NOTES “ANDY Oe ile. 
[Under this Department Heading queries relative to Angling, Ichthyology and Fish Culture 
will be answered. ] 
Diverse Angling Opinions. 
At asmall club gathering the other evening, 
we incidentally asked an angler what make of 
hook he preferred for ‘‘all ‘round fishing.”’ 
He promptly answered: ‘‘ The Sproat,” and 
immediately the brother fishermen present, to 
a man, dissented, professing their allegiance to 
the Carlisle, Aberdeen, Pennell, Sneck-bend, 
old time Limerick, et al. Following the same 
line of investigation, we unfortunately hit 
upon the fly question, and the atmosphere 
became lurid with feathers and tinsel; but, in 
the glare of it, everybody seemed to catch our 
query idea, and, fora short time, we calmly 
-and rationally talked the matter over, to wit: 
Why such diverse opinions among anglers as 
to the value of different makes of tackle? The 
concensus of opinions expressed was this: So 
far as hooks were concerned, one of the accred- 
ited makes was about as good as another, and 
when the fish were not hungry, feeding dain- 
tily, the smaller (within certain bounds) the 
hook, the more certainthe capture. Just here, 
an enthusiast struck in with a long disserta- 
tion upon the value of the angle of draft in his 
favorite hook, and talked more than his share, 
being only stopped and somewhat non-plussed 
when an old veteran exclaimed: 
‘All right, my boy, about your angles, if 
you can get a fish always to take the hook in 
his mouth just right to suit the angle of draft 
of the hook.” 
We all saw, or thought we saw, the point at 
once, and the subject of hooks was dropped 
and that of artificial flies taken up, and after 
about as hot an hour as frictional talk can 
create, it was decided that tints of color in 
feathered lures don’t count in the allurement 
of fish to the surface, the cardinal colors alone 
being factors, and even those may assume 
other colorations when looked at by the fish 
from below the surface. It was strongly 
argued by many that.the size of flies was of 
more importance than color or nicety of dress- 
ing, and this produced as tumultuous a dis- 
cussion as ever a moss-back angling editor 
ever listened to or backed out from, for the 
wee hours were abroad, and the chairman 
went home and wrote, about this impromptu 
gathering and argument, hoping that his 
brother anglers all over the country would con- 
tribute their quotain settlement of these much 
mooted questions. —Ep. 


Trolling for Tarpon. 
With all respect to our editor and friend, and 
while acknowledging the justice of his remarks 
in regard to trolling considered as a general- 
ity, still I must take issue with him when it 
comes right down to the tarpon. 
Trolling for fish is not in any way artistic. 
There are no tricks to be mastered; no effort 
is made to overcome the wariness of the prey 
sought. As I see it, it is simply throwing out 
a challenge which is accepted, sometimes, by 
Mr. Fish. Any one can troll; it is the easiest 
and simplest form of fishing. In luring the 
victim in this manner no skillis required. But 
how about securing him ? 
Dismissing the subject of trolling in gen- 
eral, and taking up that of trolling for tarpon 
in particular, I have well-formed opinions, and 
will air them freely in accordance with’ our 
editor’s invitation. 
The main difference existing between Florida 
and Texas tarpon fishing lies in the two 
methods of still fishing and trolling. In the 
former, or Florida method, you bait your 11-0 
O'Shaughnessy hook with a 24-inch raw-hide 
snell, with either a whole or half a mullet, cast 
it out from the boat, coil up twenty or more 
yards of line loosely on the seat and wait for 
a ‘‘draw.”’ When the fish takes the bait he is 
allowed to run off with this coiled line, in order 
to give him time to gorge the bait, when he is 
struck, and his only chance to escape lies in 
running out with all the line, or through the 
inexperience of the angler, or some accident, 
breaking either line or hook. 
Where the skill comes in I fail to see. There 
is no opportunity for skillful casting, no en- 
deavoring to lure this royal game fish. You 
put out your line and wait for a bites just as 
the country boy with-his worm waits for a 
perch. f 
In Texas they do things differently. 1 say 
