THE GAME FISHES OF THE WOELD 



May 15 ... . 70 pounds. May 15 ... . 80 pounds. 

 „,,.... 60 ,, ,,„.... 80 „ 



IdO fi7 



This is eighteen tarpon in about two weeks. If there is any 

 difference between the tarpon of Texas and those of Florida I 

 imagine the Texan fishes average larger. The season in Texas 

 is a long one, including spring, summer and autumn, and one can 

 find tarpon fishing at some locality in Florida all summer; 

 especially at Long Key, on the new railway, the fishing is excellent. 



The fish and the sport are interesting for various reasons. It 

 is a giant herring and looks the part, its extraordinary jaw ^ving 

 it a cynical appearance, while its eyes are so near the end of the 

 muzzle and the top of the head that one doubts its intelligence. 

 Its wonderful investment of big silver scales are a most attractive 

 feature. They are three inches across in the six and seven-foot 

 tarpon, so like molten silver dollars that when I landed a big 

 fellow, I had some of the scales pressed flat and dried, wrote the 

 weight and length of the fish on them, added a stamp and sent 

 them to friends all over the country as post-cards. 



The rules of tarpon fishing are extremely pliable, and you may 

 fish for it in various ways. I used a Vom Hofe reel (costing fifty 

 dollars) and capable of holding six hundred feet of line (valued at 

 three dollars). This reel had a single brake to prevent over- 

 running, and a leather pad to press on the line with the thumb ; 

 so I caught the fish with my thumb. I took all my tuna years ago 

 in this manner, and it was painless, as at the end of three or four 

 hours the thumb had no feeling. At that time we believed in 

 fighting the fish and pulling against it. Now the Vom Hofe reel 

 is a masterpiece with several patent brakes, and has reduced 

 tarpon fishing to a gentle art for game of all kinds, as one can 

 adjust the reel to any tension, and the game once hooked is sure 

 to wear out first. 



In the discussions the angler will hear much about this and 

 that hook and a variety of opinions. I used a 10/°. O'Shaugh- 

 nessey, with a piano-wire leader, longer than the fish, and when I 

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