Tarpon Fishing in Florida 



fish, in contradistinction to the salmon, I 

 observed that he always kept the line taut, 

 and never ran directly toward the boat so 

 as to double on us, as a salmon always 

 does which is one of the most interest- 

 ing phases of that exciting sport. I have 

 since been informed by others that my 

 experience in this respect was not the 

 normal one, and that a tarpon will often 

 make a bee-line for his tormentor, even so 

 far as to run under the boat. I am not, 

 however, entirely convinced as to the 

 truth of this. 



After another quarter of an hour I had 

 the creature on the surface once more, 

 wallowing in manifest distress ; and, hav- 

 ing drawn him almost to a proper spot for 

 gaffing, was induced by my own weari- 

 ness to urge Pierce to try another thrust 

 at him with the hook. This time he 

 struck him, but the iron only slipped off 

 the monster, who glided under the stern, 

 giving, at the same moment, a swirl of his 

 tail that drove an avalanche of water in 

 my face and all over me. One beautiful 

 scale lay before me on the thwart as a 

 memorial of what had happened. I was 

 just able to make sure that my line was 

 not entangled, and then handed the rod 

 for a moment to my guide, in order to re- 

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