Fishes of the Western Nort/i Atlantic 119 



is world-wide and mucli has been written about the requirements for capturing and 

 subduing this powerful, hard-fighting fish. Its great strength became evident to the 

 writer one day when he was helping to land a Tarpon 80 inches long. A man standing 

 nearby saw the great fish leap ashore from the seine, and wishing to prevent it from 

 jumping back into the water, he threw himself on it, evidently believing that he had 

 enough strength and weight to manage the fish. However, with one stroke of the tail the 

 fish lifted the man, who weighed at least 150 pounds, and threw him a distance of about 

 12—15 '^^^^- It is understandable, then, why considerable strength, skill, patience, and 

 determination are required to land a large Tarpon and why Tarpon fishing is exciting. 



About angling for Tarpon, Miss Francesca LaMonte has provided the following 

 information (personal communication). The hard-fighting Tarpon, either large or 

 small, is a prized catch wherever it occurs in western Atlantic waters, from Nova 

 Scotia to Argentina, or in the eastern South Atlantic off Lagos, Nigeria, and at the mouth 

 of the Volta River, Ghana. The most famous western North Atlantic grounds for both 

 numbers of fish and facilities are: the Florida Keys, centering around Islamorada and 

 Marathon ; the western coast of Florida, especially in the passes near Boca Grande and 

 Useppa Island; the Rio Panuco, Mexico; and the Rio Encantado, Cuba. 



The number of Tarpon caught is always small in comparison with the number 

 present, for the fish puts up a violent and often successful fight. A large one is usually 

 fished from outboard motor boats (with the motor cut) by casting, trolling, drifting, 

 or still fishing, on i 2-pound line or less, with plugs or with either live or dead bait, and 

 with or without a drag on the reel. The first problem is to set the hook in the Tarpon's 

 hard mouth, then to prevent the fish from throwing it or breaking the line, both of 

 which it will try to do. First it will make a fast, powerful run and a series of high, twisting 

 leaps, shaking its head with violence. Failing to throw the hook, it will then try to break 

 the line either by charging at the boat if the line is too tight, or, if too loose, taking off 

 into the mangroves where the line will eventually break on the roots. The small young 

 Tarpon is caught in rivers and canals on fly-fishing or spinning tackle with light mono- 

 filament line. Though small, it fights just as hard as the adult and is by no means 

 sport for an inexperienced angler. 



There is wide diversity of opinion as to the edible qualities of Tarpon flesh. On 

 our own shores "large ones at least are not edible" (Babcock, J [1936]: 63), but in 

 Panama it is highly esteemed by the natives and West Indian immigrants (j6: 239); 

 there the size of the fish receives no consideration, for an 80-inch Tarpon seemed as 

 acceptable as a small one; as stated by me in the paper just cited, a small fishery for 

 Tarpon was in operation in Gatun Lake in 1935. ^^ '^^^ been reported that it is highly 

 prized as food by the Indians of the Caladonia Bay (Panama) region (jo: 152). In 

 the United States the commercial value of the Tarpon is so slight that it has not 

 been listed in the statistical reports of the commercial fisheries by the former Bureau 

 of Fisheries or by the present U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 



Range and Abundance. The regular range of the Tarpon extends from North 

 Carolina to central Brazil, and it is probable that the Tarpon frequents the Brazilian 



