20 Big Game Fishes 



awoke to the fact that one had fisherman's luck ; 

 then followed a brief pause ; to swallow a fly- 

 ing-fish one foot in length, is not accomplished 

 at once ; and I could see the monster poising, 

 swallowing with convulsive gulp ; then feeling 

 the wire leader, it shot ahead, and for an instant 

 I gave the butt to one of the finest white sea- 

 bass that ever swam, which when hooked, un- 

 reeled the line to a new music of the reel. There 

 was no stopping this splendid rush, and with 

 thumb trembling on the pad, the tip bending to 

 the danger point, the boatman backing with one 

 oar, pulling with all his power on the other, to 

 whirl the boat around, my companion breathing 

 advice and caution in low tones, the reel swear- 

 ing, praying, protesting, ah ! it was an exciting 

 moment, one of those critical points in the life of 

 an angler that comes but once and is gone. " If 

 I can but hold him ! " Walton whispered on a 

 similar occasion. If ! what a world of chance 

 and possibility is tied up in that small word ! If 

 the line had only been newer ; if the leader had 

 not been rusty ; if that knot had been cut out, or 

 if you only had taken a gaffer who did not lose 

 his head, each and any of these " ifs " might 

 have reversed this day of happy memory. 



