Tarpon Fishing in Florida 



question jumped either two feet or eight, 

 according to the individual preference of 

 the reader. At that time he had taken 

 out with velocity about fifty yards of line ; 

 the leap terminated his first rush, and I 

 had an opportunity to reel in about a 

 fourth of the amount before he started off 

 again. Meantime my man had hauled up 

 the anchor, and we were in process of be- 

 ing towed by the big fish, whose frantic 

 efforts to escape were making the reel re- 

 volve at a famous rate. From long expe- 

 rience with salmon, I knew enough to 

 keep the point of my rod as high as possi- 

 ble consistent with the heavy strain; and 

 the moment the rush diminished in inten- 

 sity I clapped my finger onto the leather 

 drag, and resisted stoutly, reeling in every 

 inch of line that I could recover. But 

 before long he was off* once more in mad 

 career, and out of water, viciously shaking 

 his head in determined efforts to spit out 

 the hook. His failure to do this after a 

 series of endeavors showed that he had 

 swallowed the bait, and that my chief 

 concern now should be as to the strength 

 of my tackle. 



His first two rushes were the fiercest, 

 and he did not at any time during the en- 

 counter carry out over one hundred and 

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