Trolling in Deep Water 303 



remarkable display. The catch was given to the 

 townspeople. 



The boatman baits the line, and the launch moves 

 on, now inshore, but still in deep water that is an in- 

 tense blue to the very cliff, showing that the island is a 

 mountain out at sea. The ocean is like glass, and so 

 clear that the big leaves of olive-hued kelp can be seen, 

 sixty feet or more below, slowly waving in the current. 



We slack out forty feet of line and are watching the 

 charming panorama of lofty cliffs and silvery gates to 

 deep canons which wind upward into the mountains, 

 when ze-e-e-e-e-e, wh-r-r-r-r-r! goes the line and reel, 

 and something with fierce energy jerks the rod almost 

 clear of the angler's grip. The novice turns pale, per- 

 haps flushes, amazed at the ferocity of it all ; then rallies 

 and gives the butt to one of the gamiest of all the fishes 

 of the sea. Watch the marvellous play, the rush clear 

 away of two hundred feet despite the play of the thumb 

 on the heavy brake. Then it turns, comes swinging 

 around in half a circle ; now at the surface, now plung- 

 ing deep into the blue of the channel to make the rod 

 bend and groan. 



Now he is gaining, reeling for life, the big multiplier 

 (and it must be big to hold all the line this fish will 

 take) eating up feet and yards as he reels and reels. 

 Now it is away, a plunge into the sea, and the angler is 

 forced to " pump " it up, raising the rod on high to 

 drop it with a quick motion, reeling all the while, and 

 gaining four or five feet at every effort, until finally a 



