494 MODERN SEA FISHING 



a short stiff rod, and a reel that runs on ball bearings. 67. is 

 a good deal to pay for a reel, and I blinked at the price, but 

 I do not think a good tarpon reel could be made and sold at 

 a profit for less. 



It would be well, I think, if tarpon lines could be made 

 with a distinct colouring for each fifty yards, so that one might 

 know how much line is out. After prolonged immersion in 

 the water the line swells, thus making it very difficult to tell 

 how much one has left on the reel. Overrunning one's reel 

 with a tarpon is, of course, fatal, and it very often occurs. At 

 present one's only plan is to give steadily as little line as 

 possible, but in the excitement of the moment it is not always 

 easy to carry out careful theories. I would suggest that part of 

 a tarpon reel line be coloured blue and the last twenty-five 

 yards red. One would then know exactly where one was. 

 Six hundred feet of line require a good deal more manage- 

 ment than most people imagine. A good deal could be done 

 to improve tarpon reel lines. Their expansion when wet is an 

 objectionable feature. Manufacturers should remember that 

 the great essential is lightness. Lord Orford uses a new kind 

 of silk line which he gets from Chicago. 



I would advise all who have some care for their personal 

 safety to wear a belt when tarpon fishing. For a dollar one can 

 purchase a leather belt in the front of which is a deep cup. Into 

 this cup, when playing one's fish, the butt of the rod is rammed. 

 The strength of the fish is so tremendous that, but for this simple 

 device, many more i5o-pounders would be lost than is the case 

 at present. 



See that there is fixed to your reel a leather guard, so that 

 when the line is running out rapidly you can press your thumb 

 upon it, and thereby form a sort of brake ; but, in putting on 

 the brake, note that the guard is between you and the rapidly 

 whirling spindle of the reel. I omitted this precaution on one 



