THE BOOK OF THE TARPON 



Grande after I wrote that I would join you 

 there?" inquired the Girl in her severest man- 

 ner. 



"We thought you would like to go around in 

 the canoe and the Big Pass is too rough for that. 

 We are going to give you a chance to take a 

 tarpon in Captiva Pass this morning." 



But the tarpon wouldn't be taken. We took 

 the Girl out in the canoe and anchored it fifty 

 feet from the whirlpool on the south side of the 

 pass. Here the swift tide, striking masses of 

 coral rock in the bottom of a deep pool, comes 

 swirling to the surface like a miniature mael- 

 strom. This pool is a playground for tarpon, 

 which rise to the surface to blow sometimes a 

 dozen in a minute. They are not looking for 

 food and will knock aside the baited hook that 

 floats over them as they rise. We trolled our 

 most seductive lures across the pool, we weighted 

 and sunk them to the depths below without get- 

 ting a rise. 



"How far is it to Boca Grande?" asked the 

 Girl. 



"Six miles up the coast, outside, may be a 

 little farther by way of the harbor." 



74 



