56 Tarpon Fishing in Florida. 



pull to cause it to stick to one's vertical palm. The sucker is a 

 symbiont, not a parasite, and feeds, I presume, on the crumbs that 

 fall from the rich man's table, and on the small crustaceans, etc., 

 it meets with on its long and effortless journeys. It attaches 

 itself to all sluggish fish which inhabit these waters, and can of 

 course let ^o the moment it wishes to do so. I have found them 

 on groupers of 5 or 6 lbs., but they never disfigure the royal 

 tarpon for obvious reasons. 



As far back as 1884 the native fishermen of Zanzibar used to 

 rear these suckers, which they employed for the purpose of 

 catching large fish such as sharks, and turtles. They stuck to the 

 skin or shell with extraordinary tenacity, and were held by a line 

 attached to a metal band or wire bound round the thin part of the 

 body just above the tail. It is on record that one of these 

 fish held on to its carrier till this metal band tore through the 

 flesh. There, however, they ran from 2 to 4|- feet in length and 

 weighed from 2 to 7 lbs. 



The other boats altogether have had a dozen strikes or so, 

 and three or four tarpon, but this is a spring tide, and the water is 

 soon running too fast for further fishing, so we row back to an 

 8 o'clock breakfast. We start again soon after 10.30. The tide 

 is going out, so it is not long before we are on the fishing grounds. 

 There is nothing to be seen and we fish for half an hour without 

 a strike. I suggest discarding the lead sinker and fishing nearer 

 the surface, as I had done at Tampico ; but my guide strongly 

 disapproves and prophesies that it will only be waste of time. 

 However I try it for a bit, but it makes no difference, so I return 

 to the orthodox methods. 



