flannel suit, if he is so disposed, and need not 

 bedeck himself in attire that will alarm the denizens 

 of the deep by its weird design or antiquity. In a word, 

 the angler sits comfortably, facing the stern; the boat- 

 man, gaffer, engineer, and guide, who is just behind 



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