66 Big Game Fishes 



weather-worn appearance lie a tenacity, spring, 

 and strength worthy a rest for the remainder 

 of its life, as there is " life " to a rod which 

 departs in the course of time. With this rod 

 I played a fish four hours; later, it landed a 

 three-hundred-and-fifty-pound bass in the hands 

 of a friend, and then was invalided. Another 

 slender split bamboo trout rod, on the retired 

 list, brought in after an hour's struggle a thirty- 

 five-pound amber-fish ; and so on, one might 

 go through the list of old rods which have a 

 personality to the angler who really enjoys the 

 sport in all its details. 



It has been my fancy to experiment with com- 

 paratively light rods, and when fishing to use as 

 nearly as possible a rod adapted to the fish ; 

 that is, so light that in the balance of chance 

 the game has a decided advantage. In fishing 

 for tuna, tarpon, and the black sea-bass, the trio 

 which are the tiger and elephant hunting of the 

 angling world, the temptation is strong to use 

 robust and short rods ; yet I took a one hundred 

 and eighty-three-pound tuna with a three-jointed 

 rod; have caught large yellowtails and sea-bass 

 on a black bass rod ; and a ninety-pound tuna, 

 that threw us into the sea a mile from shore, 



