Giant Fish of Florida 
breakage. It is futile to try and persuade him that just at that 
spot the rock rises about fifteen feet higher than on the rest of 
the reef: nothing will induce him to keep clear of the rock, 
and he has his daily exciting struggles with his impassive and 
unmoved antagonists. 
“Keep away!” he shouts, now “I am going to land this 
jewfish, whatever happens!” Yet who can keep a hooked 
tarpon clear of a given spot? Already the lady’s tarpon has 
fouled poor “ Dibbler’s” line, and he, all unconscious, and with 
a radiant face that beams with anticipation, shouts out to us the 
inspiring intelligence that he is moving it at last, and will 
certainly land the record jewfish very shortly. Alas! the 
tarpon soon cuts through his frayed line, leaving him to float 
disconsolately onward and reel in, bemoaning the loss of yet 
another jewfish, and just as he was getting the best of 
it too! 
Sometimes one of the lumps of coral is detached, and 
the novice, and on occasion even the old hand, will play it for 
the best part of an hour, for it may easily be mistaken for a 
jewfish, a sulky monster that may weigh up to 300 lb. The 
deceptive effect is heightened by the drifting of the boat, 
and altogether there is much excuse for the error. 
It is wonderful, too, how deceptive some of the bolder 
biting fishes are. _I recollect on one occasion seeing a novice 
strike, as he thought, a tarpon, throw himself backwards 
and play it as he supposed right; his guide, who also 
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