Tropical trolling; two tales of trouble

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Tropical Trolling

Two Tales of Trouble

by
Arthur Stjohn Newberry

Printed for the Writer bu

The J. B. Savage Company

Cleveland. Ohio, 191 1

To My Wife

A Very Present Help

in Trouble

-M

3s H+

ON LINES

The line required for trolling with the rod, for the gnat game
fishes of tlie tropical seas, must be a marvel of strength, lightness and
endurance. The strain of taking a tuna or tarpon of a hundred and
fifty pounds, even from a small and handv power boat, which can
follow the fish and ease the tackle with the engine, is enormous. That
put upon the line in taking a fifty-pound kingfish or amber jack, from a
large sail boat, which cannot follow the fish and requires the whole
work to be done with rod and reel, is probably equally great. In either
case two or three hundred yards must be wound on a reel of reason-
able size, and salt water soon attacks the fibre and causes it to rot,
so that its life cannot be very long. A high class linen line should
have a breaking stress of at least two pounds per thread, and maintain
this strength for some weeks.

The spin of the bait in trolling has a tendencv to untwist all cable
laid lines and cause them to kink. One so untwisted and kinked
must have weak spots, and be liable to break at much less than the
strain that one, properlv twisted and unkinked, will easily endure.
l-'or such fishing a line must have the minimum tendencv to unravel
and kink to do good service: it should also be dark in color, as a
light colored line, in the wonderfully clear waters of the tropics, is
too noticeable, and will according to my experience obtain much
fewer strike's than one that is green or brown. I am satisfied also
that the coloring matter lessens the tendency to untwist and kink and.
to a considerable degree, protects from the rotting e fleet of salt water
and so prolongs the life of the line.

The catalogues recommend that one should "set" his lines before
use. This process consists in taking one off the spool, winding it
on a stick in kite string fashion, so that it can be readily soaked.
thoroughly soaking it. stretching it on a frame, permitting it to dry
thoroughly, and then winding it upon the reel. Xow the time an 1
trouble required to so prepare two hundred vanN of line i< very
great, i have found that to "set" three Mich lines required a ni^'ht'-
soaking, followed by at least a whole morning's troublesome and
annoying labor, as the stretching, drying, and reeling up can only
be done bv dav and in direct sunlight. A slight -diower. or the dam])

S65010

TROPICAL TROLLING.

night air. will undo most of your work, which must then be done
over again. Now I. at least, want to fish in my mornings and not to
prepare tackle, and it seems to me manifest that all such preparatory
work should he done by the maker or dealer, and that the fisherman
should be able to buy a line completely ready for use. For such
no reasonable sportsman would hesitate to pay an extra price, which
would reimburse the maker for the extra labor and pay him a good
profit besides.

The books also say that all lines used for salt water fishing
should be taken from the reel each night, thoroughly washed in fresh
water, allowed to dry completely, and then be replaced. Has any one
of these writers tried it and found out how much labor this operation
requires, how the lines will snarl, and how much time, which should
be devoted to fishing, one must expend on this soul-destroying occupa-
tion ? Let him attempt what he so cheerfully recommends to others,
and he will know more and talk less. ( )f course rich men can hire
others to do the setting, washing, drying and replacing, though it
will be done- less well than the fisherman would do it himself, but my
experience has shown the whole process to be unnecessary, provided
honestly made lines are furnished for one's money.

Six years ago I spent a month cruising among the Florida Keys,
fishing near the reef for the great kingfish. amberjack, barracuda
and groupers. Five years ago I spent nearly five months of the
winter and early spring in Nassau, fished about eight hours a day,
from a thirty-five foot sail boat, and took kingfish up to fifty-five
pounds and amberjack up to fifty-two. I then could buy green or
brown linen cable laid tarpon lines of two hundred yards each, of
twenty-one or twenty-four threads, put them on my reels without any
"setting," never wash or dry them, and find them give excellent
service for about thirty days, with little tendency to untwist or kink.
After that time it proved wise to replace them by new ones and this
liecaine my regular practice. In these two winters, at Nassau and
in Florida, my line broke only once, and this was when I had
neglected to exchange it for a new one after thirty days service, and
perhaps was rather careless also. 1 used but a single large swivel,
and never found keel sinkers, or any similar device, necessary to
prevent untwisting or kinking.

I had hoped to return to Nassau the following year and break
my own record on kingfish, and for that purpose then bought four of
"Hall's Special Tarpon" lines, but illness and the panic of 1!><>T pre-

AMBERJACK— 35 Pounds.

TWO TALKS Ol< TROUHLK. 7

vented and they lay among my kit until tin- last winter. Then. [
again came back to my old fishing grounds, full of glorious antici-
pations, secured my former house, mv old boat and crew, and started
to work, lie fore leaving 1 had ordered, from a Xew York dealer,
half a doxen "Rex Tarpon" lines, described in their catalogue as the
very best, and also a supply of swivels and keel sinkers. Pending
their arrival 1 used the "Hall" line-, purchased in IJIOU, without ''set-
ting" or washing and with but one swivel, and found them give rather
more trouble than I formerlv had. in untwisting and kinking, but
nothing very serious; still, when the "Rex" lines arrived, about two
weeks after 1 began fishing. I thought the "Hall" lines unfit for
longer service and exchanged them for the new ones, putting on also
keel sinkers. I was surprised to find the new "Rex" lines white or
nearlv so, but concluded that others knew l>etter than mvself and used
them with confidence.

Then my troubles iK-gan. A new "Rex" line would, in three
hours trolling, be untwisted into three parallel strand- for the lower
seventy-five yards of its length, would kink in a most extraordinary
manner and. in spite of increasing the swivels to three, putting on
keel sinkers, and reversing each day. was likely to break, under a
very moderate strain, on the second or third day. I rigged up on
my rear porch, with great trouble, a place where I could -tretch and dry
lines, and went through the laborious and time-devouring process of
setting them, of course only possible in the dav time, but obtained
little improvement. Thinking that the white color and lack of dve,
might account for the difficulty. I wrote at once for more "Hall's"
lines but, partly through the ,-lowne-- of the parcels post, which
comes to Xas-au but once in two weeks, these did not arrive
until over six weeks after they were ordered, and then proved
great! v inferior to those bought four year- ago. with which I had
begun the season. In desperation I had meanwhile sent over to
.Miami tor the best green tarpon line- they could tunu-li. and got
some "(lull Tarpon ' line-, bearing the name ot the "Simmon- Hard-
ware Companv." of St. Louis. Mi--otiri. These did a very little
Ix'tter service than the "Rex." but were greatlv intcric>r to the older
"Hall's." unraveling and breaking in a mo-t distressing manner.

I first used two "Rex" lines "unset." The fir-t one was so badlv
untwisted and kinked, after a half dav'- ti-liing, that I revcr-ed it on
my reel, putting the unu-ed portion at the outer end. I then u-ed

TROPICAL TROLLING.

it for two days more, reversing it each day, when it hroke at the strike
of a moderate sized fish. The second "unset" "Rex"' broke about
two hours after I put it on the reel. The other four "Rex" I
"set" and found these give very varying results. One of them
broke the first day I used it, the others lasted several days each,
although it was necessary to reverse them every day, and in less than
two weeks all of the six "Rex" lines were unfit for service.

The first "Gulf Tarpon Line," used "unset," encouraged me very
much, giving good service for the first day. The next day I took off a
"Rex," from one of my other reels and put a new "Gulf Tarpon" on
it. This broke at the first strike I had. I then took off the
"unset" lines and substituted "set" "Gulf Tarpon" lines. These gave
better service than the "unset," but still untwisted, unraveled, kinked
and broke. I reversed them every day and managed to catch some
fish with them, but never could trust them.

Of the new lot of "Halls," received only a few days before leav-
ing Nassau, I went through the process of "setting" one, and found
that the soaking removed a very large part of the coloring matter.
After careful setting and drying I used this line for two days with
great caution, reversed it every night, and on the third day it broke
at the strike of a moderate sized fish. I did not dare to use any of the
other "Hall" lines, brought them back home with me, and returned
them to the seller.

The best lines I had during the winter were two green tarpon
lines, bearing the name "E. Yom Hofe," costing considerably less than
any oMhe others, but even these were very far from good, enormously
inferior to those of five years ago. unraveled and kinked badly, and
broke frequently. Toward the end of my stay T always cut off the
lower ten or twelve feet, after one day's use. always doubled the lower
ten feet before using, watched very carefully for weak spots and,
when one showed, cut it out and knotted the line, used keel sinkers
and three large swivels, and yet continually got wretched service.

The big kingfish were very late in arriving this year, perhaps
because the season was unusually cold, and all fish seemed very scarce,
so up to April thirteenth, when I left Xassau, 1 had only hooked eight
large ones. One was lost by the excitement of my skipper, one tore
the hook out of its mouth, and six broke my lines short off, in spite of
the v?ry greatest care I could use.

During the whole winter 1 caught only one kingfish over twelve
pounds, and this was three days before leaving. He was forty-eight

TWO TALI'S OF TROUBLE.

inches long, weighed thirty pounds, and was hooked in the middle of
the belly. Of course he made a most furious fight, repeatedly ran
out nearly the whole two hundred yards, got under the l>oat, and was
only kept from cutting off the line on the keel by plunging my rod
straight down into the water. It took at least forty-five minutes to
kill him. Fvery moment of this time I felt that the line was liable
to fail me, and the fish was only landed by the greatest care.

I can only explain this disastrous and infuriating experience by
supposing that manufacturers have been led, by competition or greed for
greater profit, to use inferior material and lalxir, so that such abuses
have arisen as, in another field of trade, the "Pure Food and Drugs
Act" has done so much to remedy. The abominable notion, that the
markets of the world are for the benefit of the producer and seller
only, and that the consumer and buyer have no rights at all, which
has done such grave harm in other industries, seems to have extended
its baleful influence over the tackle trade also. Of course such an
idea leads directly to fraud of all kinds, to the extortions of monopolv.
the follies of the tariff, and countless kindred evils. These can be
overcome only by informing and directing that Public Opinion, which
is the court of last resort in this country, and the onlv method of
successfully doing this is by Publicity, by throwing light into the
dark places.

That thoroughly reliable lines can be made and sold, at a reason-
able price, is conclusively shown by my experience of five years ago,
and a dealer or maker who will furnish such trustworthy lines can
have from me any reasonable price he asks. I want good lines, regard-
less of cost, and appeal to all my fellow sportsmen to help me find
them, if thev can be now had. and, if not, to join me in a crusade that
will produce them. Let us all condemn, in print and giving full names
of lines, maker and dealer, such tackle as we have found bad, and,
in the same wav praise such as we have found good. I am sure that
the columns of all our papers devoted to sport will be o]vn to us for
this worth v purpose.

! have not written this article, nor do I propose the above sug-
gested course to my brother fishermen, for the purpose of wreaking
vengeance' on anv one, but want to use-, and have oilier fishermen u-e.
the great weapon ot "publicity" for the protection ot fishermen, honest
dealers, and honest manufacturers, against dishonest manufacturers
who cheapen their product by using inferior material and labor, and
dishonest dealers, who sell something thev know to be inferior. < V

10 TROPICAL TROLLING.

course, the dealer may be also deceived, so a time limit might be
allowed before dealers are denounced by name.

I have dealt with Messrs. Abercrombie & Fitch for many years,
and have found them most courteous and accommodating, and never
until this winter have I got bad material from them. I wrote them
fully, stating my experience. They expressed great regret and
volunteered to take back all goods purchased from them, which proved
unsatisfactory, and refund the full price, but this does not cover the
case. If I buy a line for three dollars, and hook and lose a record
fish through its failure, a refund of three dollars or a payment of
three hundred dollars, or any money sum whatever, would not satisfy
me. What fishermen want, especially those who are exercising their
craft in distant regions, where no supplies can be had and communi-
cations are slow and uncertain, is tackle that can be depended upon
and not a claim for damages.

I also wrote to the Simmons Hardware Company, of St. Louis,
reporting the unsatisfactory results obtained with the goods bearing
their name, but have not yet received even the courtesy of a reply.

I had other experience with unsatisfactory tackle and other trials
on this trip, which really made it memorable for misfortune, and these
I shall describe in a future article, but the present one is devoted to
the subject of lines only.

The following seem to me established as conclusions :

1. The lines now made and sold for tropical trolling are enorm-
ously inferior to those obtained five years ago.

2. All linen lines should be sold "set" and ready to put on the
reel, and fishermen should refuse to buy any others.

3. All linen lines, for salt water trolling in the tropics, should
be dark colored, never white or natural color.

4. The cable laid linen line is, and must always be, unsuitable
for trolling, on account of its tendency to untwist and kink.

A braided linen line, if of the best quality and made with the great-
est care, might give much better service. Whether a braided line can be
made of the same strength as a cable laid line, without much, if any,
increase of size. I have no means of knowing and should like to be
informed. If so I am ready and anxious to buy a lot of them.

Next year I shall again avoid the northern winter by going back
to the tropics, and to where good fishing can be found, and do not

KINGFISH — 30 Pounds.

MY HOUSE AND GARDEN.

TWO TALUS Ol; TROl-KLl-.. 11

want to waste the coming winter as the last one was wasted, so I
appeal to my fellow sportsmen, and to all dealers in an 1 makers of
angling snoods who have learned that a pleased customer i> the l>e>t
advertisement, to help me to find trustworthy tackle, and to aid their
fishing- friends, known and unknown, to avoid such an infuriating
experience as that I have just passed through.

Cleveland, Ohio, June '.'Ttli. 1!H1.

TROUBLE IN THE TROPICS

The winter of l!t()-")-li ] spent in Nassau and found there a
most picturesque island, a perfect climate, much natural and artificial
beauty, much pleasant company and particularly good fi-hing,
and the latter was described in the columns of r<»'cst and Stream
shortly after my return. My time was devoted chiefly to trolling
for the great tropical game fish, kingfish, amber jack, barracuda,
and others, using tarpon tackle and a thirty-five foot, two-masted,
pilot boat named the "Kestrel." The winds were regular, so
that the boat almost always traveled at sufficient speed, and calms or
very high winds were infrequent. The sea was free from gulf weed.
which when present in any quantity is a terrible nuisance. I'ait
could be readily procured and fish were plentiful. My lines, rods
and reels also gave excellent service. I had a spacious and con-
venient house on a ridge overlooking the harbor, a garden full of
grapefruit, oranges, cocoanut palms and roses, and altogether, both
for comfort, convenience and sport, found it the most delightful place
imaginable. \Yhen tired of trolling, one could anchor and catch plenty
of the beautiful, strange and brilliantly colored fish of the tropics,
so that the bottom of the boat after fishing looked like a tlower garden.

Xassau seemed to me an ideal place to pass the winter, and I
vowed never again to see a llake of snow if it could be helped, but
rather serious illness prevented my returning the following year.
Then came on the panic of 1!M)T, with the depression succeed-
ing, when every business man had to devote all his time and energy
to strictly necessary business. l.ut at last such trouble- settled
themselves, health was largely restored, and 1 expected that
one more winter in the tropics would make me absolutely well. 1 was
fortunate enough to be able to again engage the house, boat and crew
of my former year, and early in January started off with the happiest
of anticipations.

\Ye sailed into the harbor on a jx'rfect. brilliant morning, over
the turquoise, opal and sapphire water and, among the crowd swarm-
ing to meet the steamer, was my old Captain, John Harrow, who
welcomed me with a most gratifving heartiness. \\ e lound the

14 TROPICAL TROLLING.

house completely ready for us and, through the great«kindness of its
owner, equipped \vith servants and supplies, so that we could settle
down at once. It had been improved by the addition of mosquito
screens, being the only house in Nassau so equipped, and a telephone
and electric light, since our former visit. The trees in the garden
were laden with grapefruit and oranges, the roses and hibiscus were
in full bloom, and we at once felt completely at home again.

But this delightful beginning was succeeded by a series of vexa-
tions and annoyances so far unmatched in my experience. Nassau has
an infertile soil and very little productive industry, so that wages are
excessively low and it is often impossible for a laborer to get work at
all. In the past five years these conditions have produced their
inevitable result. Many of the best and most energetic of the popula-
tion, both white and black, had emigrated to the United States,
those engaged in any class of business were fewer and the most
enterprising of them had already gone. The fishermen supplying
the market were fewer than formerly, and perhaps they were less
diligent and efficient also, the result being that the "goggle-eye," which
small fish is generally used for bait, was scarcely and irregularly
supplied, and it was often impossible to get them on days
\vhen everything else w-as favorable. After many annoying experi-
ences of this kind I met this difficulty by arranging to get a supply of
bait, whenever possible, and have it kept on ice, and such cold storage
baits, while they were not quite so good as fresh ones, seemed to
answer reasonably well.

When this difficulty was disposed of and I was able to go out
regularly, fish proved to be much less plentiful than they had formerly
been. Whether this was due to a rather unusually cold winter or to
some other reason I cannot tell. The temperature never fell to much
below seventy, even during the night, but tropical fish are extremely
sensitive to cold and even a slight drop in temperature will drive
them away or prevent their biting. I had been accustomed to find
good sport just outside the mouth of the harbor and all along the
shore for twenty miles or more, but this year there seemed to be no
fish anywhere near the harbor's month and grounds, which had been
most prolific in the former season, yielded nothing whatever to the
most painstaking effort.

The winds, on which we depended entirely for propelling power,
and which had been so steady five years ago, were also very variable
and uncertain. On manv davs we were unable to fish because the

AMBEKJACK — 43 Fount

TWO TALES OP TROUBLE. 15

wind was too high and very frequently, after getting outside with a
good breeze, it would drop away to little or nothing and our boat
would float around in a calm, helpless and useless so far as fi>hing was
concerned. When other troubles were not present, when I had bait,
when the wind blew and when the fish seemed in biting humor, the
yellow gulf weed would come down from the north, cover the >ea
with great masses of floating herbage, and one would pass most of his
time in reeling up his long line, disentangling weed, and putting out
again. Of course, a bait with a weed on it will not be touched bv any
self-respecting fish and to haul in and let out again a hundred yards of
line takes a considerable amount of time, so that much of my fishing
days would be wasted in this way.

All these difficulties arose from the caprices of Nature1, and
had to be endured, but unfortunately I also .suffered from troubles
which were the result of the carelessness, if not the dishonest}', of man.
My tackle was selected with the greatest care, guided by the experi-
ence of past tropical fishing, and was supposed to be of the verv best,
but proved in many respects untrustworthy. The worst offenders
in this respect were inv lines, which broke, snarled, tangled, kinked.
and committed every other sort of crime in a manner which was
entirely beyond my experience. As I have elsewhere described this
particular trouble, my grievances in this respect will not be repeated
here, but this was far from the only defect in my outfit, landing that
mv two large reels were not sufficient 1 ordered a new tarpon reel,
fitted with a "rabbeth drag" and costing thirty dollars, from Aber-
crombie & Fitch, of Xew \<n~}< .\\hen this reel arrived it had no
safety catch or pawl, to engage with the teeth on the central screw,
which holds the drag upon the reel. The result of this was that, the
instant a fish struck and began to whirl the friction disc, this central
nut would loosen itself and, unless 1 kept constantly tightening it up
with a screw driver or my fingers, would almost certainly come off
and take the whole reel handle with it. It was inexcusable to send this
reel with this old style friction plate, without a pawl on it. when the
new stvle, with a pawl, are kept regularly in stuck, but 1 wrote at
once for a new style plate and tried to use the reel meanwhile. ( )i\
the second dav. while playing a good fish, the click broke short off. the
broken part jammed the reel so that it could not be used and mv fish
was promptly lost. On investigation 1 found a very marked flaw in
the click. The reel being now useless, had to be packed up and sent
oft" north to IK- mended. It must IK' borne in mind that Xassau is

16 TROPICAL TROLLING.

about a thousand miles from Xew York, that all merchandise is sent
by parcels post, and that steamers carrying parcels post packages
leave New York only once in two weeks or so. Therefore, it must
take more than a month to get this reel north, repaired and back to
me, and I was in fact deprived of its use for nearly six weeks.

As a substitute for bait I had bought a number of the
"Sam" spoons of large size, a spoon being serviceable and effect-
ive whenever the wind is reasonably strong and the motion of the
boat rapid, and being in some ways preferable to bait, because it
is not cut by the teeth of a fish striking and consequently does not
have to be hauled in and renewed. The "Sam" was more lively
and active in the water than any spoon I have ever seen, but developed
three very grave faults. First ; they tarnished so badly that, after a
few hours' use, one had to scrub them with specially made scouring
cloths for fifteen or twenty minutes in order to get them decently
bright. Second ; they were fitted with the "Van Meek'' hook,
which has an incurved point. Whether on account of this or
some other reason they did not fasten fish well, and I got a large num-
ber of strikes on these spoons without hooking the fish. Third ; the
ring of the hook, which fastened into a strong loop of metal on the
spoon, proved altogether too weak. The hooks wore away very
rapidly and, on at least two occasions, very heavy fish were lost through
the breaking of hooks at this point.

Becoming disgusted with the unsatisfactory results of trolling,
bottom fishing was tried. Fish seemed to be unusually scarce and,
what I had never known before, sharks were unusually plenty. Going
out for a day, after taking two or three fish one was< likely to
have his hooks bitten oft" by a shark, and could not escape these
miserable brutes, either because they followed when ground was
changed or because they were so numerous that there was always a
new one handy. Bottom fishing, therefore, was in every way a failure
and not worth the trouble it cost.

On one particular day T invited three ladies to go out with my
wife and myself, expecting to fish for a while and then sail up to
the end of the island, land, eat our luncheon there, and have a pleasant
sail back. The wind became so light that it took at least two hours
to get to the fishing ground. Finally we got our lines down and took
one or two porgies, when the usual shark arrived. I was using my
tarpon rod and a twenty-four thread line with comparatively small
hooks. After biting off one or two of other baits, the shark came to

TWO TALUS Of' TROUBLE.

me, was hooked, played a while, straightened out my small hooks and
departed. I then put on a steel wire leader with larger hooks, prompt-
ly hooked him again, and played him for some fifteen minutes, once
bringing him up into view and seeing that he was about ten feet
long. After having pretty thoroughly tired me out he bit my win-
leader off and left. We then shifted our ground a half mile, but
either this shark or another one promptly turned up and repeated the
process. We gave up fishing as useless and tried to eat luncheon,
but the boat wobbled round in the hot sun and uneasy swell, most
uncomfortably, and all of my guests grew seasick. Finally I bad to
put the crew in our small boat, rig a tow line, and be ignominiously
hauled about two miles into the harbor.

As may be readily seen, with the combination of all these diffi-
culties, fishing for the first two months of my stay was generally
unproductive, doing there with the especial purpose of beating my
own record for kingfish, fifty-five pounds, in that time I caught very
few kingfish at all and none over twelve pounds. During the last
month the fish were more numerous and I did book in all eight heavy
kingfish. One of these escaped through the excitement of Captain
John, who devoted himself to telling me how to fish instead of to
managing bis boat, one tore the hook out of his mouth, and six were
lost by the breaking of my lines.

It should be said here that the play of the kingfish, especially one
•of anv considerable size, is unmistakable. He strikes with a ferocious
rush which may take a hundred yards or more off the reel, then he
will become somewhat quiescent and can be reeled back part way
toward the boat. Then comes another rush, and such rushes and
periods of comparative inactivity succeed each other until he is brought
near the side. When the fish first sees the boat there is invariably a
tremendous rush. The fisherman must guard against this, bv keep-
ing his rod up and his line free, or something is practically sure to
break. During the whole winter I took only one kingfish exceeding
twelve pounds in weight, and this was a spotted kingfish, \. ;rN'<;.'/.\.
forty-eight inches long and weighing thirty pounds. In some strange
way he was hooked just in front of the amal tin. naturally made a most
tremendous fight, and was only gaffed after more than a half hour's
play. His picture appears herewith.

Of course in so many days of effort I had to catch some king-
fish, and one of the pictures accompanying this article shows the stern
of the "Kestrel." with mv crew holding up four that ran from seven

18 TROPICAL TROLLING.

to ten pounds each. At the left of the picture appears my rod, with
the handle of the friction-clutch reel made fast by a loop of the jib-
sheet, the rod being1 stayed out overside by my tackle box. When
busy with other matters I used to rig out the rod in this way. If a
fish struck the motion of the boat would hook him, the click would
sound an alarm, and one could slip the rod from its fastening and play
him as usual. ( "Mi the rail around the cockpit, on the left side, appears
a little device of my own. consisting of a large wire nail holding a
spool against which the rod is rested. This relieves the left arm
from the strain of trolling and is extremely useful, as that arm does
practically all the work in playing a fish and should be kept unfatigued
for that purpose. At the right of the cockpit are two extra rods, one
of which has a new bait ready for use, should the other bait be struck
and cut, and the second one is fitted with a large spoon, to be used in
case the wind rises enough to give sufficient speed to make the spoon
effective.

Big amber jack, most powerful of fishes, were not uncommon,
and we took a number of these up to forty-three pounds, but the
large amberjack, though a tremendously quick and powerful fish, is
worthless after you catch him, being tough in flesh and also very
likely to be poisonous, producing the very serious disease called
"ciguatera." T have a theory that a really game fish must be shy and
difficult to attract, powerful and active when hooked, beautiful to look
at, and good to eat after you get him, and therefore that the amberjack
and tarpon, which are tremendously strong and active but worthless or
dangerous as food, do not strictly come within this category. As I
have never caught a tarpon it may, however, seem presumptuous for me
to express this view.

It was interesting to see how seriously the crew of the "Kestrel"
took our bad fortune. These men had never seen any trolling with
the rod until my first winter with them, and were at first extremely
doubtful of the ability of the small lines to hold big fish. After
some successes they became extremely contemptuous of those who
trolled with big. white, hand lines, and certainlv took as much or more
satisfaction in every big fish brought in than I did myself. One of
them would always take any especially large and fine capture on his
head, and walk with it up the main streets of the town, where the most
people were, being as proud of the attention he attracted as any child
with a new suit of soldier clothes. Our persistent bad luck depressed
them in equally great degree and they would almost weep when one

TWO TALES Or TROUBLE. 19

disaster followed another. They were most excellent men, gave me
the very best service that was in them, were capital sailors, and oblig-
ing, diligent and efficient to a very high degree. Of course, like all the
West Indian negroes, they are to a certain extent like children and
have to be treated as such, but are most appreciative of kindness and
responsive to it. The life of these poor fellows is a pretty hard one.
My captain, who is an unusually good man. told me that during the
previous summer he went through four months without being able
to obtain any work at all. ( )ne of my crew, who lived at Governor's
Harbor, on one of the outer islands, from which nearly all the best
negroes in Nassau come, had strained his back in unloading a
vessel, his wife had lx.-en ill, two of his children had died, and I
really do not see how the poor fellow had lived. When he came to me
the signs of starvation were deeply marked on his face. My contract
did not cover the feeding of my men but, on going out for all day,
1 always took lunch enough for them and for myself and, instead of
carrying water, took a number of partly green cocoanuts. the liquid
inside of which is always cool and refreshing. When a nut was
emptied, poor Sweeten would say, "Will you please hand it here,
Chief?" and make up some of his arrears of food from the creamy
flesh inside. When I bade him goodbye he was fat and shiny, but I
fear the future has some hard times for him and for them all.

One day we were down by North Key when it began to grow
very black on the northern horizon. I got in the lines and started
for the harbor, but had just crossed the bar when a tremendous squall
struck us. We had no ground tackle but a rather light grapnel, which
was sufficient for all ordinary purpose?, but far from big enough to
hold the boat against a very high wind. We got under a slight lee by
the lighthouse point and anchored, but promptly began to drag. Then
the crew hoisted the foresail double reefed, hauled in the grapnel.
and tried to beat up the harbor, but with this small canvas the In >at
would not come about, so we had to anchor again iust in front of
the Colonial Hotel. The wind continued to increase until the waves in
that sheltered harbor were running six feet high and two boats, which
had been anchored near by. broke their moorings and went on the
rocks a quarter of a mile west of us. Then the "Kestrel" began to
drag her anchor, pulling it through the sand for a while, then bringing
up when the fluke caught a point of rock. It seemed pretty certain
that we would pile up on the rocks, where the other boat< had gone.
and, though there was no danger to us except that of a complete wet-

20 TROriCAL TROLLING.

ting, the boat would certainly be destroyed. T got down into the fore-
hold and pulled tlui hatch shut, where, though very wet. it was quite
comfortable out of the sweep of the wind, and there lay for an hour
or more. Presently there was a shout and, putting my head
out of the hatch 1 found a row boat, half full of water and manned
by a couple of darkies. My crew had called to the shore and
these men had put off, well up the harbor, come down with the
run of the sea and wind and got alongside. \Ye bailed out the
boat as well as possible, I climbed into its stern, and we started off
before the wind and sea toward the Hat rocks on shore. There a
dozen or so of friendly negroes waded into the water up to their
waists, grabbed the boat, hauled her up on the Hat rocks and I stepped
out. Of course my first thought was for my crew, who were out in
the boat, with no food, not much clothing and thoroughly wet. and
without waiting to shift my drenched clothes I got word to the white
owner of the boat to send them an anchor, with food and drink also at
my expense. This imitation of a man came down to the harbor, looked
out at his boat, concluded there was no hope of saving her, and did
nothing whatever. My crew stayed on that boat without food and
thoroughly chilled until three o'clock in the morning, when the gale
moderated, they were able to land, and after getting dry clothes and
a cup of coffee came over to tell me the story. 1'eing pretty thorough-
ly indignant. T started out to find that man and tell him my opinion
of him but, perhaps fortunately, could not then find him and my
anger had time to coo! down before I saw him again.

The bothers during this winter were not by any means confined
to fishing. Photography has always been a pet occupation of mine,
and during the last year I had taken up photographic portraiture and
become greatly interested in it. My trunk contained a large kodak
with an especially fine lens, a number of rolls of film, and a new metal
tripod bought for use on this particular trip, the wooden ones not
being trusted. This tripod broke a leg short off the first day it was
used. None can be got in Nassau, nor could it be repaired there, and
over a month passed before it could be replaced by a new one from
the north. A\ ithin the first ten days the shutter of my camera began
to act badly and soon broke down entirely. So shutter and lens had
to be taken oft. sent north to be repaired, and were not returned to-
me for nearly six weeks. Xo films of the size necessary can be pur-
chased in Xassau. and orders sent to the north seemed to meet with

THE LITTLE DOLPHIN.

Tlt'O TALES (>l: TKOl'HIM. 21

very slow attention, so that much of the time this indispensable
requisite was also deficient. My photography was. therefore, almost
as bad a failure as my fishing.

Having had experience with the ways of black servants, mv wife
took a maid down with her, who was to relieve her from the trouble
of issuance of supplies, supervision of purchases and manv other house-
hold duties. She was particularly faithful and conscientious and we
were all very fond of her. After having been in Xassau a few
weeks she took to her bed with fever and weakness, which the
doctor decided was due to tuberculosis. Instead of being of anv
assistance to my wife, the latter was obliged to nurse the girl con-
tinuously for over three weeks, until I grew very anxious for the
effect on her own health. Fortunately, by the help of a resident
physician, we were able to get passage for her on a comfortable
steamer going north, under the care of a nurse who was traveling
hv the same vessel. All this we felt of course morally bound and even
glad to do. but naturally we got no service from her and were put
to heavv expense on her account.

So hard luck pursued me and mine throughout the whole winter,
everything seeming to go wrong when there was the slightest opjx>r-
tunity to do so. Such continued worries and annoyances cause a nerve
strain that cannot be beneficial to one's health, and the result was
that I came home again far kss well than when 1 went. So my
winter in Xassau failed to fulfill mv hopes in fishing, photography, or
health. This bad fortune continued until the very end. finishing with
a railwav wreck as we came west from Xew York.

It is very probable that, on going to Xassau another vear. one
would find none of the natural annoyances which 1 have described : but
1 intend to devote mvself, and ask fishermen in general to join me
in this, to preventing the recurrence of such troubles as come from
defective tackle, by using the weapon of publicity. From now on I
shall trv to publish the names of everybody who sells me defective
material, and also of those who sell me good and satisfactorv stuff.
and. if other fishermen will do the same, joining in a crusade for the
protection of fishermen, honest dealers and honest manufacturers,
against unscrupulous dealers and rascally manufacturers, who make
and sell tackle that thev know to be bad. such troubles cannot often
recur.

I laving given so long an account of my had luck, let me now
describe one of the- few bright -pots that lighted up the prevailing gloom.

22 TROPICAL TROLLING.

The ('olphin, "coryphena," is a widely roaming1 fish, which may
occasionally turn up in any part of the ocean, but is seldom found in
any particular place. I had never hooked or caught one, nor seen a
living one, although a friend once took at Nassau three small ones
which he showed to me. The fish is very strangely shaped, the head
being very large and the whole body thinning away toward the tail.
The back fin runs nearly the whole length and is very high, and the
tail is deeply forked, narrow in the blades and very wide. In color
the fish is indescribably beautiful. The great back fin is greenish
purple with bright blue spots ; the body varies from brilliant gold to
old gold, profusely studded with large spots of the most brilliant
blue, and the fins and tail are golden. These colors begin to fade as
soon as the fish is dead and, within an hour, all brilliancy has dis-
appeared and the fish shows only various shades of whitish, yellow-
ish, brown and grey, the blue having practically all vanished.

As April came on the wind became especially light and uncertain,
so that a sail boat was practically useless for trolling, and I was some-
times compelled to engage a motor boat to get any fishing at all. The
first day this happened I invited a couple of guests to go with me.
It was very rainy, dark and dismal, a most unusual thing, and we ran
down nearly to the western point of the island without taking a single
fish. On the way home, however, we ran into a school of small
dolphin. One struck the hook, made a tremendous leap, at least six
feet into the air and twenty feet long, and got away. Then one of
my friends hooked another. Being entirely inexperienced in such
fishing he was pretty nearly helpless, especially with such a ferociously
active quarry on the end of his line. Seeing that he was making heavy
work of it I said, "Do you want me to take your rod?" and he
answered, "T wish to the Lord you would." So we made the exchange
and, after twenty minutes of most active play, rushing, leaping and
general cavorting, the fish came to gaff. My camera was not on
board and, by the time the fish had reahed the house, the sun was
down, but I hurried to get the camera, hung up the fish and took
half a dozen pictures, varying the exposure on account of the uncer-
tainty of the light. One of these gave a satisfactory negative, which
is reproduced in this article. This picture was taken about three
hours after the fish left the water and the colors are very dull. This
particular dolphin was thirty-seven inches long and weighed fourteen
pounds. I did not know its edible qualities, but had this one cooked

THE BIG DOLPHIN.

23 TWO TALES OF TROUBLE.

and tried him. He proved most excellent, the flesh being finely flav-
ored, tender and containing dark layers of high flavor very like those
of a shad.

The last two days of my fishing I engaged another motor boat,
somewhat smaller and a good deal handier than the first one. It had
the grave objection that it was covered by a fixed rOof, supported on
stanchions, and this made it very difficult for the fisherman to handle
his rod. Within half an hour after leaving the harbor something very
heavy was hooked, which I hoped and prayed was my desired big
kingfish, but which finally turned out to be a forty-three pound amber-
jack, whose picture is also reproduced herewith. This fish made a
most tremendous fight and, as my line was already badly weakened
and I had no confidence in it, it was necessary to use very great care
and spend a great deal of time in playing him. Nothing else touched
my bait for a considerable time, so we ran down to the westward until
opposite North Key, about five miles from the mouth of the harbor.
Here there was a lot of floating gulf weed, and. for fear of fouling it,
I began to reel in my line. When twenty-five or thirty yards were
still out there was a swirl in the water and Captain John called,
"There's a dolphin after it !" I ran out a few feet of line, let my bait
go back, saw the fish whirl up. snatch it and turn away, and struck
him as one would a trout. The instant response was a tremendous leap
in the air and I saw that he was a big fellow. Then began a most
furious fight. He would run out my line almost to the end, leap six
feet from the water ( and he was a magnificent sight with the bright
tropical sun on his brilliant color) then turn sideways, opposing his
great width so that I could not recover any line at all. Then he swam
in circles, our handy boat following him in the opposite way, so that
we waltzed together over the bosom of the deep, and every now and
then he jumped. I found it almost impossible to handle him, from
my seat under the edge of the roof, which constantly interfered with
the use of my rod. so kept a pull on him as well as possible, and
scrambled out on the little stern deck, I holding hard to the fish and
Captain John holding hard to me to prevent my going overboard.
There I dropped into a sitting posture and had considerably more
freedom, but the rudder chains ran along the top of this little deck
and I had to sit on them, giving attention both to handling my fish and
to easing up so that the rudder could be worked under me. It took at
least three-quarters of an hour to kill that dolphin, but finally he came
up closer and closer and, at last. Captain John jerked the big steel

Y/v't >/'R'.lI. TROLl.lXd. -J4

gaff into him ami lugged him aboard. ( )n that day T had the camera
along', so instantly dropped my rod, got the camera out of its
case, adjusted focus and stop, scrambled up on top of the hou>e. and
had Captain John stand up at the extreme end of the after-deck
and hold the tish in the air. The resultant photograph printed
herewith proved most satisfactory, showing the contra>t of color so
far as black and white can do it. Such a picture can onlv be obtained
bv a remarkable combination of circumstances. The dolphin could not
possibly be handled in an ordinary sail boat, so one must be a ^killed
fisherman, with proper tackle, in a motor boat, in the tropics, on a
sunny day, provided with a camera and knowing how to use it, a big
dolphin must come along, take the bait, he fought and landed, and be
photographed as soon as he stops kicking. That all these things should
happen together is not likely to occur twice, even if a man fishes dili-
gently for a considerable number of years.

This particular dolphin was fifty-seven inches long, seventeen inches
deej) and weighed thirty-five pounds, which my captain says is about
as large as they grow, but this may or may not be correct. His widely
forked tail was one foot ten inches from tip to tip. I have never met
the tarpon or the tuna, but in strength, agility, beauty and all other
qualities that make up a game fish, the dolphin exceeds any that I
know from experience.

Cleveland. ( )hio. lime '^th. 1!»11.

THE LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA'
LOS ANHRT.RS

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