bruary, 1923 
63 
IOW SHOULD BIG FISH BE LANDED? 
DISCUSSIONS ARE CONSTANTLY BEING STARTED IN VARIOUS ANGLING 
CLUBS AS TO WHAT 
« 
^ OME time ago the yacht “Whiz” 
^ drew into the Royal Palm dock at 
1 Miami. It was a glorious after¬ 
noon; the tropical sun, whose 
hating beams were particularly 
ght and golden, was preparing for its 
ly dive below the horizon. 
Everything seemed rosy to me as at 
- feet stretched a prize—seven feet of 
irkling silver which blended with the 
!den sunset—a King of Silver Kings, 
d he had acknowledged me his master. 
A discussion started in regard to how 
ge fish should be landed and I de- 
•ibed bringing my fish to gaff, and 
w the boatman slipped a rope through 
; gills by means of which it was towed 
the yacht. The boat used was a small 
elve-foot rowboat. Motor-boats had 
an discarded by fishermen as they 
ired the fish away. 
I was told this was not considered a 
ortsmanlike way of landing a fish as 
should actually be brought aboard the 
at it was hooked from. In other 
)rds a two-hundred-pound fish seven 
at long must be pulled aboard a twelve- 
ot boat that is already loaded with two 
an whose combined weight approxi- 
ttes four hundred pounds. 
How many fish have been landed that 
ly? Not many, I surmise, as the 
ijority are taken from boats that are 
uch larger and motor driven, conse- 
ently no comparison can be made 
len a rowboat of ten or twelve feet is 
ed. 
Similar discussions are constantly 
(farted in the various angling clubs, each 
le of which have their own rules and 
gulations, as there seems to be no 
andard. 
| It would be interesting to know the 
; ethod that should be adopted in land- 
■ g a really large fish. So I will en- 
■avor to place on paper a few cold 
cts. 
V LONG the southeast shore of Nova 
Scotia and extending well up to- 
ard Newfoundland, the ocean drops 
f suddenly to an average depth of two 
mdred feet. Concealed in these 
:eanic cavities by the greenish spark- 
lg water that is brought down from 
e North by the Arctic currents, you 
ill find the summer lair of the North 
tlantic Tiger. Crystalline channels 
hich one can often penetrate with the 
lye to depths of fifty feet or more are 
scd by these immense fish as a spawn- 
ig ground. There is no doubt that they 
; re particular as to where they deposit 
teir eggs, as this spot is not only beauti- 
il with its mass of subterranean vege- 
ition but is combined with a cleanliness 
lat is crisp and flawless. 
The North Atlantic Tuna is the giant 
METHOD SHOULD BE ADOPTED BY SPORTSMEN 
By G. HORTON GLOVER 
m 
at; 
; 
.jeti 
Ready for the big fellows 
of his tribe. His tremendous mass, 
sinew and strength, combined with a 
stream-lining that only Nature could 
provide, places him in a class by him¬ 
self. 
Every movement indicates power, and 
as you see him silently slip under your 
boat at a normal velocity that approaches 
thirty miles an hour, you realize the 
momentum produced as you combine his 
great speed and mass. 
“It can’t be done,” you say. Oh, yes, 
it can, but it takes nerve and lots of it, 
and many anglers have wished their bait 
safely in the boat instead of in the path 
of this silent submarine, when they see 
him dart with lightning speed toward 
their hook. 
Specimens less than five hundred 
pounds are rare, while the average is 
one thousand, with a maximum of over 
two thousand pounds, so you can see 
how lucky you are when you hook into 
a fish small enough to handle. Its tail 
is wide and V-shaped and is a great 
mass of bone that could crush a boat 
or turn it over at the least provocation; 
therefore this mighty sledge-hammer 
must be reckoned with when it comes to 
landing him. 
Their activity and speed which is ac¬ 
celerated by almost frigid surroundings, 
is approached only by the Atlantic 
swordfish ( Xiphias ), which is also 
found in these waters. 
\TOW, sportsman, how should a fish 
I- be landed in order that the method 
used would preclude criticism? 
You will have to eliminate as I did, 
methods used in landing my two hun¬ 
dred pound tarpon and even fish of 
twice that weight. 
Suppose you had hooked a tuna at 
daybreak and had played him until the 
sun was disappearing over the Nova 
Scotia coast, which you could barely 
discern as you were a considerable dis¬ 
tance off shore. A gigantic form of ten 
or twelve feet in length was slowly 
moving on the surface, but gave symp¬ 
toms of sinking, particularly when the 
boat approached too near. 
At last your boatman gets near enough 
to gaff him. Should this be done? You 
may say it depends entirely upon the 
size of the boat used. That is true to a 
certain extent, as you may use a motor- 
boat of eighteen feet or more or a small 
sea skiff which is controlled by the oars 
of your boatman. 
In the first method you fight your fish 
by following him, helped by the propel¬ 
ling force of the motor, and in the 
second, the fish simply pulls the boat 
around until tired out. 
These fish have only been taken in 
this section by the latter method. The - 
motor-boat has been used extensively on 
the Pacific with great success, but it 
must be remembered that the average 
fish encountered there is much smaller. 
And it is an open question in my mind 
if this Atlantic tuna is not only faster 
but stronger, pound for pound, than its 
Pacific brother, as it inhabits much 
colder water. Up to date, no one has 
had a chance with this fish while using 
a motor-boat. 
The record tuna was taken by L. D. 
Mitchell and was ten feet four inches 
long and weighed seven hundred and ten 
pounds. Only about half a dozen of 
these fish have been captured in a sports¬ 
manlike manner on rod and tackle. 
No matter which boat you use, the 
landing of the fish comes down to the 
same thing: when you are in an eigh¬ 
teen-foot motor-boat you gaff or capture 
your fish directly from the boat; when 
using a skiff you are followed around 
by a motor tender that is supposed to 
accomplish this. 
In either event it is a dangerous pro¬ 
cedure for you or your boatman, as can 
readily be seen from the size of the fish 
Lauri Mitchell fought to a finish and 
captured. 
Now, again, how should your boatman 
handle the fish? Suppose he gaffs it 
through the eye (the only vulnerable 
spot in the head) which is the general 
procedure. Even if the gaff handle is 
(Continued on page 96) 
