Tarpon Fishing in Florida 



which is recorded on the score-book at St. 

 James City as weighing one hundred and 

 eighty-four pounds. Somewhat larger fish 

 have been taken with the hand-line and in 

 seines, but there is no authentic testimony 

 that they exceed two hundred pounds. 



The field of battle is the seacoast of 

 southwestern Florida. The tarpon, or 

 tarpum (for the fish is known popularly 

 by either name), has its habitat (according 

 to the valuable compilation " The Fish- 

 eries and Fishery Industries of the United 

 States," 1884) in the western Atlantic and 

 in the Gulf of Mexico, ranging north to 

 Cape Cod, and south at least to north- 

 ern Brazil. It is somewhat abundant in 

 the West Indies, and stragglers have been 

 taken as far to the eastward as the Bermu- 

 das. It is the " Silver-fish " of Pensacola, 

 the " Grande Ecaille " (large-scale fish), 

 or " Grandy Kye," as it is pronounced, 

 and sometimes spelled, and the "Savanilla" 

 of Texas. Those interested in the fish 

 from the angler's standpoint have con- 

 fined their attention to the waters of Char- 

 lotte Harbor on the Gulf of Mexico and 

 southwestern coast of Florida. Here the 

 fish are found in comparative abundance, 

 though the same is unquestionably true of 

 that coast still farther to the south from 

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