Tarj>on Fishing in Florida 



It was unrefreshingly hot, and just about 

 slack water, scarcely ebbing at all ; and 

 there we sat for another hour, until, rather 

 wearied at the monotony of the thing, I 

 began to practise casting, in which I was 

 not very proficient. The other rod lay 

 between me and my boatman, under his 

 supervision. I was reeling in my line 

 after a short, abortive cast, when suddenly 

 Pierce made an exclamation, and I turned 

 to see his line running out rapidly ; so rap- 

 idly, in fact, that the handle of the reel 

 knocked a piece out of his forefinger. He 

 reached me the rod; and just after I had 

 seized it, taking care to exert no pressure, 

 a large silvery mass leaped out of water 

 straight into the air and fell back again. 



"A tarpon, and a big fellow!" cried 

 Pierce. 



In considering any statement as to the 

 height a fish jumps out of water, it is im- 

 portant to know whether the narrator has 

 included the length of the fish in making 

 up his figures. That is to say, if a fish is 

 six feet long, and leaps from its native ele- 

 ment so that the tip of its tail is two feet 

 clear of the surface, good story-tellers will 

 claim that it has jumped eight feet out of 

 water. Others will take oath to only two. 

 It is sufficient to state that the tarpon in 



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