316 MODERN SEA FISHING 



as tunny fishers, who may be seen sailing in quite small vessels 

 with a long bamboo rod projecting on either side. The tackle, 

 which would be perfectly useless on a large steamer, is so 

 arranged that when a tunny takes the bait a little bell rings. 

 The principle has been very cleverly adapted by Captain 

 E. H. Howell, R.N.R., for what I may term 'ocean fishing.' 

 Possibly Captain Howell's description of his gear may not be 

 intelligible to landsmen, but on board ship there should be 

 many among the crew capable of rigging it up from the follow- 

 ing directions, which are somewhat similar to those originally 

 communicated by Captain Howell to the 'Field.' When once 

 the idea is grasped that the pull of the fish lifts the rod or 

 boom the weight of which counterbalances the strain on the 

 line the description is not so difficult to understand, more 

 particularly with the assistance of the very clear illustration. 



First is required, a rod or boom, forty to forty-five feet 

 long, composed of spliced he-bamboo, about two inches in 

 diameter at the outer end and about six inches in diameter in- 

 board. (A thirty-foot pine boom would answer the purpose, 

 except from a large passenger vessel, where the quantity of 

 stuff thrown overboard is so great that without a long rod the 

 hooks would be fouled every few minutes.) The boom is 

 supported by two topping lifts, led through a double-tail block 

 made fast to the rigging twenty feet above the rail (if the forty- 

 foot boom is used). The inner topping lift is made fast to 

 about the middle of the boom, just so far distant from the rail 

 as the rail is distant from the double-tailed block. 1 The outer 

 topping lift is made fast as near the end of the boom as 

 possible, the foreguy being made fast just outside it. Some- 

 times it is necessary to have a double foreguy, corresponding 

 to the topping lifts. The hauling ends of both topping lifts 



1 This is important, as it enables the boom to be hauled out of the way 

 right up and down the standing rigging when in port or in bad weather. 



