250 Big Game Fishes 



tarpon in mid-air on a taut line, and began trolling 

 with a line not over fifteen feet out a seeming 

 absurdity ; yet my boatman assured me that along 

 the jetty this was often effective, and he was a true 

 prophet. The strike soon came and I responded 

 at once, possibly giving the fish the benefit of a 

 foot by dropping my tip before striking, then 

 repeating it twice at least ; in a word, attempting 

 to hook the tarpon as I would a tuna on the 

 instant. In every instance this was successful, 

 and I did not miss hooking a fish, trolling at a 

 speed of two and a half miles an hour ; those lost, 

 with one exception, were while I was towing them 

 in after I had brought them to the boat a dis- 

 agreeable process and one that would be unneces- 

 sary if a good raft was anchored in the lee of the 

 jetty. When I hooked a fish with the short line, 

 it went into air so near the boat that my boatman 

 feared that it was coming aboard ; but, fortunately, 

 I was able quickly to give the reel handle a twirl 

 so that the fish was in mid-air with a taut line. 

 The tarpon had its mouth and gills open, and as 

 nearly as I could judge it made two convulsive 

 lateral swings before it fell, merely jerking a foot 

 of my line from the reel, the anti-overrunning drag 

 coming into play here. The fish dropped heavily, 



