THE TARPON 135 



Vv^hen a fish is caught one day and weighed the next, the loss 

 of weight through evaporation, is a mooted point among 

 anglers and guides. Sometimes one hears extravagant claims 

 made in this regard. I have conducted a series of tests to as- 

 certain the amount of this loss. The result seems to be that 

 during the hot sunshiny weather, common on the West Coast 

 of Florida in June, a fish caught about noon and weighed and 

 then re-weighed the next morning will suffer a shrinkage in 

 weight of approximately 3% to 5%. I am of the opinion that 

 this is the limit of the shrinkage during the first twelve hours 

 after capture. 



The average estimated weight of two hundred and three 

 tarpon recorded at Useppa, for 1928, was 68.482 pounds. But 

 guides are quite liberal in estimating fish and sixty pounds 

 probably would be fair to assume as the average weight of 

 the fish caught in April and May at Boca Grande and Captiva 

 Passes. The fish actually weighed in at the annual Sarasota 

 Tournaments average about 64 pounds. The males seem to ar- 

 rive before the females ; at least that is my observation based 

 on the examination of many fish. Later in the year the weight 

 of the average fish captured will increase a little for then more 

 heavy females are taken. 



The run of fish varies from year to year. For instance, in 

 1928, all the anglers fishing from Useppa, many of them vet- 

 erans at the game, caught just under two hundred fish. The 

 next year one of them. Dr. John A. Gaines, caught 165 fish in 

 twenty-six fishing days ! 



My catches during five successive trips to Boca Grande, 

 Florida, were as follows : 



