FISHING FOR TARPON AND TUNA. 



185 



that may be used by the members. They require the use of 

 very light tackle, and prizes are given for the record fish. 



Tarpon are fished for mostly in the morning, but are also 

 taken on moonlight nights. They are caught with mullet 

 bait. They are taken mostly by trolling the outfit at about 

 75 or 100 feet behind the boat. A good boatman is a 

 necessity. 



The tackle usually employed is a one-piece rod of lance- 

 wood, split bamboo or greenheart with removable butt, double 

 guides and agate tip. The usual length is about six feet six 

 inches, and the weight is about twelve or thirteen ounces for 



The Tuna, 



the tip and about the same for the butt. Quite large tarpon 

 have been taken on rods with a six ounce tip, and No. 9 

 twisted linen line, which will stand a strain of only eighteen 

 or twenty pounds, and this is the tackle required by the 

 Aransas Pass Tarpon Club, of Aransas Pass, Texas, but 

 the really large tarpon are not taken on such tackle, or to be 

 more exact they are not held by it. The standard lines are 

 from 21 to 30 thread linen, and will stand from forty-two 

 to sixty pounds strain. The reel must be a tarpon reel of 

 rubber and German silver, holding 250 yards of wet line. It 

 should have a handle drag, which is described elsewhere, 



