THE FIRST TARPON 



fore the recognition of the tarpon as a game 

 fish. I believe the tarpon then on my line was 

 entitled to the credit of being the first of his 

 species captured with rod and reel. That he 

 failed to receive recognition and that I missed 

 the glory of his capture is due to my unskilful 

 handling of the gaff after the contest was over. 

 The combat began at the mouth of the Ho- 

 mosassa River, in Florida, where its current 

 sweeps past Shell Island into the Gulf of Mex- 

 ico. 



Two hundred yards is little enough for a tar- 

 pon line, and I had less than as many feet, but 

 I played the fish as hard as the line would bear, 

 and Tat pulled like a little fiend, whenever I 

 yelled that the line was almost gone. Again 

 and again the tarpon sprang far above the sur- 

 face, sending my heart into my mouth as some 

 of the leaps lightened the strain on the rod un- 

 til I feared the creature was free. Back and 

 forth he led us, out on the shallow waters of the 

 sandy flats outside the pass and then around the 

 turns in the deep channel of the river between 

 its mouth and turbulent Hell Gate. The con- 

 test ended where it had begun beside Shell 



15 



