The Leaping Tuna 75 
watched the splendid trick; for trick it was, an 
attempt to take me unawares, running in on the 
line to break it if possible in the outrush. Again 
the fish turned hard by the boat and dashed 
away, this time inshore, towing us a mile or 
more, and within fifty feet of the rocks and their 
beard of kelp where I succeeded in turning it, 
and now gained so rapidly that I had the fish 
within a short distance of the boat. The boat- 
man was fingering his gaff, when, with a mag- 
nificent rush, the tuna tore from the reel three 
hundred feet of line, undoing the strenuous labor 
of nearly two hours. The fish appeared to be 
seized with a frenzy. It rushed around the boat 
at long range, plunged deep into the blue water 
as though searching the bottom for some obstacle 
upon which to rub the line, then rising with a 
strange bounding motion which was imparted to 
the rod, again charged the boat. 
For three hours I fought this superb fish, 
during which it towed the boat from near Avalon 
to Long Point, then several miles in and out, 
repeatedly charging, never giving signs of weaken- 
ing, always bearing away with its full force. At 
the end of three hours I again brought the fish to 
within fifty feet of the boat, when it again broke 
