Article Nº 3717 Fishing and whaling Vol. III · p. 674
Vara de salto (fishing pole)
Original title: Vara de Salto
Describes the vara de salto, a pole-and-line fishing implement used to catch skipjack and tuna.
A fishing implement consisting of a pole of Madeira mahogany (vinhático, Persea indica) or folhado (Clethra arborea, a native tree), with a line at its tip. At the end of the line is a wire about half a metre long, fitted with a hook. It is used to catch skipjack tuna (gaiado) and tuna: the hook is plain when intended for the first of these fish, and barbed when intended for tuna.
When the skipjack tuna takes the hook, it leaps and usually strikes the fisherman on the chest, and he then tears the hook from the fish with his teeth.