CHAPTER I 



THE GIANT TARPON 



IN the old country the sport of sea-fishing, though yearly 

 more popular with its own votaries, can never oust the sport on 

 inland waters, until at any rate these are fished out. Always 

 excepting sharks as vermin, there is no British sea fish so 

 mighty as the salmon, or so game as the trout. American 

 waters, however, provide more than one salt-water giant 

 calculated to test, if not, perhaps, the finest skill, yet certainly 

 the greatest endurance that man is likely to bring to its 

 capture. Of these, the big game of the Atlantic, the tarpon 

 stands easily first. 



Better than any detailed description of the fish and 

 dentition, with measurements, is its picture to be found 

 in this volume. Suffice it to say that the tarpon is to all 

 outward appearance, bar the long dorsal fin ray, a gigantic 



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