PASS FISHING 59 



would of course be serviceable at this work, but as you are 

 always likely to get hold of tarpon, bass, and other big fish, it 

 would be necessary to reckon upon an enormous loss of baits. 

 It is in consequence the common practice to bait your single 

 hook or triangle with a thin strip from the side of a mullet. 



There is very seldom any mistake, in one sense, about Pass 

 fishing, for the tarpon and other species when they are on the 

 feed dash vigorously at the moving bait They prowl around 

 within a few feet of the boat, and take the bait almost before it 

 touches the water. The hours sometimes are very lively, but 

 the percentage of misses is enormous. In the case of tarpon 

 the bony mouth explains the cause, and if you get one fish in 

 ten you may think yourself very fortunate. It should also be 

 remarked that a very strong reason for fastening your boat 

 to moorings rather than an anchor, as at Fort Myers and up 

 the river, is the likelihood there is of a big fish, on being 

 hooked, making directly for sea as hard as he can. Yet it 

 occasionally happens that even in this style of fishing in the 

 Pass there is no sport, no sign of fish, and then it is the proper 

 thing to cast yourself free and pull slowly about, adopting 

 what is, to all intents and purposes, the harling method which 

 we all know so well in Norway and Scotland. If you hook a 



