SEA FISHING IN THE BOCAS ISLANDS 21 
this you fix about eighteen inches of No. 22 brass wire, with 
a hook No. 6 or No. 7 gauged on toit. Where the line joins 
the wire a small piece of lead, from 1 oz. to 2 oz. is bent on, 
and the fisherman after wetting and coiling five or six fathoms 
carefully, casts it as far as he can. Of course the bait sinks 
slowly to the bottom, but if fish are about is generally seized 
or bitten at before it touches. The fish you catch in this 
manner are small, red-mouthed grunts, walliacke, pargue, 
grouper, etc., but if you know how to “ménager”’ as the 
creoles term it, you can land a fish of 20 Ibs. or so. Person- 
ally I prefer this mode of fishing to banking, as it is much 
quicker in operation, and you are infinitely less troubled by 
strong currents. Of course for deep sea banking at depths 
of thirty to fifty fathoms, you must use the heavy lead sinker 
and hooks, fixed, if you prefer it, on a ‘pater noster.’’ 
The marks of the banks are well known to the boat- 
men of the different islands, but the best bottom fish, 
the snappers, are very migratory, and getting good sport is 
rather a lottery. 
BAIT 
Far and away the best bait, especially for trolling, are 
what are commonly called “sardines”? of which there are 
several varieties. Their local names in order of merit as 
fish killers, are:—1. Sardines rouges. 2. Anchois. 3. Sar- 
dines Dorées. 4. Cha-Cha. 5. Small Coulihou. 6. Sar- 
dines cailleux. Of these the first two mentioned are irresis- 
tible, and with either on your trolling line you must feel the 
surface fish if there are any about. The “sardines rouges’’ 
and “anchois’’ generally enter the gulf in large shoals or 
schools, about the month of June, beat about the bays and 
rocks of the Bocas islands in the morning, going out to deep 
water later, and returning in the afternoon. They are 
generally caught in small seines in any of the bays that 
possess a convenient beach (free from large rocks), on which 
the net can be hauled, and the best times for hauling are the 
early morning and evening, preferably about half tide. The 
approach of these shoals can always be detected from afar by 
the quantities of sea-birds that accompany them, hovering 
