Big Game at Sea 



the salmon, surely the fish of mystery which is here in 

 vast bands feeding on schools of anchovy to later 

 go up the rivers to spawn and die. 



Once clear of the kelp bed and shallow water that 

 is tinged red in patches with the clouds of Peridinium, 

 the most remarkable of all the small phosphorescent 

 animals, my boatman prepared his tackle, and I mine. 

 He had a heavy cord line, with loops every twenty 

 or thirty feet and sinkers of lead ranging from a few 

 ounces to several pounds. The heavy sinker was 

 attached twenty feet from the hook, which was clev- 

 erly baited with a large three-inch anchovy. I 

 noticed that he inserted the hook through the eyes, 

 hauled it through, then passed the point through the 

 mouth and down through the body coming out near 

 the tail; the line formed a loop around the jaws of 

 the bait, preventing them from opening, thus stop- 

 ping the whirling of the bait. A two-pound sinker 

 was attached twenty feet from the bait, and the 

 seemingly incongruous mechanism lowered to lure 

 the game fish of the world, if authorities are to be 

 considered. 



At intervals on his line he had marks at two, five 

 or ten fathoms, and the secret of the fishing was to 

 find how deep the fish were lying, and then go for 

 them. " Doc " tried a depth of fifty feet at first and 

 was encouraged when passing a boat whose owner 

 pointed downward, which meant u deep fish." This 

 was too suggestive of cod fishing for me, and I used 



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