THE TUFAPLANB OE KITE 



towing tlie fifty, seventy-five or more feet of the line behind you. 



Usually the line extends directly out astern,-but ilpw we per- 

 ceive that it goes up into the air to the tunakite, then drops to the 

 ocean. The reader will now see the resemblance to the aeroplane 

 or hydroplane. Instead of fishing from one of them and so being 

 able to jerk the line along, a smaller contrivance is con- 

 ceived, and the angler in the boat lifts the bait, using the aerial 

 tunakite as a pulley, or fulcrum, as shown. We see the launch 

 going against the wind. ^Captain Farnsworth stands holding the 

 line of the kite, which he has on a reel, and the angler has just 

 given his line a jerk, with the result that the bait is Ufted, more 

 or less naturally, a foot or two above the water, and by the onward 

 movement of the launch carried ahead. We can see the bait, 

 just above the horizon, being held aloft by the kite. So natural 

 is this leap that a friend who uses it wrote me that ' it sets nearly 

 aU fishes — ^long-fin tunas and others crazy,' as it jumps, or appears 

 to jump along the surface. This works equally weU in coming 

 down the wind. Here the tunakite is shown drifting down the 

 wind or going with the launch. Captain Farnsworth is at the 

 wheel and holding the kite string, while the angler is seen ' giving 

 the butt,' or throwing his^tip back, which lifts the flying fish bait 

 clear and drops it with a splash, as plainly seen in the immediate 

 foreground just ahead of the boat, but really one hundred and 

 fifty feet to the right. Mr. Eeyes, who took the picture, is ia 

 another launch, which is out of sight. 



Several tunas and big swordfishes have been taken in this 

 way. If a tuna seizes the leaping fish the boatman stops the 

 launch, a jerk disconnects the tunakite, which is hauled in or 

 goes adrift, and the angler is free to play his fish. 



It is obvious that this is ' machinery,' and the question may 

 be raised that the Tuna Club, which has hedged about this sport 

 so many restrictions that the anglers shall have no aid in any 

 way, has taken a step backward. If the boatman so much 

 as touches rod or line during the catch, or if the rod should break, 

 the Club refuses to recognize it, and boatman and angler 



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