10 TROPICAL TROLLING. 



course, the dealer may be also deceived, so a time limit might be 

 allowed before dealers are denounced by name. 



I have dealt with Messrs. Abercrombie & Fitch for many years, 

 and have found them most courteous and accommodating, and never 

 until this winter have I got bad material from them. I wrote them 

 fully, stating my experience. They expressed great regret and 

 volunteered to take back all goods purchased from them, which proved 

 unsatisfactory, and refund the full price, but this does not cover the 

 case. If I buy a line for three dollars, and hook and lose a record 

 fish through its failure, a refund of three dollars or a payment of 

 three hundred dollars, or any money sum whatever, would not satisfy 

 me. What fishermen want, especially those who are exercising their 

 craft in distant regions, where no supplies can be had and communi- 

 cations are slow and uncertain, is tackle that can be depended upon 

 and not a claim for damages. 



I also wrote to the Simmons Hardware Company, of St. Louis, 

 reporting the unsatisfactory results obtained with the goods bearing 

 their name, but have not yet received even the courtesy of a reply. 



I had other experience with unsatisfactory tackle and other trials 

 on this trip, which really made it memorable for misfortune, and these 

 I shall describe in a future article, but the present one is devoted to 

 the subject of lines only. 



The following seem to me established as conclusions : 



1. The lines now made and sold for tropical trolling are enorm- 

 ously inferior to those obtained five years ago. 



2. All linen lines should be sold "set" and ready to put on the 

 reel, and fishermen should refuse to buy any others. 



3. All linen lines, for salt water trolling in the tropics, should 

 be dark colored, never white or natural color. 



4. The cable laid linen line is, and must always be, unsuitable 

 for trolling, on account of its tendency to untwist and kink. 



A braided linen line, if of the best quality and made with the great- 

 est care, might give much better service. Whether a braided line can be 

 made of the same strength as a cable laid line, without much, if any, 

 increase of size. I have no means of knowing and should like to be 

 informed. If so I am ready and anxious to buy a lot of them. 



Next year I shall again avoid the northern winter by going back 

 to the tropics, and to where good fishing can be found, and do not 



