Big Game at Sea 



Many of the Tuna Club members believe the great 

 bass is a superior fish to the tuna. I do not agree in 

 this, but I have not taken over ten or twelve bass of 

 large size and have never been successful with a rod. 

 That the fish is a mighty creature, that it requires a 

 strong man to kill it, goes without saying, but it is, in 

 my estimation, too ponderous to make a game fish 

 of the first class, though I have had some splendid 

 bouts, hand-to-hand, with it, and my failures with 

 the rod have with one exception been due to the too 

 light tips. 



In this one exception I hooked the fish with a heavy 

 rod, and frankly confess that I could not stop it. It 

 was necessary to turn the colossus before it reached 

 an outer kelp bed, but I could not turn it, neither 

 could I pump up that mighty irresistible embodiment 

 of force that moved on and on. I pumped, lifted 

 and reeled until I had warning that I had met more 

 than my match, and I surrendered. If I could have 

 taken my time and had open water I think I could 

 have landed the fish, but I failed to make a rapid 

 finish, and as my companion was good naturedly 

 jeering me and asking me why I didn't " go in and 

 win," I handed him the rod, expressing the opinion 

 that he could not do it. 



This was one of those lucky " bluffs " which some- 

 times, though rarely, work. I really believed that my 

 lusty companion with fresh wind could land my fish 

 in a few seconds, and he took the rod with an air of 



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