Big Game at Sea 



water. This is known as " pumping," from the 

 up-and-down motion of the rod, and is difficult to 

 accomplish at first, as the fish is liable to rush at 

 any moment, and the novice fails to shift from brake 

 to reel handle, or vice versa, quickly enough ; but after 

 some practice the motion is readily acquired, and the 

 fish brought in with astonishing celerity; in fact, to 

 hold the rod stiff and attempt to reel in a fish out of 

 hand by merely turning the crank as one would 

 a trout or bass, as the uninitiated angler invariably 

 does is almost a physical impossibility, especially in 

 the case of a large fish ; and I have seen a fisherman, 

 ignorant of the art of pumping, work for an hour, 

 perhaps, over a twenty-pound yellowtail. The man 

 held the rod stiff and turned the reel, when the fish 

 made a rush, the flying handle playing havoc with 

 his fingers. By pumping, a large fish can be brought 

 in with rapidity and ease ; but sooner or later the fish 

 leaps again, when the hand must be on the brake 

 ready for the rush, which may be repeated time and 

 again with infinite variations. The tarpon, or any 

 large fish, should be kept as near the boat as possible, 

 and much depends upon the boatman. At the first 

 cry of the reel the tell-tale, which keeps the boat- 

 man posted he stops rowing, and when the fish is 

 hooked, backs water, thus enabling the angler to gain 

 on the fish, and, all through the vicissitudes of the 

 fisherman and the various phases of the contest, it 

 is his duty to keep the fish on the starboard quarter, 



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