A WORD ON GAFFING. 57 



FISH AND TIDE IRRESISTIBLE. 



snapped the middle joint of my rod in two, when I threw the 

 broken rod down at my feet and took hold of the line ; the 

 fish made but feeble resistance, and I towed him alongside 

 the boat and shouted to Sile for the gaff, but he had thought- 

 lessly placed it in the other boat. I then endeavored to put 

 my hand in his mouth, and, while in the act, the fish turned 

 over, breaking the hook and bleeding profusely as he settled 

 off into the tide, leaving us astonished and almost desperate. 

 On examination, I learned that a flaw in the hook had been 

 the cause of our loss of the fish ; but had we rowed ashore 

 and towed the fish after the rod broke, we should probably 

 have landed him. I have never since been caught trolling or 

 angling for large bass without a gaff and tried hooks ; and as 

 the gaff is an implement of such high importance, I have given 

 the shape and description in another part of this book ; but 

 the one shaped like F among the " implements," and from 3 

 to 4^ inches across the bend from point to shank, made with 

 a screw to fit into the gaff handle, leaves little to be desired. 

 In using it, drop it below the fish, point upward, and as it is 

 raised to the fish, the fish settles against it, and a simple jerk 

 impales it. Do not strike a fish with the gaff; insert the 



