THE TARPON 157 



advisable to carry two harpoons and to try to get a second one 

 into the fish as soon as possible for then the shark can be vig- 

 orously played with the comfortable feeling that if one har- 

 poon pulls out you have another in reserve. 



When the shark is brought up to the boat, it is still full of 

 fight and ofttinies the angler tries to kill it with a revolver or 

 rifle. It is far better and safer to employ a lance for a few jabs 

 from it will soon kill the largest shark. 



The harpoon usually has a long handle and it requires much 

 practice and considerable strength and experience to throw it 

 accurately. If the shark can be induced to come close enough 

 to the boat, jab it with the harpoon instead of trying to make 

 a cast. 



The equipment described will cost about forty dollars and 

 the expenditure is worth while for its use enlivens the day 

 when fishing is poor or the tides are not propitious for tarpon. 



As the season advances at Boca Grande, sharks increase in 

 number and in size. In July during one of my early trips to 

 this Pass we baited a line and laid it off the light-house pier, 

 soon catching a shark which measured sixteen feet and four 

 inches. Its stomach contained the generous piece of tarpon 

 with which the hook was baited, another piece of tarpon, a cor- 

 morant, three horseshoe crab shells and at least one-half 

 bushel of partly digested matter. Sharks are extremely vo- 

 racious and will continue to grab at a string of fish tied on the 

 boat even after they are mortally wounded. Hammerhead 

 sharks, twelve feet long, are taken in these waters. 



Sometimes sharks will take the tarpon bait and then the 

 angler has his work cut out for him. The best thing to do is 

 to run up as close as possible and cut the line. If it falls to the 

 angler's lot to hook a mackerel shark, he will swear he has a 

 tarpon till his eyes undeceive him, for the distant jumps of 

 that specie sometimes mislead even the veteran angler. With 



