Sept. 25, 1909.] 
499 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
sixteen ounces, butt included. The tip weighed 
seven ounces and with a small reel filled as 
follows: Six hundred feet of nine-thread and 
400 feet of eighteen-thread. That gave me a 
leader of 400 feet of stronger line for the fish 
to make his first run against. 
The first strike was a iiiJ/£ -pound fish that we 
landed in one hour and thirty-five minutes. The 
fish made a fine run, taking out the 400 feet of 
eighteen and over 200 feet of the nine-thread. 
As he made his run I put on a slight pressure 
on the eighteen thread, perhaps a pound, just 
enough to help tire him a little, but as the eigh¬ 
teen ran out I relieved the reel of all pres¬ 
sure and let the nine-thread run free. The fish 
stopped of his own accord at about 650 feet; 
then I began recovering, and in less than fifteen 
minutes had the nine-thread in, and after that 
the entire fight was made on the eighteen. The 
fish had no chance; it 
was simply a matter of 
steady pressure and en¬ 
durance. When brought 
to gaff he was absolutely 
dead. 
I was able to spend 
but two days more at 
the island and during 
that time fished only 
with nine-nine tackle, 
a nine-ounce rod and a 
nine-thread line. I had 
five strikes and each 
time the fish took out 
about five hundred feet 
of line and parted it 
against the drag in the 
water. I fed the line 
free from the reel, hold¬ 
ing the tip straight to¬ 
ward the fish so there 
would be no friction at 
my end. 
None of the fish made 
a straightaway run of 
500 feet, but each made 
two or three rapid 
dashes of about 200 
feet each. These dashes 
were of lightning like rapidity and apparently in 
different directions, thereby making long loops 
in the line in the water. It was against the sag 
of these loops that the fish would part the line 
with scarcely a quiver at the tip of the rod and 
no sensation at the reel. 
In a series of articles published in Forest and 
Stream three or fours years ago I gave a table 
showing the drag of different lengths of line 
in the water. With 500 feet of nine-thread line 
out a tuna can easily part it by a sudden dash 
or turn, precisely as a child can part a stout 
piece of twine by giving it slack and then jerk¬ 
ing sharply. 
There is not the slightest doubt that a 100 
pound tuna will be landed with a nine-nine out¬ 
fit. It is only a question of time and persever¬ 
ance. Already others have announced their de¬ 
termination to try it. Success will depend greatly 
upon the care of the angler in handling his 
tackle, but also largely upon the manner in which 
the fish runs. If he makes a run like the one 
I had on two years ago he may be stopped and 
landed, but if he makes a long run or a series 
of rapid dashes, taking out 600 or 700 feet of 
line, he is almost certain to part the line in spite 
of all the angler can do. 
From the foregoing it follows that a nine- 
thread line is not the right line for tuna. Tackle 
should be so proportioned to the fish that the 
skill of the angler counts for something, that 
by the exercise of great skill he may be rea¬ 
sonably sure of getting at least 50 per cent, of 
his strikes. With a nine-thread line more de¬ 
pends upon what the fish does than upon the 
skill of the angler. All the latter can do is feed 
out line in the hope that the fish will stop be¬ 
fore he gets too much. Once stopped there is 
a fair chance of landing him, but it is doubtful 
whether one out of three or even five will stop, 
and the man who gets five tuna strikes in a sea¬ 
son is far above the average in luck. 
If a nine-thread line is too light and a twenty- 
four is too heavy, what is the ideal line for tuna? 
MEMBERS OF THE ILLINOIS BAIT-CASTING CLUB IN A CONTEST ON THE LAGOON IN WASHINGTON 
PARK, CHICAGO. 
My own conviction is that a tapered line run¬ 
ning from nine at the core to fifteen at the hook 
is a good line. The ease with which the m- 
pound tuna was landed on the eighteen-thread 
leads me to believe that it is stronger than is 
necessary. 
It is absolutely essential to have sufficient 
length of line to let the fish run comparatively 
freely. Generally speaking there is no use try¬ 
ing to stop a tuna in his dashes. Three-fourths 
of the fish lost on heavy tackle are lost by 
clamping down too hard in the first run; the line 
is parted before the fish has taken three hun¬ 
dred feet. Nothing is more common than to 
hear the unlucky anglers exclaim, “Why, he had 
out only two hundred feet,” and “I didn’t lose 
a foot of line,” all confessions of lack of judg¬ 
ment in using the line on their reels, for if a 
man carries a reel of 900 feet of line what is 
it there for if not to run out with the fish? 
And there is little excuse for parting it before 
it is practically all out; even then three times 
out of four it will part at the leader, the point 
of greatest strain, and no line will be lost. The 
angler who parts his twenty-four-strand line be¬ 
fore he has given the fish 200 feet is simply 
hanging on too tight and might as well be fish¬ 
ing with 300 feet of line on his reel instead of 
the usual 900 feet. 
I here are exceptions to all rules, and one to 
the above is where the fish is reeled in quickly 
before he has a chance to make a run. It takes 
every fish a second to realize what has hap¬ 
pened when he is hooked. Some fish can be 
brought to the side of the boat in a few minutes 
and gaffed before they make their runs. With¬ 
in the past week tuna of over 100 pounds were 
landed in less than ten minutes with heavy 
tackle. One quick angler in a skiff landed three 
in short order; the fish simply had no chance at 
all. The moment the tuna struck, the boatman 
backed with great speed to the fish, the angler 
taking in line rapidly, and before the tuna had 
a chance to find out just what was happening it 
was gaffed and in the 
boat. With tackle of the 
right proportion this 
rapid fire slaughter 
would be impossible. 
The art of fishing lies 
in playing the fish until 
it is exhausted. There 
is no sport in getting 
it in before it has be¬ 
gun to play. One might 
as well attach a dyna¬ 
mite cap to the hook 
and kill the fish when 
it strikes. In the early 
days of tarpon still-fish¬ 
ing it was considered 
very sportsmanlike to 
land the fish without 
lifting the anchor of the 
rowboat. That is the 
right notion, though it 
would be difficult to 
land a tuna without 
moving the launch, but 
between a comparatively 
stationary launch and a 
light skiff that can be 
put over the fish silently 
and in almost no time 
there is a vast difference in favor of the fish. 
With the launch the fish is almost sure to make 
his run and a good fight. 
Given a reel of goo feet of line, obviously 
there is no need of the line being of the same 
strength throughout. The first strain and the 
last fight is on the line near the hook. If the 
fish makes a run of 600 or 700 feet nearly all 
the strain is on the first 200 feet. It is my be¬ 
lief that the greatest strain is within 100 feet 
of the leader. It is when the fish makes his 
rapid turns and dashes that the line is subjected 
to sudden strains near the hook. It always parts 
near the wire leader. By the time the strain is 
transmitted 100 feet up the line the stress is 
greatly reduced. 
A reel of 150 feet of eighteen-thread near the 
hook, then 150 feet of fifteen-thread and 150 
feet of twelve-thread and a core of 600 feet of 
nine-thread would make a small reel to handle 
—small in comparison with the clumsy tuna and 
tarpon reels—and a deadly outfit for any tuna. 
As above suggested, I think eighteen-thread too 
heavy and would try fifteen or even twelve in¬ 
stead. The nine-thread is ample so long as the 
