Not So Easy As It Looks.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 97, 27 April 1939, Page 6

Not So Easy As It Looks.

To the layman, confronted reguiariy with pictures in the newspapers of proud anglers with mighty swordfish they have caught, there may seem not very much in the feat of enticing Ihe monsters to grab at the baited hook Many seem to think it. is merely a matter of dropping the line overboard, and a bite follows as a matter of course. That luck plays a tremendous part in the hooking of the fish, however, is shown in information contained in a famous American magazine. According to it, swordfish feed off the ocean bed, but cannot see the baited hook unless they are on the surface sunning themselves. But, if they are sunning themselves, it moans they are not hungry. It is necessary for the angler to find a swordfish who is tired of sunning himself, and u thinking of going down for a snack. And, even when hooked, the fish io more likely than not to get away, for his flesh tears easily. It is an adage among deep-sea fishermen, says tne magazine writer, that the chances aie a hundred to one against seeing swordfish, a hundred to one against getting him to bite if you do see him. and fifty to one against landing him if he bites.