204 WILD LIFE AND THE CAMERA 



with drifting along regardless of whether fish are 

 caught or not. In this way it resembles fishing for 

 brook trout, where the pleasure of wading through 

 the rippling water beneath the arch of tender green 

 leaves is perhaps the chief attraction of the sport. 

 The catching of the fish is really only an incident, 

 even though a much needed one. When after 

 yellow tail your boatman takes you over the best 

 fishing grounds, going at a rate of about three 

 miles an hour. Outside of the chug-chug of the 

 gasoline engine and the occasional screech of the 

 gulls all is dreamily quiet, when suddenly, whirr ! 

 and you grab the rod as the line flies out from the 

 large, strongly-built reel. At the same moment 

 the boatman stops the engine and the fun begins. 

 You cannot stop the mad rush of the fish, especially 

 if it is a big fellow ; the best you can do is to press 

 the leather firmly on the reel, and woe betide you if 

 your thumb slips off and touches the line. Gradually 

 the speed of the fish decreases, perhaps he starts 

 towards you, and hastily you reel in the slack, taking 

 care to release instantly in case he should start off 

 again, and keep your fingers clear of the handle if 

 you value those same fingers. Should the fish 

 burrow into the deep water, as they usually do, you 

 will find ordinary reeling is out of the question, 

 pumping is the only way to raise him, and that is done 

 by quickly dropping the top of the rod and reeling 

 in the few feet of slack almost simultaneously; 

 then hold the reel firmly and slowly raise the top 

 of the rod as high as you can and repeat the trick. 

 In this way you gain about four or five feet each 

 time and gradually the fish is brought near the 



