OCEAN FISH AND OCEAN FISHING 95 



As soon as you can, tow your lines overboard 

 to get the kinks out, for a sea-fisherman's line 

 should be like a piece of wire. Some big winders 

 will prove handy. 



I mentioned swivels for the spoon-baits. If 

 these are absent the line unravels and gets into 

 a frightful mess when hauled up. The captain 

 and I spent nearly a week, to the amusement of 

 the passengers, in clearing a long, tangled line, 

 of which we were joint owners. We were un- 

 mercifully chaffed because, although we were 

 constantly fishing, we caught nothing until the 

 end of the voyage, when, approaching the coast 

 of Australia, we captured barracouta, of which 

 more anon. 



Fishing-tackle, together with harpoons and 

 grains and a double-barrelled gun, with cartridges, 

 should be kept ready in all the large boats at sea, 

 besides biscuit and water, which should be periodi- 

 cally overhauled. 



A stout frying-pan, with a few tins of suet and 

 dripping or a bottle of salad-oil, for cooking the 

 catch, is always useful ; while, if in the bows of the 

 boat there is a piece of sheet-iron, a fire can be 

 safely made, which can be used for cooking during 

 the day and, in case of possible shipwreck, act as 

 a signal of distress at night. 



