Giant Fish of Florida 



breakage. It is futile to try and persuade him that just at that 

 spot the rock rises about fifteen feet higher than on the rest of 

 the reef : nothing will induce him to keep clear of the rock, 

 and he has his daily exciting struggles with his impassive and 

 unmoved antagonists. 



" Keep away ! " he shouts, now " I am going to land this 

 jewfish, whatever happens ! " Yet who can keep a hooked 

 tarpon clear of a given spot ? Already the lady's tarpon has 

 fouled poor " Dibbler's" line, and he, all unconscious, and with 

 a radiant face that beams with anticipation, shouts out to us the 

 inspiring intelligence that he is moving it at last, and will 

 certainly land the record jewfish very shortly. Alas ! the 

 tarpon soon cuts through his frayed line, leaving him to float 

 disconsolately onward and reel in, bemoaning the loss of yet 

 another jewfish, and just as he was getting the best of 

 it too ! 



Sometimes one of the lumps of coral is detached, and 

 the novice, and on occasion even the old hand, will play it for 

 the best part of an hour, for it may easily be mistaken for a. 

 jewfish, a sulky monster that may weigh up to 300 Ib. The 

 deceptive effect is heightened by the drifting of the boat, 

 and altogether there is much excuse for the error. 



It is wonderful, too, how deceptive some of the bolder 

 biting fishes are. I recollect on one occasion seeing a novice 

 strike, as he thought, a tarpon, throw himself backwards 

 and play it as he supposed right ; his guide, who also 



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