The Taking of Big Game Fishes 



whose wake on the Florida reef I have found variety 

 and action sufficient to satisfy the average craving 

 for exciting sport. These fishes attain a length of 

 fifteen or sixteen feet, and such a one, which weighed 

 600 pounds, was taken by Mr. Edwin Vom Hofe 

 with a tarpon rod, reel, and No. 15 line, after a 

 most vigorous contest. Such are some types of what 

 may be termed the big game of the sea, all of which 

 it has been my good fortune to take. 



Almost every angler or grainsman has his peculiar 

 method of fishing, and the following lines may be 

 taken merely as illustrations of how one angler ac- 

 complished the killing : Nearly all anglers who follow 

 big game at sea have an elaborate equipment, which 

 can be housed in a small valise made for the purpose ; 

 such an outfit can be ordered from any of the large 

 dealers, and would consist of a reel sufficiently large 

 to hold 600 feet of a No. 21 line. What is known 

 as a tarpon or tuna reel is now made, costing from 

 twenty-five to seventy-five dollars, and is as perfectly 

 constructed as a watch. This reel multiplies several 

 times, and is provided with a patent internal drag to 

 prevent overrunning, and is rigged with a leather 

 thumb-piece strapped to the lower crossbar. In addi- 

 tion to this, some tarpon and tuna anglers strap a 

 piece of rubber upon the rod above the reel, and with 

 a thumb stall, provided by tackle dealers, press upon 

 the line here. There are also several attachable 

 brakes or drags. I have found the thumb and upper 



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