The Madness of Fishes 



powerful fishes seized it, took it on the run and darted 

 off, snapping it at the first strain. 



I soon found that no bait was refused; a bit of 

 cloth served as a lure and was eagerly taken by the 

 wild and excited jacks. They invariably took the 

 hooks with a rush, and never stopped, going on with 

 a force which was almost irresistible, and affording 

 great sport from the standpoint of handline fishing. 

 They were cunning, despite their wild excitement, 

 and once hooked, tried all the tricks that a gamy 

 fish is master of to break the line; now coming in 

 with inconceivable velocity, so that slack could not 

 be taken in; then, turning to dash away, making the 

 line hiss and fairly scream, hoping thus to attain 

 force enough to take it unawares and snap the strands. 

 Finding this of no avail, they would swim in a circle, 

 dive beneath the boat, or plunge madly into the 

 demoralized throng. There was no surrender to the 

 jack, it came in fighting to the last, leaping, plunging, 

 and often escaping after it had been landed in the 

 dinghy. 



The sport became fast and furious, the whirling 

 lines hardly struck the water before they were hissing 

 through it, and splashes and victorious shouts from 

 excited anglers, added to the sullen and peculiar roar 

 of the beat itself, which could easily be heard a quarter 

 of a mile. The jacks had formed a cordon about the 

 school and hundreds were in the air at a time, pre- 

 senting a rare and animated spectacle. Every 



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