Il6 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



with rain not oftener, on an average, than once a month, and 

 a health and hfe giving breeze from the gulf that makes the 

 atmosphere delightful beyond description. Here the Tarpon 

 abounds — here is the angler's paradise. 



Prior to my first trip to Naples-on-the-Gulf, my fishing 

 experiences had been confined principally to angling for Black 

 Bass in Lake Erie, with an occasional visit to the rivers of 

 Northern Michigan and Wisconsin in quest of Brook Trout. 

 I had heard of the Tarpon, but had little conception of the 

 real character of the sport afforded by the salt waters of South- 

 western Florida. Many anglers have, as I had, the idea that 

 the average fish of southern waters is sluggish in temperament 

 and lacking in the spirit and fighting qualities which have 

 made famous his kindred in the cooler waters of the North. 

 This is, however, an error of large dimensions. The Tarpon 

 is beyond all doubt the king — aye, the "Silver King" — of game 

 fishes, as the lion is the king of beasts; and the smaller 

 varieties of fish, with which the bays and inlets of Florida 

 abound, furnish as lively sport for the devotee of rod and reel 

 as can be had in the wide world. For one who does not care 

 to battle with big fish, the combative Cavalli, Spanish Mack- 

 erel, Grouper, Kingfish, Mangrove Snapper, Jackfish, Pom- 

 pano, Redfish, Sea Trout, Sea Bass, etc., furnish abundant 

 sport of the highest order. 



At Punta Gorda, at the head of Charlotte Harbor and at the 

 mouth of Peace River, a locality up to this season never fre- 

 quented by Tarpon fishermen, the sport is reported to have 

 been excellent. Passing there on my return home, I saw half 

 a dozen fine specimens which had been caught there, and 

 mounted by Mr. Thomas Hartigan, a skillful taxidermist of 

 that place. Thus it would seem that the Tarpon is whimsical in 

 the choice of feeding-grounds, especially so far as concerns 

 the northern places where he is caught. Natives of the gulf 

 coast south of Naples have frequently told me that they hail 

 never been to the inlets of Caxambas and Chokoliska without 



