THE EAYS 



have made short work of a boat. The black whip ray and a 

 beautifully spotted eagle ray were the chief visitors, and whether 

 in play or in battle they were constantly jumping and falling, 

 their broad shapes striking the water with a report Kke that 

 of a cannon, a sound that would go reverberating away over 

 the reef to be repeated by others, the sounds coming like echoes. 

 Such nights were often hot, as it was in latitude of the Tropic 

 of Cancer, and the Southern Cross was just looking over the hori- 

 zon ; but the heat was tempered by soft, gentle night winds. 

 We frequently fished for sharks at night, or any big game on the 

 edge of the channel, and played them from the shining sands 

 of Long Key. It was not a difficult matter to hook a ray, 

 day or night. Baited with a mullet or some equally succulent 

 game, the line would be taken, sooner or later, and often by a 

 stingaree, when we would jump into a boat, and let the game tow 

 us away. 



With a sixteen-ounce rod the spotted eagle ray wUl give the 

 angler a contest that is worthy of the name and at times prove 

 itself to be conqueror, leaping into the air repeatedly, coming down 

 with a startling crash to dash along, a weird and ghostly shadow, 

 to come up again and involve the angler in a maze of convolu- 

 tions often, at least here, to his undoing. The water was shallow, 

 rarely over four or five feet deep ; hence the manoeuvres were 

 always visible during day fishing. 



I think the most exciting method of taking the large rays 

 is to grain them. The Florida grains is a two-pronged barbed 

 spear like a IJ, which fits over the pointed end of a pole and is 

 attached to a long cord. I used a light dinghy, and sculling 

 with my left hand, holding the grain pole in my right, could steal 

 up on the big eagle rays and take them. I have frequently been 

 jerked off the deck ofjmy little boat when pla3dng the eagle ray, 

 or thrown over into the shallow water as the powerful fish would 

 turn suddenly. Of all the rays this Aetoibatis narmari is the most 

 attractive, owing to its spots. 



In fishing for channel-bass just inside the pass at Aransas, 



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