20 SEA FISH OF TRINIDAD 
but I should strongly advise the angler in place of the gimp 
and steel wire arrangements he will probably bring out, to 
fix his hook on to at least five fathoms of 22 brass wire (fish- 
ing king-fish he will require 8), and this he can tie on to his 
reel-line whether silk or linen, both of which I have found 
very good in these waters if carefully washed and dried after 
using. (Both gimp and steel wires are absolute failures.) 
The numbers of brass wire generally used range from No. 18, 
the thickest and strongest, to No. 27, the finest. I find that 
No. 24 is the most preferable to use for general trolling, as it 
is not too coarse to frighten the excessively wary mackerel, 
and is at the same time strong enough if dexterously handled 
to capture a 25-Ib. cavalli or barracouta. 
Another mode of fishing much in vogue at the Bocas is 
the “ligne dormante.’’ A large No. 1 hook is gauged on to a 
piece of stout No. 18 brass wire, about 2 ft. long. A goodly 
piece of mackerel or other tempting bait is put on the hook, 
the tackles then attached to the end of sixty or seventy 
fathoms of stout line, the fisherman gets on a convenient 
rock (a favourite site being the lee side of a point where big 
fish do congregate on the rising tide), and the hook and bait 
is taken out in the boat, until the major portion of the line is 
paid out, leaving from fifteen to twenty fathoms for man 
and fish to play with. The fish caught in this manner are 
usually grouper, pargue and sorb (two species of red snapper) 
and run from 12 lbs. to 80 lbs. and over roo Ibs. in 
weight. The two last-named fish are game and give great 
sport, care and skill being required if the line jams in one of 
the numerous reefs. Of course the same mode of fishing can 
be pursued with rod and reel, in fact, I have caught several 
sorb with the rod, the largest being 17 lbs. weight. 
With the hand line, my best records have been, a red grouper 
weighing 120 Ibs., and a “pargue-dent-chien’”’ of 108 Ibs., 
both caught off Pointe Baleine, Gasparillo. 
A favourite mode of “pot’’ fishing, which can be prose- 
cuted at all seasons and all tides, with more or less success, 
is with the “ligne voyante’’ or “ligne volante,’’ and must be 
carried on in the boat near the rocks. For this you require 
from ten to twenty fathoms of fine, but strong line, and on to 
