SEA FISHING 

 deep close to land, no tuna reel has hitherto been devised to hold more 

 than 1,200 feet of line sufficiently stout for the work. Hooking an immense 

 fish on a line that will not even reach vertically to the bottom must always 

 be precarious work, and when that fish is a tuna disaster may be looked 

 for at any moment. It is the comparatively shallow water that makes 

 sport enjoyable at Gatalina and Cape Breton. The heavy ground-swell 

 round Madeira, on even the calmest days, is another difficulty, as it throws 

 a sudden strain on the tackle very liable to break it. In short, the casual 

 visitor is likely to find the conditions far harder than a resident like 

 Mr Gossart, and it is improbable that Funchal will ever become a recog- 

 nized headquarters of the tuna fisherman. Some other kinds of sea fishing 

 to be had round Madeira and the neighbouring islands are described 

 elsewhere in these pages. 



Constantinople seemed to me at one time to hold out greater promise, 

 but the experiences of a summer spent in observation of the fish and 

 fisheries did little to confirm that view. So far as the Bosphorus goes, 

 the difficulty consists in neither rough water nor ground-swell, but in 

 extreme depth and swift currents. It is, here and there, possible to fish 

 in comparatively still eddies between the currents, and I found one such 

 spot opposite Candilli, on the Asiatic shore, though no success attended 

 my efforts. More favourable conditions might perhaps be looked for 

 in the Sea of Marmora, not far from the Princes' Islands, which are a 

 popular summer resort. I once saw several enormous tunny caught in 

 a '' talian " close to Kartal, on the mainland, but this is all open water, 

 and it might be difficult to come across the fish, which are said only to 

 pass up and down on migration. 



Eliminating these potential tuna grounds, in or near Europe, there 

 remain the two rival centres of the sport, Catalina Island, on the coast 

 of California, and St Ann Bay, Gape Breton Island. No two spots could 

 be much less alike, particularly in the matter of climate, and, after 

 some experience of both, I do not hesitate to award the palm to the 

 more southern ground. California, in the month of May or June, is more 

 suggestive of Paradise than any other State in America, whereas, even at 

 the height of summer. Cape Breton Island lies beneath grey skies and 

 is often wreathed in the clammy fogs that blow off the not far distant 

 Newfoundland Banks. 



Until Mr Ross scored his first success against Canadian tuna, in the 

 summer of 1911, a victory preceded by several seasons of defeat, that 

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