THE SALT-WATEE JACKS 



■with a fairly light rod from the boat. There are situations where 

 the sailboat must be employed ; but I have had such disastrous 

 happenings, attempting to get a boat up into the Tvind before a. 

 bluefish or other big fish takes all the hne, that I am opposed 

 to it on strictly moral grounds. I once fished in this way with a 

 friend, who was very desirous of becoming a writer, but always- 

 regretted that it was impossible, as he had a very Umited voca- 

 bulary. After seeing him try to land a bluefish from a cat- 

 boat in a fresh breeze, with a stupid skipper, I found myself in a. 

 position to assure him that if a limited vocabulary was aU that 

 stood in the way of his ambition, he need have no fears. 



The amber-jacks have a wide range. Some of the species, 

 found over the world are, 8. zonata, dumerili, mazatlana, fasciata, 

 rivoliana, falcata, and I think there is a huge fellow at Hawaii 

 that has escaped the eagle eye of the speciahsts. 



In size the amber-jack ranges beyond one hundred pounds, 

 I have seen such a fish or a picture of it from Hawaii. Arthur 

 St. John Newbury has a record of a fifty-two and a half pounder, 

 which was four feet three inches long. Palm Beach has some 

 fine amber-jacks. Mr. Wm. L. Green has taken an eighty-one 

 and a half pounder. Mr. J. T. Caldwell of New York exceeded 

 this in 1905 with a ninety-two pound fish, taken with a twenty- 

 one thread line. Mr. Green's catches are as follows : thirty-four 

 pounds, forty-two and a half pounds, sixty-seven and a half 

 pounds, sixty-seven pounds, and eighty-one and a half pounds. 



These are the giants of the tribe, but there are many more^ 

 as the smaller allied forms, which are game fishes in every sense j 

 delight givers, which can sometimes be taken with a fly and a. 

 trout rod. The amber-fishes do not reach England, but some 

 of the finest jack fishing is found beneath the British flag, in. 

 various parts of the world. 



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