446 TARPON-TACKLE. 



gorged, for no hook could hold in its armour-plated mouth. 

 It took four hours hard struggle to capture a tarpon of 118 

 Ibs, 6 feet 6 inches long, and he towed the boat over three 

 miles. The strain on the line was tremendous, the line sound- 

 ing, when touched, like a violin string." * 



Another letter in a previous number of the same 

 paper gives a somewhat similar account, warning" the 

 anglers that " the line must be strong enough to allow 

 the boat to be towed about by the tarpon, which has 

 to be played for two to five hours before it is suffi- 

 ciently exhausted to be gaffed, and sometimes the 

 angler is exhausted before the fish, and has to hand 

 his rod to someone else." f 



It must be obvious that with such weighty and 

 powerful fish a long rod gives too great a leverage 

 on the arms, and so combines with the tarpon to tire 

 out the angler; also the great strain put upon it ren- 

 ders a jointed rod of any kind inadmissible. The rods 

 therefore, according to the latest authorities, are now 

 used quite short, being only six or seven feet long, 

 and all in one piece. 



It stands to reason that a large and powerful winch 

 must be used to carry the great length of line which 

 it is necessary to be provided with, in order to be 

 able to keep the fish under control during his first 

 frantic rushes and desperate struggles for liberty. 

 These efforts generally include a number of tremendous 

 springs into the air, frequently to the height of six or 

 seven feet or more out of water; the size of the fish 

 can thus be judged while displaying his silver 



* See The Field of January 7, 1888. 

 f Ibid. 



See Handbook on Sea Fishing, Badminton Library, by J. Bicker- 

 dyke, 1895, p. 450. 



