Popular SaIt=Watcr Game Fish 



The line is kept taut, reeled in when chance is 

 given; if it is impossible to reel, a series of short 

 "j)umps" is tried. This ingenious device is used 

 with effect in all game fishing. 



"Pumping" is done by raising the rod slowly; 



then it is suddenly dropped, and the slack line 



. rapidly reeled; this method repeated, 



gradually gains the day, and the fish is 



brought up. The yellow tail makes many rushes, 



and "pumping" comes into play each time; it is 



. gamy to the last, up to the time the 



gaff enters its throat, and even after it 



is lifted into the boat. At times the fish is a coy 



biter; then "chumming" is the order of fishing; 



but when it is once persuaded sport is assured. 



Being one of the commonest fishes of the Pacific 

 Coast the yellow tail is rarely eaten ; those weigh- 

 ing from fifteen to twenty pounds, if properly 

 cooked, are excellent eating, though the larger 

 ones are somewhat tough. There is another 

 genus called the amber jack, common 

 Jack^*^ on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and plenti- 

 ful in the vicinity of Palm Beach; it is 

 caught weighing from forty up to one hundred 

 pounds, and is also a vigorous fighter; but 

 the medium-sized fish are the hardest fighters; 

 this may be said of all game fishes in fresh 

 as well as salt water, naturally the heavy fish 

 not having the activity and snap of the younger 

 specimens. 



