get fast, and, handing my
rod to R. C., I slipped off my shoes and went overboard. I waded out,
winding as I went, to find that the bonefish had fouled the line on a
sponge on the bottom, and he had broken free just above the hook.

* * * * *

Yesterday the fag end of the northeast gale still held on, but we
decided to try for bonefish. Low tide at two o'clock.

I waded up-shore with the canoe, and R. C. walked. It was a hard job to
face the wind and waves and pull the canoe. It made me tired and wet.

When we got above the old camp the tide had started in. We saw bonefish
tails standing up out of the water. Hurriedly baiting our hooks, we
waded to get ahead of them. But we could not catch them wading, so went
back to the canoe and paddled swiftly ahead, anchored, and got out to
wade once more.

R. C. was above me. We saw the big tail of one bonefish and both of us
waded to get ahead of him. At last I made a cast, but did not see him
any more. The wind was across my line, making a big curve in it, and I
was afraid I could not tell a bite if I had one. Was about to reel in
when I felt the faint tug. I swept my rod up and back, hard as I dared.
The line came tight, I felt a heavy weight; a quiver, and then my rod
was pulled down. I had hooked him. The thrill was remarkable. He took a
short dash, then turned. I thought I had lost him. But he was running
in. Frantically I wound the reel, but could not get in the slack. I saw
my line coming, heard it hiss in the water, then made out the dark shape
of a bonefish. He ran right at me--almost hit my feet. When he saw me he
darted off with incredible speed, making my reel scream. I feared the
strain on the line, and I plunged through the water as fast as I could
after him. He ran four hundred feet in that dash, and I ran fifty. Not
often have I of late years tingled and thrilled and panted with such
excitement. It was great. It brought back the days of boyhood. When he
stopped that run I was tired and thoroughly wet. He sheered off as I
waded and wound in. I got him back near me. He shot off in a shoal place
of white mud where I saw him plainly, and he scared a school of bonefish
that split and ran every way. My fish took to making short circles; I
could not keep a tight line. Lost! I wound in fast, felt him again, then
absolutely lost feel of him or sight of him. Lost again! My sensations
were remarkable, considering it was only a fish of arm's