A BOOK OF FISHING STORIES 



ence of the ordinary method, it is a better plan to gaff the 

 fish from the boat, as this alternative saves time otherwise lost 

 in rowing to the shore and back, and this plan must be 

 adopted by any one who wants a big day, as the opportunity 

 of catching a considerable quantity in a tide is rare so early in 

 the year, and the sportsman must make the most of it. The 

 fish have a way of coming suddenly on the feed, and not a 

 moment should be wasted. You must row hard, work hard, 

 and play your fish hard. Allowing half an hour between the 

 landing of one fish and the landing of another, twelve tarpon 

 would take six hours to catch, and the rise rarely lasts so long. 

 Moreover there are sharks, which also take their toll, to be 

 considered, as well as such fish as are played for some time 

 and lost. 



The presence of a certain element of danger adds to the 

 excitement and attractiveness of any sport, and the element of 

 danger is not wholly wanting in the Pass. I do not allude to 

 such commonplace risks of tarpon-fishing as cutting the finger 

 with the line, or breaking the thumb with the reel handle 

 when the fish makes a sudden and unexpected rush, but rather 

 to three possible sources of danger more or less confined to the 

 Pass : the presence of enormous quantities of sharks, some of 

 great size ; the chance, by no means remote, of being carried 

 out to sea ; and the risk of fish jumping into the boat itself. 



Sharks were always plentiful in Boca Grande, and their 

 numbers must have increased since the fishing had such a 

 vogue, as the bodies of rejected tarpon would groundbait the 

 Pass and attract fresh hordes. They lie in wait in a deep hole 



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