TALES OF FISHES 



exciting to be among them this way. Presently I 

 had one take hold to run off slowly and steadily, 

 and I let him go for fifty feet, and when I struck 

 I tore the hook away from him. Quickly I let slack 

 line run back to him ten or fifteen feet at a time, 

 until I felt him take it once more. He took it rather 

 suspiciously, I felt, and I honestly believe that I 

 could tell that he was mouthing or chewing the bait, 

 which made me careful to let the line run off easily 

 to him. Suddenly he rushed off, making the reel 

 smoke. I let him run one hundred and fifty feet 

 and then stood up, throwing on the drag, and when 

 the line straightened tight I tried to jerk at him as 

 hard as the tackle would stand. As a matter of 

 fact, however, he was going so fast and hard that 

 he hooked himself. It is indeed seldom that I miss 

 one when he runs like this. This fellow came up 

 two hundred yards from the boat and slid along 

 the water with half of his body raised, much like 

 one of those coasting-boards I have seen bathers 

 use, towed behind a motor-launch. He went down 

 and came up in a magnificent sheer leap, with his 

 broad sail shining in the sun. Very angry he was, 

 and he reminded me of a Marlin swordfish. Next 

 he went down, and came up again bent in a curve, 

 with the big sail stretched again. He skittered over 

 the water, going down and coming up, until he had 

 leaped seven times. This was a big, heavy fish, 

 and on the light six-ounce tip and nine-thread line 

 I had my work cut out for me. We had to run 

 the boat toward him so I could get back my line. 

 Here was the advantage of having a fast boat with 

 a big rudder. Otherwise I would have lost my 



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