CHAPTER III 



Record Fish 



''And yf the angler take fysshe; surely thenne is 

 there noo man merier than he is in his spyryte." 



Dame Juliana Berners (1696) 



IN his delightful book entitled Fishing and Shooting 

 Sketches, Grover Cleveland makes a strong argument in 

 favor of the veracity of fishermen and in the course of it 

 while pointing out the handicap under which the fraternity 

 labors, he remarks that "tarpon fishing has added greatly to 

 our responsibilities." So it has, for no other kind of angling 

 has given currency to so many inaccurate yarns. It is difficult 

 to verify the stories told by anglers of the weight of the fish 

 they catch. Usually scales are remote or inaccessible and the 

 tape has been forgotten or is difficult to apply. When the 

 fish does reach the scales it may have been exposed to the 

 hot sun and a too liberal allowance is made for shrinkage. 

 The rope by which the fish is hung, a few quarts of water 

 inside it, and alleged shortness of weight in the scales all play 

 a part in the recorded result. Then, too, some of the guides 

 practice deception on this party with the kindest motives and 

 make statements about the weight of fish which are very wide 

 of the mark. 



Many years ago, we had just landed a fish which I wished 

 to save for examination. While we stood in the surf on the 

 beach, a novice at the game brought in his first tarpon, a 

 sixty pound fish. As his guide pulled it up to the shore and 

 the sun shone upon its argent sides revealing a perfectly 

 formed fish, it was easy to see that the angler was satisfied 

 that his trip to the Pass had not been in vain. When he 

 eagerly inquired its weight his guide squinted at the fish and 

 then turned it over so as to secure an accurate idea of its 



