44 Tarpon Fishing in Florida. 



tackle. I had two good stout greenhart rods, each 6 feet long 

 without a joint and about i-^- inches in diameter near the reel, 

 plenty of hooks and traces, two twenty-seven ply tarpon lines 

 each 200 yards long, and a wonderful Vom Hofe reel, with 

 three separate brakes. The first was not very strong, and was 

 applied by sliding a small button half an inch on the outside 

 of the reel ; the second by raising a catch which stopped the 

 revolution of the handle when the line was flowing out. This 

 brake could, in a few seconds, be made with the aid of a small 

 key so powerful as to break the line before permitting it to revolve 

 the drum. At the same time it did not in the least delay the 

 winding in of a fish, as in that direction the handle slid over the 

 catch, causing no friction at all. The third brake consisted of a 

 piece of leather which could be pressed by the thumbs on to the 

 line in the reel as before described. During the playing of a 

 fish one has no time to alter the power of the second, so the 

 special merit of the last was that its resistance could be instan- 

 taneously adjusted to suit any circumstances that might arise , 

 and its defect that its application tended to wear the line. One 

 revolution of the handle causes two of the drum which v.ill spin 

 like a gyroscope when all three brakes are taken off. I regret 

 to say that this reel is an American production, and made by 

 Mr. Vom Hofe, of 96, Fulton Street, New York, where the best 

 tarpon outfit can be obtained. There is at present no English 

 made tarpon reel that I can recommend. 



With regard to lines I strongly recommend the sportsman 

 to use nothing lighter than thirty ply, even though a twenty-seven 

 ply line will support a weight of twenty-five lbs., when new. A 



