Notes and Quertes 263 
opinions among anglers as towhere, when and 
how these fish should be caught, and we want 
to place a few of them, at least, on record as 
to this matter of fly-fishing for trout in the 
gloaming.—ED. 

How Tarpon are Caught at Aransas Pass. 
I had been thinking for two or three years 
that I would like to catch a tapon, and after 
reading your article in the February number 
of THE AMERICAN ANGLER, I determined to go. 
I so made up a party, on the ist of June, of 
some twenty, including a few ladies. We de- 
cided to try the tarpon at Aransas Pass, but 
only a few of us, including one lady, attempted 
to catch them, and nearly all, including the 
lady (Mrs. Brooks), caught one or more with 
rod, line or reel. Our party caught eight 
tarpon, and other parties caught as many 
more. 
I think the tarpon fishing at Aransas Pass is 
done in an entirely different manner from that 
practiced in Florida. I tried it in the manner 
you suggested, by making a two-handed cast 
of from fifty to seventy-five feet, but I soon 
concluded from several trials, and the experi- 
ence of my boatman, that this was not the best 
way for this locality, for the best tarpon fishing 
here is when the tide is running very swiftly 
in or out. We just simply drop our line, baited 
with mullet, over the boat, and pay out from 
forty to fifty yards of line. Thecurrent takes 
the line as fast as you pay it out, and then we 
wait forastrike. Your boatman keeps the boat 
moving about more or less. You very seldon 
have to wait very long. I think our average 
was at least five or six strikes on each half 
day, but I have never known one down here 
to swallow the bait. They are always hooked 
in the mouth, and I don’t think that over one 
in fifteen or twenty that strike, are boated. 
We used mostly greenheart rods, seven to 
eight feet, No. 21 Cuttyhunk lines, and 10.0 
O'Shaughnessy hooks. I think, especially in 
fishing for tarpon, you want the very best 
rods, reels, lines and hooks you can get. We 
had several reels to jam on us. 
LeEv1 LINGo. 
[Our suggestion in the February number of 
Tue ANGLER, that the most artistic method of 
catching tarpon would be similar to that of 
casting the minnow for black bass, was 
made solely from a theoretical standpoint. 
We did not imagine that one angler ina 
thousand could stand the strain of casting 
a heavy mullet bait with a stiff rod all day, or 
even apart of one. We regret that our cor- 
respondent has not been more explicit in his 
description of Aransas Pass methods of catch- 
ing tarpon. Did the bait play under the ac- 
tion of the tide on the surface of the water, 
or was a heavy sinker attached? In what 
depth of water was the fishing done ? Did the 
angler pay out line after the pluck of the fish, 
or did he strike immediately ? Under the 
latter condition we can easily understand why 
only one fish was boated out of twenty hooked, 
and this percentage agrees with that made by 
fishermen in Florida, who troll for tarpon, 
which cannot be successfully killed unless the 
hook is lodged in the gullet or deep in the in- 
ner angle of the mouth. We hope our cor- 
respondent will favor us with additional 
details as to the methods employed in fishing 
for tarpon at Aransas Pass.—ED. | 

Weight of Bluefish. 
A friend told me he caught, this summer, on 
the Massachusetts coast, a bluefish weighing 
14 tb., and I disputed the weight, being under 
the impression that during the last twenty 
years not five bluefish of that weight have 
been caught. Am I right or wrong? 
Gib G: 
You are wrong. Many bluefish have been 
caught weighing over 14 hb. ; in fact, specimens 
here and there have been taken that weighed 
from 20 to 25 tb., and Dr. Yarrow reports that 
in the October run of this fish, along the Car- 
olina coast, many are taken that weigh from 
15 to 20 ths. The fall run always contains the 
largest fish. 
Fishes Colored as in Life. 
Mr. Richard Henry Stoddard, editor Maz? 
and Express of New York City, in an ex- 
tended review of our ‘‘ Fishes of North Amer- 
ica,” writes as follows: ‘‘The followers of 
Izaak Walton owe a lasting debt of gratitude 
{to William C. Harris, editor of THE AMERICAN 
ANGLER, for the illustrated periodical, ‘The 
Fishes of North America,’ which is being 
issued in monthly parts. When complete, the 
work will be a compendium of the literature 
of ichthyology. The text consists of full bi- 
ological notes on all fishes that are caught with 
hook and line in American waters. Their 
habitat, habits and mode of capture are de- 
scribed and illustrated, and their anatomy and 
physiology delineated by excellent drawings 
