TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 493 



by comparison with (fish for fish, weight for weight) a 

 tarpon line. 



At Conroys, 310 Broadway, New York City, I 

 spent io/. and a very pleasant couple of hours dis- 

 cussing the gear and chances of sport. For my rod I 

 paid 245-., for my reel 6/., and the rest of the money 

 went on hooks and lines. 



Take several rods, lines, and plenty of hooks. 

 Tarpon fishing is such a new sport that all its tackle 

 is in process of evolution. The kind of rod in vogue 

 at the time of writing (1895) ls some seven feet 

 long, made in one piece, the butt bound like the 

 handle of a cricket bat. Some men use jointed rods, 

 an abomination from my point of view in a sport 

 where the strain is often such as to tire the strongest 

 man. When I fit out again, I shall not forget the 

 wholesale breaking of reels, lines, and hooks that I 

 witnessed during my first campaign. 



' When you buy tarpon tackle, young man,' re- 

 marked an old Southern gentleman to me, ' you have 

 got to remember that you may expect to hook 

 something like a thirty-knot torpedo boat.' 



Personally I did not suffer. I broke a borrowed 

 rod and I kindly split a friend's reel, but, having im- 

 plicitly followed the advice of the New York dealer 

 I have mentioned, I returned with all my gear intact. 

 A charm of tarpon fishing is the simplicity of the 

 outfit. There is no vexed question of flies. Baby 

 tarpon have been caught with flies. I myself cap- 

 tured one with a phantom minnow ; but, so far as I 

 am aware, there is but one method of battling with 

 a big tarpon, and the sole requirements of the sport 

 are the lightest kind of line, compatible with strength, 



