CHAPTER XVII. 

 Fishing For Tarpon and Tuna. 



HE tarpon is one of the most highly prized 

 game fish of salt water, a large fish that 

 fights wonderfully when hooked, leaping 

 sometimes ten feet from the water. I 

 do not suspect that many readers of this 

 work are tarpon fishers but if any ever have the opportunity 

 it is a sport that is second to none, and should not be 

 passed by without a trial. 



The tarpon is found in the GuU of Mexico and off the 

 east coast of Florida, the most famed places being Indian 

 River Inlet, Jupiter Inlet, North Inlet, and all the way 

 around to Tampa Bay, and down along the west side of 

 the Gulf to Tampico, Mexico. Tarpon move south in the 

 fall and winter and northward in spring. They appear 

 along the Florida coast in February, and along the Texas 

 coast in March, but are not found in their greatest numbers 

 until April and May. They do not take a bait until the 

 last of May. 



This fish resembles a herring somewhat in outline. It is 

 a slender, graceful fish, and is covered with enormous silvery 

 scales. The color on the back is a deep bluish or purplish, 

 silvery on the sides and beneath. The dorsal and anal fins 

 are of peculiar shape, and the tail is large and deeply notched. 

 The average weight of the full grown fish is from 75 to 150 

 pounds, but it is said to reach a weight of 400 pounds and a 

 length of eight feet. 



The fish are such great fighters and there is such great 

 sport in angling for them, that a number of tarpon clubs have 

 been formed, and these clubs regulate the strength of tackle 



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