e.

Tuna fishing is of only very recent date, for though the fish was caught
by bait on strong hand-lines by local fishermen, it was only in 1896
that the first tuna was caught on a rod and line, and since that time
the numbers caught have not been very many. But little seems to have
appeared in the English sporting papers and magazines about the tuna.
And it would appear to me that anyone who reads the accounts given here
will be obliged to admit that this fish must afford the greatest and
most exciting sport that can be enjoyed by the bait fisherman. It is a
most formidable antagonist and one whose capture may be looked on with
just pride.

Even the number of those who have landed a tuna is very small; and very
few Englishmen are members of the Tuna Club. The tuna fishing at
Catalina is carried on under the auspices of the Tuna Club, an American
institution which has an excellent object, namely, to protect the tuna
and to see that as far as possible its capture is effected in a
sportsmanlike way. For anyone can, of course, capture a tuna with a wire
rope, and haul him in by main force; but to capture a tuna under the
rules of the Tuna Club is a different matter.

According to these rules, the rod must be not less than six feet nine
inches long, and must not weigh more than sixteen ounces; the line must
be not more than twenty-four strands cuttyhunk; and the fisherman must
land his fish with unbroken rod and tackle, and without any aid, except
that of his boatman as gaffer; and the said fish must weigh 100lb. or
over. On achieving this feat in the prescribed manner the angler is
eligible as a member of the Tuna Club, and his fish is entered in the
books.

Englishmen might naturally object to any arbitrary rules as to the way
in which they conduct their sport, but the Tuna Club makes no arbitrary
claim. Any one may fish how or where he pleases, and need not aspire to
membership unless he wishes to. The aim and object of the club is simply
to set up a standard, and, by a kind of moral influence, inculcate
sportsmanlike methods in the capture of the fish, in circumstances,
where, by the nature of the case, no forcible means of protecting the
fish are available. With such an object no real sportsman should
quarrel.

The tuna is an immense mackerel, and its general build and shape show
capacity for great speed and strength. The largest caught in the annals
of the Tuna Club is 251lb., but far larger fish have been hook