Giant Fish of Florida 
tarpon requires no skill and no experience, but the very 
strongest of tackle. It also taxes the angler’s strengtk 
and staying power to an extent that would, save in very 
exceptional circumstances, be out of the question in salmor 
fishing. And why, after all, any call for these eterna 
comparisons ? To every country and season and income 
their fish ; and those who have the opportunities may without 
difficulty kill their Florida tarpon and their Highland salmor 
inthe same summer. Nor is the tarpon, though first, the only 
fish worth catching in those waters, and I have purposely 
devoted a page here and there to the sport obtainable with 
smaller species, and even with the harpoon. 
The best time of tide for sea-fishing at Boca Grand 
is slack water, and the interval immediately before anc 
after it. A good deal depends on the quarter of the moon and 
direction of the wind, for it is these that regulate the 
duration of a fishing-tide. The tides are erratic in those 
seas ; at times it is possible to fish for three hours on 
end, while on other days no sooner are you fairly under 
way than the tide becomes too strong, and there is nothing for 
it but to reel up and go ashore. Much the same difference is 
of course, discernible in sea-fishing at home during a week 
of spring or neap tides, but there is much greater irregularity 
on the Florida coast. 
Tarpon fishing by night is exciting work, somewhat 
too exciting for many people. The fish, however, bite with 
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