262 



The American Ans^ler. 



on the first of the flood-tide, returning 

 to the Gulf during the ebb. At such 

 times it is difficult to capture them on 

 the rod, particularl)^ at or near the 

 mouths of passes, for when hooked they 

 persistently rush for the deeper waters 

 of the Gulf, which must be smooth to 

 tempt the angler to venture far from 

 the beach. Mr. Chas. A. Dean, an ob- 

 servant and accomplished angler, wrote 

 me in 1892: 



" The theory has prevailed in Florida 

 that in cold weather, when the temper- 

 ature of the water is lowered, the 

 tarpon go out in- 

 to deep Gulf 

 waters, but my 

 experience this 

 January (1892), 

 convinces 'me to 

 the contrary. 

 When no fish 

 could be seen or 

 found near the 

 Gulf, it was in 

 deep pools of 

 brackish water, 

 where the fresh 

 water from Tthe 

 river mixes with 

 the tide, that my 

 were mostly caught. 

 The water in the rivers 

 is warmer than in the salt bays or 

 passes. Florida rivers nm between 

 banks covered with trees and high 

 grass; the sun heats the water and 

 the cold winds do not reach it. My 

 theory is that the tarpon stay in these 

 places, near salt water, until the latter 

 gets warm, and then they run out and 

 scatter. Some, at least, stay in the 

 large rivers all winter, to my know- 

 ledge, and if any winter in the Gulf, 

 it cannot be verified by the tarpon- 

 angler." 



The tarpon, true to the purer in- 

 stin6ls of the nobler game-fishes, 

 delights in the sparkling spring-waters 

 whence many of the rivers of Florida 

 have their sources, and I have been 

 told that many of these fish remain in 

 the springs during the entire winter. 

 The range of the tarpon is from the 

 West Indies northward, occasionally 

 straggling to the New England coast, 

 several specimens having been taken 

 by nets in Long Island Sound and from 

 the ocean at or near Coney Island. 

 In some of the streams of the south- 

 west coast of 

 \ Florida there are 

 broad and shal- 

 low reaches of 

 water, the bot- 

 tom being cov- 

 ered with a dense 

 growth of grass. 

 The tarpon enter 

 the grass and 

 approach the 

 shore as closely 

 as possible with- 

 out e X p o s i n g 

 their backs, their 

 object being ap- 

 parently to bask 

 in the sunshine. 

 If a boat should 

 approach close enough to disturb them, 

 they rush for the deep water with 

 lightning-like rapidity. When in deep- 

 er water they do not take fright easily, 

 as I have stood on the beach at Gordon's 

 Pass and observed them feeding within 

 twenty feet of my position, rolling out 

 of the water much like a porpoise when 

 leisurely feeding. At other times I 

 have observed the tarpon sportively 

 leaping into the air as if in play, very 

 similar to the actions of a shoal of black 

 bass, who appear now and then to take 



THE LEAP OF THE TARPON. 



