Tarpon Fishing in Florida 



however, to be only a bit of dark green 

 seaweed, which did not become an obsta- 

 cle. A few moments later Pierce plunged 

 his gaff into the water, and brought it up 

 into the breast of the noble fighter. 



"Sit still, sir," he said to me, anticipat- 

 ing, doubtless, my anxiety as to how he 

 could get such a mammoth creature into 

 the boat; then he canted the gunwale ever 

 so little, and slipped the "Silver King" 

 over it as neatly and easily as possible. 

 The poor fish was nearly dead, and made 

 but a single flap with his great tail. He 

 was six feet long, and weighed one hun- 

 dred and thirty-two pounds. It had been 

 ten minutes of three when I hooked him, 

 and it was now seven minutes of six, and 

 he had towed us three miles. As he lay 

 on our way home, and that evening at the 

 wharf, with the moonlight resting upon 

 him, he was by far the most beautiful 

 specimen of the fish creation I have ever 

 seen. As a tarpon had not been landed 

 for ten days, some interest was occasioned 

 at St. James City by his arrival; and the 

 gentleman who had fished for three sea- 

 sons without taking one said: "I do not 

 wish to disparage your skill, but really you 

 were very lucky." I quite agree with the 

 gentleman; I certainly was. 

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