The Royal Catch 263 



white sea-bass, ranging from fifty pounds to four hun- 

 dred are taken with light lines and rods, the deadly 

 handline being almost unknown. Good tackle, in fact 

 the very best made by old and reliable makers, is essen- 

 tial, since a poor line or rod will often lose the day after 

 a struggle of hours. The reel is known as a tuna reel, of 

 rubber and German silver. It is large enough to hold 

 six hundred feet of wet line. Such a reel costs from 

 $15 to $75. It has a patent anti-overrunning arrange- 

 ment, a brake or click, and to the cross-bar is attached a 

 rubber or leather pad that can be pressed upon the line. 

 This is the brake par excellence. The line is a 21 or 24 

 cuttyhunk. There are a number of makes ; the 2 1 is 

 large enough, and it is in this connection that the re- 

 markable feature of this angling is seen. The number 

 2 1 is not much larger than the cord used for eyeglasses, 

 yet a four-hundred-pound fish has been killed with it. 

 The line costs from $3.50 to $4, and there must be no 

 question about it ; it must be true every inch of its 

 length. The hook is a matter of fancy. I prefer the 

 old-fashioned O'Shaughnessy, number 10/0, to my mind 

 a perfect all-round hook, but the Van Vleck is one in 

 good favour on the tarpon and tuna grounds. The 

 leader is of piano or phosphor-bronze wire in two or 

 three links, each connected by a brass swivel in all, 

 six or seven feet long. The line above this for ten feet 

 should be doubled or quadrupled, for the gaffer to grasp, 

 if necessary, after the gaffing, and for security against 

 chafino; when the tuna is boring down into the channel. 



