THE TARPON 25 



The mature fish begin to arrive in considerable numbers at 

 Aransas Pass, Texas, about March, but they do not take the 

 bait readily till May or June. They disappear from this local- 

 ity about November 15th. The fishing here is at its best dur- 

 ing June and October. 



Mr. J. E. Cotter of Aransas Pass informs me that the fe- 

 males are full of roe in May and June and he is of the opinion 

 that they spawn in the near-by bays during these months. He 

 reports that he has caught 3" tarpon in a cast net in this 

 locality. 



The Panuco River at Tampico, Mexico, and its tributary 

 streams are also supposed to be breeding places. They are 

 found there in great numbers from November to April, which 

 roughly corresponds to the months during which they are 

 scarce along our Southern Coasts. In May the tarpon school 

 and refuse bait of all kinds. They may be breeding. 



Mr. William Markham of Cristobal, Canal Zone, has been 

 on the Isthmus many years and is a close and accurate ob- 

 server. He informs me that tarpon as small as 10" have been 

 caught there on a fly, but he has never seen smaller fish in 

 these waters. Great quantities of small fish come down the 

 spillway of the Gatun Dam and are greedily devoured by thou- 

 sands of waiting tarpon. The tarpon are present perennially 

 at this point. Mr. Markham has used small nets to obtain bait 

 for mackerel for many years but he never caught a very 

 small tarpon in any of the creeks or coves of this region. He 

 has made inquiries of the natives at my request but they re- 

 port they have never seen the very small tarpon. I have a 

 record of a fish caught in Canal waters of 118 pounds, 6' 6'' 

 in length. Mr. Markham has had the best success when fishing 

 with a brown fly of his own construction. 



In the Government publication entitled "Fishes of Porto 

 Rico" (Evermann &: Mar^h, 1900), Dr. Barton W. Everniann 

 reported that tarpon evidently spawn near that island. The 

 Government report describes the specimens taken as follows : 



