_ pen’s mouth, and when severed by 
The Tarpon or Silver King 49 
culty in handling and bringing the tar- 
pon successfully to the gaff. 
The rod should be a stiff one, 
from, Six tO, seven feet long, with 
enough ‘‘give and take” quality 
about it to respond promptly to 
fiewaction vol ithe fish: It “can be 
made of any approved wood, but one 
made of strong natural bamboo, in one 
piece, with enlarged handle or butt, and 
fitted with guides and a tip ring, is to 
bewprerened:. Lhe reel’ should be at 
least ten inches from the butt end of 
the rod, ‘Ihe line used is the or- 
dinary standard Cuttyhunk linen 
line of Nos. 15 to 21, which should 
stand a breaking test of at least 
thirty pounds. A good striped 
bass reel should be used — one 
known as 3-0 or 4-o, holding five 
to six hundred feet of line. Have 
a leather guard sewed to one of 
the bars of the reel. 
Soft linen or cotton snells about 
the diameter of an ordinary lead 
pence, “and “about three feet in 
length, are effective, as they are 
seldom cut by the plates of a tar- 
a shark, sawfish, or jewfish, the 
loss is small and much time is saved in 
getting rid of foul fish so easily and 
cheaply. Take plenty of snoods with 
you. The hooks should be the 10-0 
O’Shaughnessy, either knobbed or ring- 
eyed. The size and construction of the 
gaff isimportant; it should be made of a 
semi-circle not less than five inches in 
diameter, of the best steel, and then at- 
tached to a handle of ash, hickory, or 
other tough wood of about 1% inches 
in diameter, with a hole bored in the 
hand end, through which a lanyard may 
De iiwemdi desired. Provide yourself 
with heavy thumbpieces, and always 
test your tackle before using it. 
With such an outfit, and with that in- 
separable factor of angling success—a 
marvelous patience—you may chance 
to kill a tarpon every day, or, more 
likely, one in a week’s fishing, but your 
score will depend much upon the month 
in which you seek them—the later the 
better. April is a good month, but 
May amore fruitful one. Fishing for 
tarpon has been aptly likened unto 
sitting all day in a Turkish bath watch- 
ing a string, and that is often enough 
just what it amounts to. 
Your luck 

will be of the most spasmodic character. 
Days upon days will pass by in waiting 
for ‘‘the draw” that comes not; but 
your time will not be altogether spirit- 
less, for the shark, the jewfish, and the 
sawfish will enliven and discomfort 
your soul by inroads upon your tackle 
and your amiability. 
Upon anchoring, your first act will 
be to make a two-handed cast from the 
reel of fifty to seventy-five feet (or 
more if you wish or can) of line. The 
least distance named is required to 
place the boat out of sight or hearing 
