CHAPTER I 
THE GIANT TARPON 
In the old country the sport of sea-fishing, though yearly 
more popular with its own votaries, can never oust the sport on 
inland waters, until at any rate these are fished out. Always 
excepting sharks as vermin, there is no British sea fish so 
mighty as the salmon, or so game as the trout. American 
waters, however, provide more than one salt-water giant 
calculated to test, if not, perhaps, the finest skill, yet certainly 
the greatest endurance that man is likely to bring to its 
capture. Of these, the big game of the Atlantic, the tarpon 
stands easily first. 
Better than any detailed description of the fish and 
dentition, with measurements, is its picture to be found 
in this volume. Suffice it to say that the tarpon is to all 
outward appearance, bar the long dorsal fin ray, a gigantic 
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