Tarpon Fishing in Florida 



cramped and weary, owing in a measure 

 to the stiffness of my reel caused by the 

 clogging of the line to which I have re- 

 ferred. The big fish seemed to have got 

 his second wind ; and though his rushes 

 were less frequent, he showed a disposition 

 to keep down in the deep water about 

 thirty feet ahead of the boat. In the first 

 two hours he jumped eight times, I should 

 say, in addition to a series of five or six 

 consecutive skips along the surface a 

 very pretty performance, and one which 

 indicated that he was growing weaker. 

 We had made three fruitless attempts to 

 gaff him, each of which might have been 

 successful had the gaff-handle been of 

 proper length. It was curious to note 

 how well the creature knew the channel ; 

 he pursued his winding way with admira- 

 ble precision. My position was in the 

 stern, on my knees, which were doubled 

 under me, with the butt of my rod em- 

 bedded between my thighs. My boat- 

 man sat at the oars in the middle of 

 the boat, facing me, and his duty was to 

 back water so as to keep the stern always 

 toward the fish, in order to prevent him 

 from pulling us sideways, and thus possi- 

 bly upsetting us, or from getting under 

 the boat. In my experience with this 



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