360 Big Game Fishes 



relieving my companion in this way that I 

 hooked something which bade fair to lift me out 

 of the dory, then when I renewed my hold, the 

 unknown jerked my arms into the water, whirling 

 the dory about in the most spirited manner, so 

 convincing me that I had hooked a ground shark 

 that I was inclined to pass the line to the pro- 

 fessional. But suddenly the fish began to rise 

 and came to the surface nearly one hundred and 

 fifty feet away, tossing the water into foam, 

 following it by a dash around the boat that would 

 have made the reputation of many a game fish. 



" A halibut, I'll swan ! " exclaimed my com- 

 panion, " and a sockdolliger." 



Now every real angler knows what a "sock- 

 dolliger" is, and it is hardly necessary to refer 

 to it ; but for the benefit of the layman, the un- 

 fortunate who has never fished, I may say that 

 the term applies to those remarkable fishes of 

 gigantic, even heroic size which constitute the 

 main subject of conversation among anglers in 

 the out season. It is the fish that always escapes, 

 the record-breaker ; every angler has hooked it a 

 score of times, but has never landed it, and if the 

 truth were told, never expects to. 



It will be seen that I was in a most fortunate 



