THE GAME FISHES OF THE WOELD 



I always hooked Mm while trolling for tarpon ; and I was usually 

 deceived for a few seconds, as, if the shark was six feet long, 

 he would go into the air in a leaping frenzy, so clever an imitation 

 of the tarpon that it at first deceived me. I am not prepared 

 to say that the aftermath, the play of this fish, was not satis- 

 factory. If I had not known it was a shark, I would have 

 been satisfied, but the taint of vermin was there. 



So with the bonito shark. I have played these fish of from 

 four to ten feet, and a more determined fighter it would be 

 difficult to find. When the game is about four feet long and 

 goes into the air repeatedly and drops, to rush away, making 

 the reel sing and scream, one is convinced that there is some 

 balm in the shark Gilead. But I am mindful of the splendid 

 term ' game fish.' When you see it, or hear it, it should not 

 suggest sharks, but salmon, trout, kingfish, a fighter of the first 

 value to man in its relation to his sustenance. So, I would 

 place the salmon first and relegate the shark to another class, 

 not to be despised, but to be developed and better understood. 

 In fact, shark fishing is in a class by itself. 



For many years I was a devotee, especially when the game 

 was big, and I have been towed many a mile by the man-eaters 

 of the outer Florida reef. A thirteen- or fourteen-foot shark, if 

 fought by one man in a small boat and a steerer, is a match for 

 almost any man. I did most of my shark fishing in a light 

 cedar boat made for this and other purposes, where a capsize 

 was the only possibility, the boat could not sink. Under the 

 bow-deck was an air-tight compartment, while aroimd the 

 gunwale was a row of tin cans soldered up and decked in. In 

 many a race have I been swamped by carrying sail in this boat in a 

 half gale and a heavy sea. The latter would roll in on top of her, 

 crossing the bar, but she never tipped over. I would let the 

 main sheet go and my man and I would get overboard and balance 

 her as well as possible, and bail her out with bail cans. She 

 was so light that even when full of water, she would stand up 

 with five or six men in her. With a boon companion, I woidd 

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