406 



OEDERS OF FISHES— TROUT AND SALMOJN 



ties that have made the ouananiche famous. 

 This species bears to Atlantic salmon and the 

 ouananiche so close a resemblance that it is yet 

 an open question whether the three species 

 should not be merged into one {Salmo salar). 

 At all events, a picture of the Sebago Salmon 

 might easily, under other names, be made to do 

 duty in representing the other two! 



The Tarpon' is one of the very few large 

 fishes to which it is proper to apply the word 

 viagnificent. Either in the water or out, or 

 hanging upon the wall of a dining-room, it is as 

 its pet name implies, a Silver King, entitled to 

 royal honors. Its enormous scales, its back of 



Its flesh is excellent, and will always hold its 

 place in the markets of the South. 



In cruising around the coast of Florida, you 

 first see the Tarpon breaking water, back in air, 

 Uke an undulating porpoise. You may see fifty 

 of them, and sail and fish for days before you 

 catch one; but one big Silver King pays for a 

 long journey, and ten days of cruising. 



Twenty-fi^'e years ago, no one attempted to 

 catch a 100-pound Tarpon with rod, reel and line 

 of light weight. To-day, angling for this grand 

 creature has become an estabhshed recreation, 

 and on the Florida coast is regularly pursued as 

 such at Fort Jlyers, Punta Rassa, Boca Grande 



Drawn by J. Carter Be.^rd, 



THE TARPON. 



royal blue and sides of burnished silver proclaim 

 it at a glance, and in the presence of such 

 external splendor we cease to care whether its 

 flesh is savory or not. How the Romans would 

 have doted upon this fish, had they but lived 

 within its realm! 



To-day it is beloved of every American sports- 

 man who can get in touch with it, first because of 

 its imposing personahty, and next because of the 

 difficulty in catching it with hook and line. It 

 is taken by rod-and-reel fishing in lagoons, and 

 also by trolling in "the passes" between islands. 

 ' Tar'pon at-lnn'ti-cus. 



Pass, Marco, and Bahia Honda, on the adjacent 

 coast of Cuba. Besides the above, Corpus 

 Christi, Texas, and Tampico, Mexico, have be- 

 come famous as resorts for Tarpon fishermen. 



The size of this fish is entirely satisfactory. 

 Usually its weight is between 100 and 200 pounds, 

 but it is creditetl with a maximum record of 3S3. 

 Specimens six feet long are by no means rare. 



So far as known on January 1, 1904, the cham- 

 pionship of Tarpon angling was then held by Mr. 

 Edward vom Hofe of New York, with a fish of 

 210 pounds weight, a length of 6 feet 11 inches, 

 and a girth measurement of 45 inches. Its larg- 



