The Aiiii-rican .■l;n'-/f?' 



figure on Fulton Market stalls." The 

 Mexicans consider the tarpon excellent 

 eating- and the Spaniards and negroes 

 of that country salt them for winter 

 use and eat them with relish. Mr. W. 

 IT. Wood wrote me: 



• ' Their edible qualities are fairly 

 good. I have eaten of a number of 

 them, and may say that the grain of 

 the flesh is fine ; the color indescribable, 

 but may be said to be somewhat similar 

 to that of the shade of a light black 

 walnut. I jokingly called it a wine- 

 jelly color; the flesh in the sunlight is 

 partly translucent; the flavor is some- 

 what meaty and oily, but not unpalat- 

 able; it turns to a cream-color when 

 fried. I have not tasted it boiled. It 

 is eaten by most of the alongshore 

 sailors." 



In summing up, it may be well to 

 state that although I have seen hun- 

 dreds of tarpon brought in and dis- 

 played on hotel-porches as trophies of 

 angling skill, none of them, with one 

 exception and that to satisfy the curi- 

 osity of a non-fisherman, have ever 

 been used as food, a fact which goes 

 far to demonstrate the undesirableness 

 of the tarpon for the table; were it 

 otherwise the average Boniface of 

 Florida would undoubtedly have util- 

 ized the fish. 



Notwithstanding the distaste that pre- 

 vails for the flesh of the tarpon, it is a 

 choice feeder, apparently preferring 

 crustacean food to any other. It is 

 often seen in January, February and 

 March on or near the oyster-beds, 

 where it is evidently seeking small 

 crabs and other and smaller crustaceans, 

 for when hooked near these localities it 

 nearly always ejects these creatures 

 from its mouth in its effort to void the 

 hook. The tarpon is also a voracious 

 feeder on live mullet and other fishes, 



but will eject a dead natural lure of any 

 kind, if in the least tainted or impure. 



The largest tarpon ever taken on rod 

 and reel, was captured by two Texan 

 anglers, who made affidavits to the 

 weight of the fish, which was slightly 

 over 2og pounds; fhe next largest was 

 one killed by Mrs. Stagg, of Frankfort, 

 Ky. , whose fish weighed 205 pounds. 

 Several of 185 and 190 pounds have also 

 been captured, the average weight, how- 

 ever, will not exceed one hundred 

 pounds. While no tarpon exceeding 

 209 pounds has been taken on rod and 

 line, much larger ones are reported as 

 being killed with the harpoon and the 

 weight of these fish should not be dis- 

 puted on slight grounds, when we con- 

 sider the abnormal and enormous 

 weight which fish, under favorable con- 

 ditions, often attain. The Sanford, 

 Fla. , Journal reported a tarpon caught 

 at Punta Gorda, a few years ago, weigh- 

 ing 383 pounds; this was looked upon 

 by the anglers of the county as out- 

 pointing Munchausen. But the weight 

 of this great fish was nearly paralleled 

 by the one seen and bought by Captain 

 Willard, now of Homassa, Fla. The 

 captain many years ago owned or con- 

 trolled a fish-manure factory on Sarasota 

 Bay, Fla., and bought from the resident 

 fishermen any and all fish irrespective of 

 species, and one day a negro brought 

 him a tarpon which weighed 362 pounds. 

 Captain Willard told me at the time, 

 some ten years ago, that his books would 

 give the date and verify the weight 

 and purchase of the fish. Manure fac- 

 tories of this character have been abol- 

 ished in Florida for many years. 



On Thursday, April 18, 1885, an 

 epoch occurred in the history of the art 

 of angling fully as eventful and import- 

 ant as when the Atlantic salmon was 

 foiuid, many years ago, to take an 



