FLORIDA AND THE WEST INDIES 115 



weighing 100 Ibs. ? The theory is ridiculous, and 

 it would be quite as reasonable (if not, indeed, more 

 so) to suggest that the extra drag of the sinker 

 serves to keep the hook buried in the tarpon's 

 mouth. In either case, the part played by the 

 sinker, for the fisherman or against him, is a 

 negligible quantity, 



The tarpon-hook, which shares with the majority 

 of tinned hooks the fault of bluntness, and which 

 might, with advantage, be a little sharper, is, as 

 shown in the photograph, attached to a snell, or 

 leader of piano wire, with a few links of chain, the 

 object of the latter being to take the sudden brunt 

 of the tarpon's leap, for without such flexible inter- 

 vention the wire might snap at a kink. The object 

 of so great a length of wire is not, I imagine, to 

 offer the hook on fine tackle, but rather to provide 

 against the line fraying on the back of the fish, 

 particularly when, on being towed into shallow 

 water, it twists and turns, dashing to right and 

 left in frantic efforts to regain the deeps. As a 

 matter of fact, this wire is a drawback when sharks 

 seize the bait. Were the hook attached to some- 

 thing with less resisting power, the shark would 

 merely bite through it and solve the difficulty ; as 

 it is, the fisherman, loth to lose much line, hesitates 

 about cutting the brute loose and wastes much 

 valuable time. In "still" or gorge fishing the 

 chain is dispensed with and the hook is attached 

 to a leader of raw cowhide. When the hook is 

 buried somewhere deep down in its vitals the 

 tarpon has little chance of throwing it out. 



When seen for the first time in the Fulton 

 Street Store, there is an article of the outfit that 



