FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 is not possible for tlie tarpon-fisherman to gaff liis own fish in the majority 

 of cases, and this critical operation must therefore be entrusted to the 

 guide. The ideal guide would exercise invariable skill in gaffing the 

 tarpon at just the right moment, whether in shallow or deep water. The 

 guide in fact exercises very little skill, as a rule, bungling fish after fish, 

 though at times doing the most extraordinary feats and saving fish that 

 have already been given up for lost. 



One item of the outfit, which I have left for the last, is distinct from 

 anything used by fishermen outside of America, but it is considered 

 indispensable in big-game fishing on both sides of the Continent, and 

 rightly so. I refer to the leather rod-rest, without the aid of which not 

 one tarpon in a hundred would ever be brought to the gaff. It is in the form 

 of a cup and is screwed to the seat between the angler's knees. In it he slips 

 the butt end of the rod the moment a fish is hooked, and this adjustment 

 alone gives the requisite leverage when " pumping " the fish to the boat. 

 Of the similar attachment used in the form of a belt I cannot write with the 

 same enthusiasm. It is an inconvenient apparatus and throws an excessive 

 strain on the stomach. It is not intended for use in the boat, but is rather 

 for the angler who prefers to go ashore at the first opportunity and play 

 his fish from the beach. In the ordinary way I am sensible of the pleasure 

 of playing any fish, from a trout to a salmon, from the bank, but when the 

 fish is equal to ten salmon rolled into one, and the bank is a slippery, sloping 

 beach of broken shells, I prefer to stay in the boat. However, there it is, 

 and he who fancies wearing the belt and playing the tarpon with the butt 

 of the rod reposing in the pit of his stomach is free to do so. 



As regards bait, that used in the Passes of Boca Grande and Gaptiva, 

 another favourite tarpon ground, also in Florida, consists of six inches 

 of mullet. This seems a clumsy lure, but the tarpon have not yet been 

 educated to mistrust of it. In open water in Texas (as in still fishing in 

 Florida) anglers use a whole small mullet, but in trolling in the Passes the 

 strip— four can be cut from each mullet — is simply allowed to hang from 

 the bend of the hook, like a mackerel ** float " at home, and without any 

 attempt at concealment. The day will come, no doubt, when tarpon are 

 fewer and more suspicious. So far, however, they show no fear of the gifts of 

 the Greeks, but take what is offered in the right spirit. As each day's fish- 

 ing requires half a dozen mullet at fivepence apiece it will be seen that the 

 cost of bait is an appreciable item, but the foregoing estimate of 32s. 6d. 

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