THE TARPON 11 



when they disposed of the turtles at Fort Pierce 

 for $200. 



I have fished for tarpon in the St. Lucie 

 River in midwinter. For days you would not 

 see any fish, but if you waited until after a few 

 days of hot sun had warmed the water to 68 

 degrees they would begin to roll and show them- 

 selves and would then take live silver mullet 

 bait. 



It took me some time to find out how to keep 

 mullet alive, for if you put them into a well in 

 a boat they bruise their noses against the sides 

 of the well and die. 



I procured oat bags and laced barrel hoops 

 around them on the outside. I then ran draw- 

 ing strings around the mouths of the bags. 

 After placing half a dozen live mullet, taken by 

 cast-net, in each of several bags I practised with 

 them to find out in what depth of water the 

 mullet were most comfortable. I then tied the 

 bags to the roots of trees along the bank of the 

 stretch of river I proposed to fish. In this 

 manner I always had fresh, live bait at my 

 convenient disposal. 



I found the new moon was the best day of 

 the month to fish. One winter, on the new 

 moon in January, I took a 187-pound tarpon; 



