ON BOTH COASTS 121 



as hooked, and then came the wait. It was not 

 long, for in less than half an hour the fisherman 

 announced to his oarsman, " I feel something." 

 " Let him have it," urged the boatman, for one 

 secret of successful fishing for tarpon is to give the 

 fish plenty of time to gorge the bait. After what 

 seemed to be an interminable time the oarsman 

 said, " Now strike him." And strike him we did, 

 with the most astonishing result. No sooner had 

 the fisherman struck, than a mountain of burnished 

 silver flung itself out of the water. The oarsman 

 said it was a tarpon of average size; but to the 

 fisherman he looked to be fifty feet long and to 

 weigh a ton. Just how large he was will never be 

 known, for with vicious shakes of his head he 

 flung the baited hook at least fifteen feet away. 

 Disappointed? Not especially. Fortunately we 

 had never really felt that our happiness depended 

 upon catching a tarpon. 



