A BOOK OF FISHING STORIES 



it is as lively and active as a fresh-run grilse on a trout rod, 

 and, in short, as fine a sporting fish as any man would wish to 

 handle on rod and line. 



Though the merits of tarpon fishing, viewed merely as a 

 sport, cannot well be denied, there is certainly some little draw- 

 back to the pleasure of catching these fish in the reflection 

 that they are not, when caught, appreciated as an article of 

 food. I believe that at Key West a tarpon steak is much 

 relished, and there is perhaps no reason why it should not be ; 

 but elsewhere in Florida, where the population is sparse, and 

 where so many fish better worth eating are wasted, it is hardly 

 to be expected that the fishermen should sit down to a seven- 

 foot tarpon. There is, however, the comfort of knowing that, 

 at any rate in pass-fishing, there is no need to kill the fish. 

 It can be either played to a finish and lightly gaffed with little 

 damage to its vitality, or it can be handlined to the beach 

 without using a gaff at all. Indeed, with the protection of 

 a thick pair of gauntlets, the guide can, even in deep water, 

 release the hook from the exhausted fish and let it depart in 

 peace, when its only risk would be a sudden onslaught from 

 a hungry shark. 



Mention of pass-fishing suggests the distinction between 

 this preferable mode of catching tarpon and the alternative 

 known to Americans as still-fishing. The latter may be said 

 to comprise those forms of fishing which aim at getting the 

 bait swallowed, as in gorge-fishing for pike. It was, in fact, 

 the only style attended by much probability of success in the 

 days before hooks were designed capable of holding in the 



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