THE BASSE. 169 



great trouble, by twisting up the sneads and entangling the line. 

 Neither was my captures restrained to fish alone, for sometimes 

 I found a gull, a mur, or a cormorant had gotten himself into trou- 

 ble by meddling with what did not belong to him ; but these I 

 always restored to liberty again, though I generally made a levy 

 on the feathers of the tails of all the gulls I caught, in order that 

 I might recognize ray new acquaintance should I chance to meet 

 him again, as indeed I often did flying about the beach, though I 

 never remember catching the same gull twice over. 



Another very good way of catching basse, is by trolling from a 

 boat, either with a small fish bait a sand launce is the best or a 

 kill devil. You must have out a good scope of line, and the boat 

 should proceed at the rate of about two miles and a half or three 

 miles an hour through the water. You must have good stout 

 tackle, and must take heed of the first struggle ; for a basse the 

 moment he is hooked presents at once his broadside to the enemy; 

 plunging and tearing with great fury ; and in this position he is 

 enabled to offer so powerful a resistance, that it requires greater 

 strength than most tackle will bear to turn him by main force. 

 The boat therefore should be instantly stopped and backed carefully 

 towards the fish, and a little line veered away, which should be 

 reeled up as you approach him, when he probably will dart quick- 

 ly off, and then fresh line must be given him, and your boatman 

 must be careful in the management of the boat, pulling a head 

 when the fish approaches it, and above all things you must take 

 especial care to prevent him from running your tackling under it. 

 I lost the strongest basse I ever hooked by that means, after play- 

 ing him for a considerable time, but during the whole of which I 

 was unable to bring him sufficiently near the surface to catch a 

 view of his proportions. When the fish begins to tire, don't be in 

 too great a hurry to get him aboard, and whenever you get him 

 alongside, be prepared for his making a fresh start, in which you 

 must let him have his way, at the same time making him labour 

 hard for every inch of line he takes with him. If you have a 

 gaff you must strike it pretty smartly just behind the pectoral fin 

 on the under side of the fish, and your hook ought to be very 

 sharp in the point, otherwise it may not easily penetrate through 

 his hard scales. A gaff is always preferable in boat fishing 

 to a landing net, but one or the other you ought to have when 

 fishing for large basse, as they are very awkward fish to handle 



