256 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



breakers, throwing his squid to incredible distances by practice, 

 and dragging the fish by main strength to terra firma when he 

 has struck. 



The best trolling is done from a sail boat with a six knot breeze 

 blowing. If motion is more rapid, fewer fish will be hooked, and 

 a great number will tear out. If the boat moves slowly, the fish 

 will discover that the bait is a deception and will refuse it. It is 

 dirty work, and a suit of worn out clothing should be used for 

 the purpose — an old felt hat, brown flannel shirt, vest, thick cas- 

 simer pants, and a pair of stout brogans. To prevent the hands 

 being lacerated by the friction of the line, rubber finger stalls or 

 thick woolen mittens should be used. The first can be bought of 

 dealers in rubber goods for one dollar per dozen. A well laid 

 cotton line, which is not liable to kink, can be purchased at any 

 twine store for fifty cents per pound. 



For large fish, in spring and fall, use a line seven-sixteenths of 

 an inch in circumference. For small lines choose cotton-braided 

 ones, laid, as they are less apt to tangle than small ones, and are 

 more pleasant to the fingers of the fisherman. If the fish are plenty, 

 and in a biting humor, from forty to sixty feet will be ample ; but 

 if scarce and dainty, from eighty to one hundred and thirty feet 

 will be required. Sometimes bluefish snap at the line between 

 where it comes in contact with the water and the squid, and occa- 

 sionally through the struggles of a fish to escape the lines are 

 fouled, and one of the number is apt to pass into the mouth of the 

 hooked fish. In either case the line is liable to be stranded, and 

 unless knotted, may be parted by the next fish. If an expensive 

 line is used, the fisherman will request the boatman to knot it. 

 If knotted, the ends unravel, and an attractive bait is presented, 

 which hungry fish are apt to seize. If a cheap line sustains an 

 injury, it can be cheaply replaced by a new one. 



It is amusing to inspect the various squids purchased by the 

 uninitiated — spoons and spinners of all kinds, sizes and shapes, 

 many of them ornamented with paint or feathers, metallic fishes 

 of various forms and sizes, some with wide spreading tails to pre- 

 vent the fish from being hooked, and a large proportion cast so as 

 to represent scales. Bluefish will bite at a spoon or spinner, bu 

 to unhook the snappish customers is the rub ; for if fingers come 



