Ordinarily, these fish
must be taken with a live bait; but, remembering my experience
with the dolphin, I determined to try a carefully arranged strip
of fish from one recently caught. In precisely the same way as
the dolphin, these long, snaky rascals carefully tested the bait,
lying still for sometimes as long as two minutes with the bait in
their mouths, ready to drop it out on the first intimation that
it was not a detached morsel. After these periods of waiting the
artful creature would turn to go, and a sudden jerk of the line
then reminded him that he was no longer a free agent, but
mounting at headlong speed to a strange bourne whence he never
returned to tell the tale. My catch that lovely morning scaled
over a hundredweight in less than an hour, none of the fish being
less than ten pounds in weight.
The Maories have quite an original way of catching barracouta.
They prepare a piece of "rimu" (red pine) about three inches
long, by an inch broad, and a quarter of an inch thick. Through
one end of this they drive an inch nail bent upwards, and filed
to a sharp point. The other end is fastened to about a fathom of
stout fishing-line, which is in turn secured to the end of a
five-foot pole.
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