I 
While the North Shivers the Fortunate Betake Themselves to Southern Scenes Like This. 
BIG GAME SEA FISHING 
L AUNCHES for big game sea fishing 
are of the most vital importance, for 
upon them depends the safety, com¬ 
fort and pleasure of the angler. They 
should be made especially for the fishing 
intended and constructed so as to reduce 
rolling and pitching in a sea to a mini¬ 
mum. Twelve to twenty-five horse power 
engines are about right for launches from 
twenty to thirty feet long. Forward should 
be a comfortable, electric lighted cabin 
with toilet, lockers and ice box. From 
the cabin reaching aft to the two chairs 
the anglers occupy, should be an awning 
to protect one from the sun and rain, if 
expedient. The chairs should be comfort¬ 
able, cushioned, revolving ones, with backs 
that can be dispensed with, so as to per¬ 
mit an angler to “pump” with ease and 
turn in them when playing a fish. This is 
necessary at any time and especially so in 
rough weather, when standing up would 
be difficult and dangerous. It is painfully 
ludicrous to see chairs tied to the side 
rails of a boat by ropes, as they are at 
some places, but no laughing matter to 
retain one’s equilibrium in them at times. 
It may offer fine attraction and training 
stunts for a contortionist, but not an an¬ 
gler. 
Beneath the chairs and extending to the 
stern rail should be a rope mat to prevent 
slipping, which is bound to occur on a wet 
deck. A foot rest or rail to brace the 
feet against is also a great help. When it 
comes to the speed of a launch it is prob¬ 
lematical. Used on comparatively smooth 
water a speed of eight or ten miles an 
hour, not fishing, may be satisfactory. In 
rough seas such a boat can make little 
progress and if a long distance from camp 
there is no telling what may happen. Off 
the Florida east coast severe storms come 
up very suddenly, and unless one can ob¬ 
tain a boat equipped with a strong engine, 
and sufficient driving power, the same pre¬ 
dicament prevails. Therefore, a launch 
capable of making about twelve to fifteen 
miles an hour under normal conditions, 
should be satisfactory for fishing purposes. 
Another thing regarding equipment of 
6oats is proper fishing tackle. They should 
POINTERS ABOUT LAUNCHES, 
TACKLE, CAMPS AND CLUBS 
By F red Bradford Ellsworth. 
contain a complete outfit consisting of the 
different weight rods customarily used by 
clubs for different kinds of angling; reels, 
lines, etc., and they should be of the very 
best. As I have often emphasized in my 
writings on angling, cheap tackle has no 
place in any outfit. It is unreliable and 
very costly in the long run. Obtain the 
very best, and then you will have some¬ 
thing that gives pleasure and joy in using. 
The rod for big game is one with a tip 
weighing sixteen ounces, called a tarpon 
or tuna rod. It is made usually of split 
bamboo, greenheart, ironwood, noibwood. 
etc. Personally, I prefer for all kinds of 
fishing rods made of split bamboo. A 
good tarpon rod can be purchased for 
about $30. The action of the salt water 
upon them is very severe and experience 
has taught me that a rod made of betha- 
bara, or some other good wood is more 
practical, and excellent ones are to be had 
for from $15 to $20. 
A good reel for such rods are those 
made by Edward Vom Hofe & Co., 6-0 
size, “Universal Special” 1916 model, and 
cost $45. These reels easily hold 600 feet 
of No. 21 thread line, usually used, and 
are 42 pounds test. A line not to exceed 
No. 24 may also be used and this stands 
a 48 pound test. These lines are for 
large fish. A 9 or 12-ounce tip rod for 
12, 15 or 18 thread line is also a nice 
weight rod. The best lines I know of are 
the Swastika Brand “Original Cuttyhunk.” 
When it comes to light tackle, the rod 
tips must not weigh over 6 ounces and the 
customary line is a No. 9 thread, 18 pound 
test. Then there is the Three Six Class. 
The weight of the entire rod is six ounces 
and the line No. 6 thread. On these light¬ 
er rods smaller reels are necessary. I 
have used a 4-0 Edward Vom Hofe reel 
on a 6-ounce tip rod with a No. 9 line, but 
think it too heavy. A 3-0 reel is better 
adapted to it and a still lighter reel for 
the Three Six Class. 
L IGHT tackle is now becoming univers¬ 
ally used by most all clubs. At such 
well known places as Port Aransas, 
Tex., Useppa Island, Fla., by a few, St. 
Petersburg, Fla., Tampico, Mexico, famous 
for tarpon, light tackle is the rule and I 
hope the time is not far off when any other 
kind will be a thing of the past. Truly 
the spirit of fair play is in the heart of 
every true angler, and the desire to see 
fish get a fair deal. The elegant trophies 
and cups offered as prizes by these clubs 
are also incentives, encouraging use of 
light tackle and well worth striving for. 
Some fishing camps run a tackle shop 
filled with a lot of “junk” that they rent 
or sell to guileless guests at exorbitant 
prices. It is a bad business and soon 
places it in disrepute. 
At Catalina where the Tuna Club has 
angling reduced to the utmost science and 
everything pertaining to it is of the most 
practical nature, launches rent for from 
$10 to $15 a day, and this includes the use 
of the best tackle obtainable. At Long 
Key, Fla., the charge for a launch is $15 
to $20 a day, and if one is unfortunate 
enough to be unequipped with tackle, he 
will be compelled to pay $5 extra for rent 
of their best rod and reel, etc. At Usep¬ 
pa Island, the rates for motor boats are 
$5 per day and about the same prices ob¬ 
tain at Aransas Pass, Tex., the best tar¬ 
pon grounds. 
Catalina without question of doubt has 
some of the best boatmen I know of. They 
are men who thoroughly understand the 
fishing game, boats, engines, etc. Unless 
a boatman is enthusiastic and loves the 
sport, he can never hope to be a success 
and gain an enviable reputation or become 
famous. The great majority of boatmen 
I have come in contact with were disin¬ 
terested, inefficient and lazy, and only in 
the business for what they could get out 
of it. I have had boatmen that knew as 
much about fishing as I do concerning an 
aeroplane. 
A perfect gem of a guide I once had 
highly recommended to me in Florida, 
makes me laugh now when I think 
of him. At the time, though, he used to 
ruffle my equanimity. It appeared his was 
an outside boat at the camp and when¬ 
ever it was rented the camp received a 
commission. This wise pirate whenever 
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