290 Big Game Fishes 
seemed to cover the ocean as far as the eye could 
reach. In the Gulf they were common, a few 
individuals being seen at all times in deep water 
around Garden Key in the Tortugas group. Here 
they frequently made splendid displays, beating 
the water much like the jack, only in deep water, 
never running in upon the beach. The sound of 
their feeding was like the roar of a heavy tide-rip, 
caused by the fishes dashing hither and yon into 
the air and back. At such a time I have run 
through a school with a sail-boat, the sport being 
comparable to bluefishing, a white rag being 
used. But the most satisfactory sport was to cast 
into the school from the outer edge. The fish 
played like the bonito, making no effort to sound, 
dashing around a fish of ten or fifteen pounds, 
towing a dinghy about as though on a pivot. If 
the Spanish mackerel could always be found, it 
would soon take its place as a fine game fish and 
be eagerly sought by the angler; but its move- 
ments are erratic, and often, when located, it will 
not bite. Such, however, is the masterly play of 
the fish that the angler who takes it once will 
return invariably to the often elusive search. 
I found the Spanish mackerel fishing excellent 
at Aransas Pass, and every morning in August 
