THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. 141 



SALT-WATKR FISH. 



The Snook {Thrysistes atum). 



[Average weight about 8 lbs., resembling in appearance the 

 mackerel, its girth, however, being disproportionally small in com- 

 parison to its length. General colour, dull silver, approaching 

 bluish black along the back ; scaleless ; mouth furnished with for- 

 midable teeth.'] 



This is the commonest and best known of the Cape salt-water fish, 

 and (particularly at certain periods of the year) throngs the waters 

 of Table Bay, but it may be found everywhere in the Cape seas, 

 where it is captured in enormous quantities by the Malay fishermen. 

 When salted and dried it forms a large item in the export trade ot 

 the Colony, and in this respect may be said to take the place of the 

 ling in the Southern seas. It is an exceedingly game fish, and when 

 hooked with the rod and line plays with great determination, spring- 

 ing repeatedly out of the water, and equalling the salmon in its 

 rushes, only giving in after making an exceedingly hard fight; The 

 tackle generally employed for the capture of the Snook by the Malays* 

 is a strong hand line, the hook being baited with an oblong piece of 

 shark skin about three inches in length, and trolled behind a boat 

 which is rowed at a sharp pace. A rather large-sized spoon bait, 

 with swivel and gimp tracing, will be found more deadly. As con- 

 tact with their poisonous teeth is dangerous, they should be killed 

 by blows from a stick before being drawn into the boat. 



The following is a list of some of the fish most frequently met 

 with in the Cape Seas. They will take almost any sort of bait :— 



The Steen Brass {Dentex rupestris). 



[_Some have been caught weighing up to 70 lbs. General colour, 

 variegated, clouded irregularly with ultramarine blue, oil green, 

 and lavender purple ; profile of head, irregular; a large bulge over 

 the eyes.] 



* The Malays steep their lines in the blood of the ox, which is an excellent way of 

 rendering them waterproof for a time. The same method might safely be tried with 

 salmon and trout lines, in preference to many of the more complicated and perhaps less 

 effective formula: used in England for such purposes. 



