Big Game at Sea 



even two hundred pounds with a tuna rod and out- 

 fit, which may be briefly described as a sixteen- or 

 eighteen-ounce, seven-foot rod, and six hundred feet 

 of 2i-thread line. 



Larger sharks, up to one thousand or more pounds 

 and from ten to fifteen feet in length, should be 

 taken with the handline from a light boat; and, 

 assuming that the fisherman delights in lusty sport 

 with more than a spice of danger in it, it can be 

 commended. 



Most of my shark-fishing has been done on the 

 extreme outer Florida reef, the home of various kinds 

 of sharks, ranging from so-called man-eaters, thirteen 

 or fourteen feet in length, to ugly shovel-nosed sharks 

 ten or twelve feet long; yet the legends of the reef 

 did not record a single instance of*a tragedy from 

 these fish. I was once witness to the sinking of a 

 boat off a certain favorite fishing point where I had 

 often, by pouring over beef blood and other " chum," 

 conjured up a seething maelstrom of these hounds of 

 the sea ; yet the three men forming the crew, whom it 

 was impossible to save, and who drowned, were not 

 touched by the sharks which infested the place. 



Of course, every sportsman who came down the 

 reef to this jumping-off place in the direction of 

 Yucatan was entertained with weird stories of con- 

 flicts with sharks and taken out shark-fishing. The 

 usual outfit for the sport was a light boat, the 

 greener the hand the lighter the craft; and it was 



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