290 Big Game Fishes 



seemed to cover the ocean as far as the eye could 

 reach. In the Gulf they were common, a few 

 individuals being seen at all times in deep water 

 around Garden Key in the Tortugas group. Here 

 they frequently made splendid displays, beating 

 the water much like the jack, only in deep water, 

 never running in upon the beach. The sound of 

 their feeding was like the roar of a heavy tide-rip, 

 caused by the fishes dashing hither and yon into 

 the air and back. At such a time I have run 

 through a school with a sail-boat, the sport being 

 comparable to bluefishing, a white rag being 

 used. But the most satisfactory sport was to cast 

 into the school from the outer edge. The fish 

 played like the bonito, making no effort to sound, 

 dashing around a fish of ten or fifteen pounds, 

 towing a dinghy about as though on a pivot. If 

 the Spanish mackerel could always be found, it 

 would soon take its place as a fine game fish and 

 be eagerly sought by the angler; but its move- 

 ments are erratic, and often, when located, it will 

 not bite. Such, however, is the masterly play of 

 the fish that the angler who takes it once will 

 return invariably to the often elusive search. 



I found the Spanish mackerel fishing excellent 

 at Aransas Pass, and every morning in August 



