FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 



but this is perhaps a matter of taste. The American rod is made of a hard 

 wood, not unlike our greenheart, but distinct, and is seven feet long, the 

 ♦' tip " five and the butt two. The grip of the butt, bound with cane, is 

 admirable, and the large rings allow the line to run with a minimum of 

 friction. There are rings along both edges, so that the position of the rod 

 can be reversed, so as to equalize the strain on different days. A great 

 improvement in the shape of removable rings, or " guides," devised by Mr 

 Mitchell-Henry, is described under Tuna Fishing. 



The reel is a more important and also more highly specialized article, 

 as well it may be in view of its cost. Like all first-class American reels, 

 it gets much into little space, for, though no more than four inches in 

 diameter, it easily takes 200 yards of stout line. The brakes, drags and 

 multiplying gear can only be described as stupendous. No lesser word is 

 applicable to such machinery. The old form of reel included a pad of raw 

 hide which can be pressed against the line so as to retard the revolutions 

 of the reel, and this is, I think, the fly in the ointment, since it not only frays 

 the line, but is liable to be torn or burnt through. If this accident were to 

 happen with a tarpon in its first flight, the fisherman's thumb, which 

 presses the pad against the line on the barrel, would certainly be cut to 

 the bone and might conceivably be so injured as to necessitate amputation. 



This is, perhaps, stating an extreme case, but I always used that leather 

 drag in fear and trembling and should have been glad to see it done away 

 with altogether. Yet Americans are much attached to this form of brake, 

 and even with the lighter reels used at Gatalina it is usual to wear a thumb - 

 stall, which is pressed against the line in the same fashion, whereas it 

 might quite as effectually be applied to the rim of a reel so constructed as 

 to respond to such a check on its movements. 



The line ordinarily used for catching tarpon is, even with the heavier 

 tackle, little stronger than that used for salmon at home. It is of un- 

 dressed twist, as Americans do not, even in freshwater fishing, favour 

 waterproofed lines. A good line is vety good, but buying lines is always 

 something of a lottery, and those sold for tarpon fishing vary even more 

 than most. On two of mine I killed over a thousand pounds' weight of 

 tarpon in nine outings, but the third broke twice on its second day out, 

 and with comparatively small fish, and this after having been in use 

 for a few hours only, during which it only accounted for three of the 

 smallest tarpon of all my catch. While, therefore, a good line is well 

 worth the price of a penny a yard charged for it, a bad one comes 

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