158 THE TARPON 



suitable equipment many happy hours will be passed in the 

 pursuit of this enemy common to both angler and the tarpon. 



You may wish to capture a shark with a rod and reel. I have 

 taken some quite large on heavy tarpon tackle (24-thread 

 line), but it is a tedious and unprofitable task. How hard does 

 a shark pull! 



Colonel Hugh D. Wise, of the Army, has made some inter- 

 esting tests with a spring balance to determine this. (Field S 

 Stream, Feb. 1936.) He found that a sand shark, 108 inches in 

 length and weighing 245 pounds, could pull 99 pounds in surges 

 and when fresh. When the fish tired, it could only pull 20 

 pounds. The average pull was 40 pounds. He concluded that 

 there was no reason why a 1000-pound shark could not be taken 

 from a moving boat with rod and reel, using a thirty-six- 

 thread line with the drag set at 80 pounds. 



It is a matter of common belief that when one shark is cap- 

 tured, the others vv'ill vanish. My observation bears this out; 

 but it is hard to believe it to be true or to assign any adequate 

 reason for it. T bring it to the attention of anglers for verifica- 

 tion. I have referred to Dr. Beebe's experience with sharks 

 while he was diving. In a conversation with him, I suggested 

 that sharks doubtless would have attacked him if he had had 

 the misfortune to wound himself and the shark had picked up 

 the scent of blood. He replied that he frequently cut his feet 

 on coral so that they bled freely and that sharks in close prox- 

 imity paid no attention to him. When a tarpon is hooked it is a 

 common sight to see a shark follow it up as a hound follows a 

 deer and in such cases they will come right up to the boat in 

 their lust for capture. 



Dr. Beebe's researches have thrown a strong light upon the 

 habits of fish for he has investigated them in their habitat and 

 become a part of their own world. His description of sharks 

 is fascinating. In his Arcturus Adventure he describes how he 

 donned a diving helmet and baited up various fishes including 

 many sharks. When a fish was impaled upon a hook its strug- 



