THE TARPON AND SHAD 



407 



est scales measured 3| x 4 inches. The tackle 

 used in the capture of this fish consisted of a 

 short-butt snakewood rod seven feet long, of 

 which the tip weighed thirteen ounces, a vom 

 Hofe Universal reel, 600 feet of No. 24 vom Hofe 

 line, and a No. 1 Van Vleck hook. 



The Tarpon is not to be caught in deep water 

 with hook and line. As a rule, the waters of the 

 east coast of Florida are unsuitable for successful 

 adventures with the Silver King; but at several 

 points on the west coast, where the level beach 

 of clear sand shelves far out into the Gulf before 

 it drops into deep water, this grand fish loves to 

 bask in the sunshine, and linger in the warm, 

 placid waters along the shore. 



The Tarpon fisherman goes out early, and 

 casts his bait — a small mullet — upon the shallow 

 waters. For hours he floats upon a sea of molten 

 silver, bathed in a flood of dazzling sunshine, and 

 at times grilling in the heat which comes with it. 

 The clean leap out of water of a big Tarpon 

 firmly hooked is a sight that no sportsman ever 

 can forget. 



In a few localities, Tarpon are really plentiful, 

 and easily caught. Off Useppa Island, Florida, 

 between March 5 and May 31, 1903, the total 

 catch of Tarpon was 336. 



The Common Shad 1 is, to many persons, the 

 most savory of all American fishes. It possesses 

 the maximum number of bones to the cubic inch, 

 but its flesh is fine-grained, juicy, and of exquisite 

 flavor. The freshest Shad is "the finest Shad," 

 but when treated with even a show of culinary 

 fairness, every fresh Shad is good. 



Like the salmon, the Shad spends half its life 

 in the sea, and enters the rivers of its choice only 

 to spawn. Owing to the practical impossibility 

 of taking Shad in the ocean, the shad-fishing sea- 

 son is limited to its spawning-season. This is 

 one of the most prolific of our fishes, a single fish 

 sometimes yielding 150,000 eggs. It is easily 

 propagated by artificial means, and a decrease 

 in the annual supply can in a measure be made 

 good by the hatcheries of the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries. During the spring of 1900, 

 the Agents of that Bureau planted 291,056,000 

 young Shad and eggs in the rivers of the Atlantic 

 coast that are accepted by the species as breed- 

 ing-grounds. 



This fish is found all along our Atlantic coast 

 1 Al-o'sa sap-i-dis'si-ma. • 



from Florida to Newfoundland, but it is most 

 abundant from the Hudson River to the Potomac. 

 Of all our fishes, it stands third in commercial 

 value, being surpassed only by the quinnat sal- 

 mon and the cod. 



Including both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, 

 the value of the Shad catch for 12 months ending 

 in 1899 was 49,780,530 pounds, worth $1,519,946. 



Originally, the Shad was not a habitant of 

 Pacific waters; but in 1871, Mr. Seth Green, of 

 Rochester, made for the California State Fish 

 Commission the initial experiment of transport- 

 ing 10,000 young Shad across the continent, and 

 planting them in the Sacramento River. From 



THE COMMON SHAD. 



that year up to 1880, about 60,000 more fry were 

 deposited in that stream by the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries. In 1885 and 1886, 910,000 

 Shad fry were planted in the Columbia and 

 Willamette Rivers. 



To-day, on the Pacific coast the Shad ranges 

 from southern California to southern Alaska, and 

 is one of the most valuable food fishes of that 

 region. In 1899, the fish dealers of California 

 alone handled 1,137,801 pounds, worth $14,303. 



The average length of the Shad is from 24 to 

 30 inches, and its weight is from 3 to 4 pounds. 

 The color of the fish is a soft, silvery white, all 

 over, but the scales are easily detached, and an 

 immaculate specimen is rarely seen in a fish 

 market. 



To landlocked Americans of the upper Mis- 

 sissippi valley and the shores of the Great Lakes, 



