68 Big Game Fishes 
June, generally soon after the arrival of the 
flying-fishes. For weeks perhaps anglers from 
all over the country have been waiting, vainly 
fishing, when suddenly in the offing a black, 
arrowlike object is seen to rise into the air, 
A splash, a rush of waters, dozens of flying- 
fishes radiating like gigantic dragon-flies in every 
direction, and the tuna season has begun. Every 
boat and angler is in a short time in the midst 
of the fray, and many strikes there are, but few are 
taken. 
As to the time for tuna fishing, there is a 
difference of opinion. Some anglers are on the 
ground at daylight; others follow the schools 
at all times. I have had better luck; that is, more 
strikes, early in the morning on a rising tide, but 
the tuna is fickle game. At times it bites vigor- 
ously, then will cease without rhyme or reason, 
during which exasperating period schools of hun- 
dreds may be passed and crossed, the fish abso- 
lutely ignoring the various devices of the angler. 
The fishing-ground may be said to be from the 
point of Avalon Bay to Long Point, a distance 
of four miles, and from fifty feet to a mile off- 
shore. The tuna is a strategist, and this shore- 
line, with its numerous open bays, the mouths 
