BIG GAME AT SEA.*
WE have, within the last few years, noticed several books that dealt with the gigantic fishes which may be caught with rod and line on the coasts of Florida and California. But nothing has appeared containing such detailed, vivid, and lengthy descriptions of the sport now to be enjoyed as this latest work of Mr. Holder. Like many books which are composed of collected magazine articles, the volume contains much repetition, and suffers from want of arrange- ment. There is, indeed, no index at all, and no order to be discovered; and the same facts are told us sometimes twice or thrice in almost identical words. Of the tarpon, which is known by name to every one, Mr. Holder has comparatively little to say. Some two years ago living tarpon were exhibited in the New York Aquarium, having been caught near the harbour, and not much that is novel at present remains to be said about tarpon-fishing. Mr. Holder has broken new ground, or should we say new water ? He is president of the Santa Catalina Island Tuna Club, whose headquarters are at Avalon, on an island off the Californian coast, and he is probably the greatest authority on sea-angling in the United States. His standard of sport is high ; light tackle, a slender rod, a very fine line, give the fighting fish every chance against the strongest and most skilful angler. We do not know whether fishing tournaments, where cups and medals are competed for, add much to the pleasures of angling. The founders of the club have, however, undoubtedly discovered a variety of new sporting sea-fish. Leaping tuna, black sea-bass, and swordfish must be captured according to the rules, with rods measuring not less than six feet nine inches ; the tip, which means all the rod above the reel, to weigh not more than sixteen ounces. When we remember that tuna are caught weighing over 250 pounds and bass over 400 pounds, it will be seen that the conditions are severe. The line must not exceed twenty-four strands. If the angler desires to use nine-thread line he may use a shorter rod. Mr. Holder's experience of sea-fishing must be unique. He has had his bait taken by a sea-lion, as well as a sea-eagle, which is less wonder- ful. He has had his line broken, after nine hundred feet had been run off the reel without a check, by some gigantic fish. His stories of sharks and shark-fishing make the hair stand on end, and his tales of enormous octopus make the flesh creep. The largest octopus he has handled was fifty feet • Big Game at Sea. By Charles Frederick Holder. With many Illustrations. London: Hodder and Stoughton. [7s. Od. net.] long. He has harpooned, tired out, and landed a giant ray whose weight was over a ton. Another of these monstrous " devil-fish " towed thirteen boats about for nearly four hours, and weighed when beached 1,800 pounds. Were not our author's veracity beyond question, we should say that his chapter on diving for turtles was the best thing that had been written on the subject since de Rougemont. Mr. Holder failed to ride his turtles to a standstill because he could not hold his breath for twenty minutes when they dived. On the Florida Keys Mr. Holder has spent many months fishing, and he gives a most attractive description of the coast and the wild life of the sea. At Avalon the sport of sea-fishing has been brought to as high a pitch as possible, and is carried on in luxury. The Tuna Club has abolished hand-lines. Mr. Holder has a high opinion of the good done by such clubs, and thinks that "the man who entertains the belief that the best angler is he who catches most fish should be put to the blush and drummed out of the fishing-grounds of America." Every sea-angler should read his book, and study the photographs of gigantic, fish and their captors.
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