CHAPTER V 



LADIES WHO LOVE THE SPORT 



THERE are generally some ladies in the company, indeed the 

 gentler sex seems to have taken to tarpon fishing to an extent 

 quite unforeseen when first men introduced the sport. It is 

 wonderful, too, how ladies manage to hold on to these mighty 

 fish, and to husband their strength, the department in 

 which, in their excitement, they might reasonably be 

 expected to fail. I have already mentioned the feat of the 

 lady who killed her four tarpon in one morning. Considering 

 that these fish weighed close on 100 Ib. apiece, this 

 was no mean achievement. This same woman, while 

 beaching one of her first heavy fish early in the season, 

 fell backwards over a few straws. She was too exhausted 

 to stand upright again for some moments, but so excited 

 was her imagination that she was firmly persuaded, until 



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