BIG TUNA 



o'clock, ran out five miles, and began to fish. Our 

 methods had undergone some change. We used a 

 big kite out on three hundred yards of line; we tied 

 this line on my leader, and we tightened the drag 

 on the reel so that it took a nine-pound pull to start 

 the line off. This seemed a fatal procedure, but I 

 was willing to try anything. My hope of getting a 

 strike was exceedingly slim. Instead of a flying- 

 fish for bait we used a good-sized smelt, and we used 

 hooks big and strong and sharp as needles. 



We had not been out half an hour when Dan left 

 the wheel and jumped up on the gunwale to look 

 at something. 



"What do you see?" I asked, eagerly. 



He was silent a moment. I dare say he did not 

 want to make any mistakes. Then he jumped back 

 to the wheel. 



"School of tuna!" he boomed. 



I stood up and looked in the direction indicated, 

 but I could not see them. Dan said only the move- 

 ment on the water could be seen. Good long swells 

 were running, rather high, and presently I did see 

 tuna showing darkly bronze in the blue water. 

 They vanished. We had to turn the boat somewhat, 

 and it began to appear that we would have difficulty 

 in putting the bait into the school. So it turned 

 out. We were in the wrong quarter to use the wind. 

 I saw the school of tuna go by, perhaps two hundred 

 feet from the boat. They were traveling fast, some- 

 what under the surface, and were separated from 

 one another. They were big tuna, but nothing near 

 the size of those that had wrecked my tackle and 

 hopes. Captain Dan said they were hungry, hunt- 

 16 «" 



