THE TARPON 125 



apt to sulk and make fewer jumps. When the fish is hooked 

 through the upper jaw the mouth is held open and this weakens 

 it. A fish hooked through the lower jaw puts up a stouter re- 

 sistance for it can then keep its jaws in their normal position. 

 If you foul-hook the fish, you are in for a long fight. 



I once observed a tarpon from the time it took the bait until 

 it was released. The water was seven or eight feet deep. The 

 bottom was white sand, the sun was bright and the water was 

 clear. Every motion of the fish was perceptible. After it had 

 jumped five or six times, it hugged the bottom and tried every 

 maneuvre it could devise to escape. As I watched it dart, twist 

 and turn, it was easy to see how many fish wrench themselves 

 loose when insecurely hooked or carelessly played. So when 

 the line suddenly feels slack and the fish has departed, do not 

 let the guide beguile you with the pleasant fiction that a shark 

 seized the fish. 



When a fish is struck the guide usually starts his engine at 

 once and moves clear of the fish and other boats nearby. It is a 

 good plan to apprise the guide that such action may be neces- 

 sary by saying ' ' strike ' ' when the fish is felt. This is essential 

 at night. 



When two anglers are fishing from the same boat and one of 

 them gets a strike the other immediately reels in, and, if in the 

 stern seat vacates it at once for its occupation by the man with 

 the fish. When a boat nearby has a fish it is the custom to move 

 away as soon as possible unless it is clear there is no inter- 

 ference. Above all things, be cool and refrain from hurrying ; 

 be sportsmanlike and courteous to other anglers and insist that 

 your guide be equally so ; release the fish unharmed after the 

 battle is over, save in exceptional cases. The tarpon, fortun- 

 ately, has no commercial value. If the fish is evidently a very 

 heavy one or is desired for mounting or it is one's first fish, 

 there is no reason why it should not be killed. For no amount 

 of rod fishing will ever appreciably diminish the uncounted 

 millions of tarpon that roam the sea. 



