Cape Breton's Magazine

'mi, im''' This was Swordfishing told by Jack Ingraham Swordfish come to the surface. They're not up all the time. They come up and they what you call "fin." You see their fins out of the water. And a lot, they get under the water; they don't show their fins at all • but you can see them from a high mast. You could see down quite a piece, you know. And you'd see some that you could get round close enough to get a shot at them. You'd get them that way, stick them under the water. You'd have a wheel on the mast. Come a rough wind you had to get down out of it, get off the mast and steer below. You wanted pretty good weather for sword? fishing. There'd be two or three up the mast, watching the water. Everybody watching to see who could see one. Some were better than others. The sun off the water • some people it used to hurt their eyes. It never hurt mine, but it used to hurt some- burn up their mouth and everything. The sticker wouldn't be out there all the time. If there was swordfish being struck, a good sign of them • he would stay out there. Sometimes he'd get one before the fellow on the mast would see it. There was never any bait used. Just looking. And they might be under and you could run around for hours and not see one. You'd just be in a place where you thought they should be. But you'd probably be there hours and not see a thing. All coming up at the same time pretty near. Just a matter of an hour or two would mean the day. If you were somewhere else you mightn't be there at all. And you could be where there was thous? ands of fish and not have the luck to run into one. Everybody else getting fish in the boat and you could do what you like you could not see a fish. The right place and the right time. They were kind of hard to get, once you look at it. You go a long time sometimes and not get any. Then probably you get a few good days, get more than your share sometimes. Then some more times one fellow would have all of them. And then a lot of times you see them and couldn't get them. That was the worst of the lot. They'd run before you could get close enough. The sound of the boat. If you had rattles in the boat, the shafts were rattling • you wouldn't get near a sword- fish. They didn't mind the engine, they didn't mind the exhaust • but some kind of vibration in the water, that will scare a fish. And another thing that will scare them was a shadow. You had to be careful going on to them. If the sun • you know, fishing in the evening • if the fish is out and you cross on the inside of him, when the shadow of the mast was on him whoosh he was just gone like lightning. Queerest fishing it was, you know. But we enjoyed it. You went after the fish. If you were fishing you went after anything that was fish. It was great sport in a way. It was fishing but it was more of a holiday. Everybody CAPE BRETON'S MAGAZINE, NUMBER FOUR SKIR DHU, CAPE BRETON, NOVA SCOTIA SECOND CLASS MAIL • REGISTRATION NUMBER 3014