490 MODERN SEA FISHING 



not imagine that there was anything finer in the world than our 

 friend Salmo salar ; and yet it is a fact that, taking the maximum 

 weight of salmon as about 60 Ibs., the largest tarpon killed up 

 to date is three and a half times that weight, and, in more than 

 one particular, of better build for fighting. 



I can imagine nothing more powerful than the tail of a 

 tarpon. Accustomed to battle out his life among the storms 

 on the Gulf of Mexico, he is naturally able to tire a human 

 being, and it is a fact that many a man has been obliged to cut 

 himself loose from his fish after a fight of three or four hours. 

 The tarpon fights all the time. He rarely sulks. Indeed, but 

 for the fact that he helps to kill himself by his terrific and 

 frequent leaps from the water, it would be rarely possible to 

 capture him at all. 



Among the most successful tarpon anglers are the Lord 

 and Lady Orford. Lady Orford is probably the only woman 

 in the world who has killed two in one day. Her best fish 

 was 128 Ibs. Lord Orford has killed one weighing 183 Ibs., the 

 fifth largest known tarpon at the time of writing. 



He has kindly furnished me with some notes of his experi- 

 ences during his visit in 1894. He says, after remarking that 

 few tarpon fishers agree as to the details of the sport, and that 

 every man has his own theory on the subject : 



Our first attempts at tarpon fishing were at Punta Gorda, but 

 we had no luck, and I do not think well of the place from an 

 angling point of view. About the middle of April we went to Fort 

 Myers, and there my wife and I killed seventeen fish, my best 

 183 Ibs., smallest 75 Ibs. I have presented one weighing 150 Ibs. 

 to the Norwich Museum, and am keeping my i83-pounder and 

 Lady Orford's io6-pounder. There can be no doubt in my opinion 

 that the tarpon, as a fish, is quite as game as the salmon. 



Of course there is not the pretty scenery, the casting, and the 

 same amount of knowledge of where fish are to be found that makes 

 salmon angling so delightful. Nevertheless, tarpon fishing is a 



