A BOOK OF FISHING STORIES 



head fisherman and bait catcher. The doyen of this body 

 of men is " Mexican Joe," whose real name is Jose FeUce 

 Presiado. How Mexican Joe obtained this name, which has 

 clung to him and is known to hundreds of anglers in England 

 and America, is explained by Joe himself : 



" I got it this way. A Boston man came out some years 

 ago and hired me. ' What's your name ? ' he asked. * Jos^ 

 Felice Presiado,' says I. ' That's too long for me, and I can't 

 pronounce it an3rway. I'm going to call you " Mexican Joe." ' 

 * All right,' says I, * an' I've been " Mexican Joe " ever since.* " 



Joe is one of the strongest men on the Island, and in the 

 summer games, in the aquatic tug of war, the side that secures 

 Joe usually wins. Joe has a strong, dark face of the Aztec 

 type. When I landed one day in 1886 at Avalon, he was the 

 sole boatman. I had a ten-ounce rod with me, which I had 

 frequently used for black bass on the St. Lawrence, and for 

 pollack and blue-fish in the Atlantic. It was about eight feet 

 in length, in three pieces, of greenheart ; a fine rod, as rods 

 went thirty years ago. As I stepped ashore on the perfect 

 half-moon beach of Avalon Bay, I heard a shout, and saw 

 three men fishing from the sands with heavy cod hand-lines. 

 One had hooked a fish and ran shouting up the beach with 

 the line, but the fish broke the cable. Then another man was 

 nearly jerked from his feet, and, amid much excitement, suc- 

 ceeded in landing a beautiful salmon-like fish which tipped 

 the scales at nearly 35 pounds. 



At that time, the permanent native population consisted of 

 but a few men, of whom Billy Bruen and Mexican Joe were 



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