Jan. 9, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



495 



tendance at the table was by neat- looking girls from 

 Maine. 



A most important duty was also performed: 1hat is, 

 the selection and employment of a boatman, for upon 

 that ind-vidu 1 the rleasureand success of the expedition 

 largely depends. Through Capt. John Smith— the Rus- 

 sian Finn who is commander-in-chief of the wharf and 

 the boaimen— we obtained an honest and reliable colored 

 man, who owned an excellent catboat, the Gracie, and 

 who was tolerably familiar wilh Ihe holes and rocks 

 and reefs where the Ash congregate. His name was 

 Theodcre D inatban, shortened by Capt. Smith to "Dode." 

 He was our guide during our whole stay, and we had no 

 cause to com; lain of him. 



The invariable routine of days fit for fi-hingwasan 

 early break 1 ast, so that a start from the dock might be 

 made at eight o'clock at the latest. A basket or bucket 

 of provisions, ordered the evening before, was furnished 

 each boat for luncheon. At s>x o'clock in the evening 

 there was served a good dinner in courses. 



The first duty in these waters is to oispose of the sheeps- 

 head, so that there will he no further desire on the part 

 of the Northern comrade to pursue tiiat fish to the pre- 

 judice of the rarer and more vigorous varieties. When 

 I told Norris, I el ore our Southern journey, that he could 

 take a sheepshead a minute, and that one trial— I said 

 one day, knowing Ids preference for that fish over all 

 others — would suffice for his whole sojourn, I saw that, 

 while he expressed no doubt as to the rap dity of catch, 

 in word?, he bad mental reservations, and he was not 

 Flow in saying that sheepshetd were good enough lor 

 him. and that he would be content to leave tarpon and 

 lts-er fith to others. Many a day have he and 1 spent at 

 Cross Ledge Light, and in the Cape May sounds, patiently 

 waiiiug for the sheepshead's "nod,'' and well repaid were 

 we if we could carry back at nightfall only one of the 

 fish. 



Dode was directed to have the Gracie ready for the 

 nexr morning, and meet'us at the dock at 8 o'clock pro- 

 vided vvi h a bucket of "pink fiddlers." 



Piomptly on time we started, the morning air, warm 

 and sweet," and though gentle, favorable. In an hour or 

 two, we tied our boat at the steps of the government 

 docii at Sanibel. The trail line, as the breeze freshened, 

 captured a trout and a Spanish mackerel before we 

 reached our moi rings. 



Sanibel d< ck is a. short pier, extending about 50ft. into 

 deep water of San Carlos Bay, m front of the lighthouse, 

 which is y00\ds. distant from the bay, and stands about 

 two-thirds ot the distance, across the island to the Gulf 

 of Mexico. The lighthouse (or houses) consists of two 

 neat, low, white buildings for the three keepers and be- 

 tween them is the high iron 1 ght tower. The dwelling 

 houses are elevated on open foundations 15ft. high. The 

 ex remit y of the island, and surrounding the buildings i^ 

 covered wilh a heavy growth of Spanish bayonet, beach 

 grape, palmetto-, flowering vines aud other semi-tropical 

 growths, very oud and plea-ing to the Northern eye. 

 Along i he gallery toward ihe south, numerous rude bird 

 cages hung, rilled with nonpareil birds and cird nal gros- 

 beaks which had been trappt d by the keepers. 



Upon the dock were piles of lumber collected from 

 wieckage, and we found a shady place and prepared for 

 the sheepshead. I alo had a desire to take a jewfish, 

 and had brought with me a shark hook and tOOit. of 

 clothe* line. The jew fish aie said to be numerous under 

 the d ck, but it is an extremely rare thing to take one, 

 becau e of cutting the line on the barnacles which crowd 

 the pilings I tied four snells to my line, and filed the 

 barbs from the hooks so that the fish could be quickly 

 disengaged w hen landed. Norris said he would not risk 

 barbless hook-, and evidently suspected that I was mak- 

 ing sport of him and not the fish. I proposed that we 

 should take one hundred fish, and then 1 should stop. I 

 directed Dode to bait the jewfish line with the first 

 sheepJiead, and cast out. We then moved to the edge 

 ot the whaif. and drorped the fiddlers into the water. 



The bait reached boLtom without molestation, and I 

 feaied that the infallibility of the place was gone. But 

 in an instmt there was a gentle nip and I was playing a 

 fish, which wa-i at once transferred, to the jewfLh line, 

 which Dude cast out, and in fifteen minutes there were 

 as many sheepshead flopping on the rlock. These were 

 cast overboard, very little injured. Just then the jew- 

 fish line began running out, and seizing it, we allowed a 

 run ot tOft. or so, fortunately away from the dock, and 

 then struck. Dode seized the ball of line and ran ashoTe 

 and down the beach so as to prevent the fish from run- 

 ning under the dock, while we worried the fish until 

 Dode was ready, and then threw the line clear and ran 

 ashore to a-siot. In ten minutes the big fish was drawn 

 to the beach, and Do^e bad a gaff and a boat hook in his 

 gills and we drew him ashore — a young jewfish, looking 

 like an enormous bright brown perch, and weighing 



We hoiked four more jewfish during our stay at St. 

 James, bat this was the only one saved, and the only one 

 tiken by any one at the lower end of the harbor ,. so far 

 as we c uld learn, during the season. The flesh of this 

 fish is highly prized, and it was relished at the hotel 

 table. 



Returning from this episode, an horn- more completed 

 the task of taking the one hundred sheepshead. When 

 I called to Nonis that the score was complete, he made 

 no comment, but quretly remarked that he woultl go 

 over on the beach and get some shells, and left me. I 

 lay down in the shade and took a short nap. Then, 

 Norxis not returning, I biited up again, and when he 

 came hack the score was 157 — all taken, jewfish included, 

 in about three hours. 



Sd far as Southern sheepshead 'are concerned, Norris is 

 cured. 1 believe neither he nor I cast a bait lor them 

 again during the trip. 



The most abundant and one of the most beautiful fish 

 in these waters is the trout, or Southern weakfish, orna- 

 mented with scattered circular black spots ou a ground 

 of opal. They differ from their Northern brethren in 

 seizing the troll with avidity and in taking a very large 

 bait in preference to a small one. They are also of firmer 

 flesh and of finer flavor. Some of the guests who were 

 fly-fishermen seemed to have great sport taking them 

 with trout rod and fly. Norris and I, while trolling for 

 channel bass, took four in succession that aggregated 

 24ibs. 



The most reliable and altogether most satisfactory 

 denizen of these waters is the channel bass, generally 

 called redfish in Florida and on the New Jersey coast, 



where the largest ones are abundant in autumn, always 

 known as red drum. On the incoming tide they swarm 

 along the shoreB and oyster bar reefe, and in the shallow 

 water they can often lie seen and the liaifi C*st to them. 

 They are not so large here as on the New J» rsey coast, 

 the largest recorded here being 34lbs. The average 

 weight is, I should judge, lOlbs. I had a delightful 

 afternoon, when Norris was unfortunately confined to the 

 bouse, and I had started out late, the Gracie reaching 

 the "Six Mile Rookerv," where I purposed fiJiine", about 

 2 o'clock. In the skiff, with Dode at the oars, I trolled 

 slowly around the islands now and then taking a bass 

 or trout, until I happened on a sand bar, over which the 

 flood tide was peurmg. I knew this to be the place, 

 anchored the skiff and cast my bait over the bar and into 

 the eddy. It was exciting and exhausting work, for by 

 the time I had to leave, to save daylight and the wind 

 for my nine-mile trip homeward, I had taken from that 

 spot twenty-five channel bas-s and twenty-five trout. — a 

 skiff load of beautiful fi -h. A few days later a lady took 

 from the same place twenty five bas=i. 



There was one kind of fishing which Norris and I de- 

 veloped during our trip, and that was the pursuit of the 

 grouper. Norris thinks this the most excitmg and inter- 

 esting of all fishing, and in my opinion it is of the highest 

 rank. There are two kinds of grouper, the black and the 

 red. The black grouper is a powerful, symmetrical fish, 

 with mottled dark green sides, and looks a good deal 

 like the black bass. The red variety is shorter and of 

 wider build, and has an enormous mouth and throat of 

 most brilliant scarlet hue. The body is of bright reddish 

 hue, which as the fish dies turns to a sickly gray, the 

 colors returning after death. Both varieties are highly 

 prized as food, even the boatmen at the dock begging 

 the luckv fisherman who has more than he can use. 

 Leigh Hunt never heard of the grouper when he wrote — 



"The fish is swift, f mall-ueeding, vague, yet clear, 



A cool, sweet, silver life, wrapt in round waves. 

 Quickened with touches of transporting fear!" 



For the grouper is fierce and a glutton. Dode says it is 

 the only fish which doe sn't know when it has enough. The 

 more it is fed themore it wants, and the biggest "chum," 

 the largest bait, the largest hooks and stoutest tackle 

 aiein order. I had often taken grouper, now and then — 

 rari nantes — when fishing lor channel bass or tarpon, but 

 never until last season had pursued them systematically. 



Dode, eaily in his engagement by us, of ten spoke of a 

 great habitat of the fisn which he had discovered while 

 '•turtiin'" in summer, and to which he was anxious to 

 guide us. Our first trip was a failure, owing to high 

 winds. We reached the ground and fished a half hour 

 without any success. We found the bed to be close along 

 shore, near the mouth of the haibor and in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. Patches cf coral rock made vague, black, cloudy 

 spots on the yellow sands, and in these rocks the grouper 

 has his lair. For his first impulse, when he feels the 

 prick of the hook, is to wedge himself in the rocks, and 

 he can with difficulty be db lodged by the heaviest tackle. 

 When captured, the scratches made by the rocks, from 

 which he has been pulled by main strength, are plainly 

 visible. Of course the fisherman, as soon as his fish is 

 hooked, must exert all his strength to keep the grouper 

 from the rocks; and alter that is done, there is plenty of 

 tight in the fish until it is brought into the boat and a 

 quietus administered with the "paralyzer." 



Dode did not take kindly to our scoffs at his famous 

 "grouper hole," after our failure, and finding a day 

 which be thought propitious, we made another visit 

 there. As we pas-ed Smibel Point, with a gentle breeze 

 making the Gracie slip swiftly through the pale green 

 Gulf water, we found the inlet alive with gulls and peli- 

 cans, all in great excitement, for below them, all over 

 the i-urface, were the silver flashes of Spanish mackerel, 

 looking like the flash of raindrops from a summer shower 

 on the surface of a placid pond, The Spanish mackerel 

 is shy of the lure, but by making several tacks through 

 the schools and scoring many strikes and many misses, 

 we took five of the fish — ample for our needs. 



We reached the "grouper hole" and prepared for action. 

 We med the tarpon outfit, except that the snells were the 

 damaged ones in stcck which we would not risk on the 

 greater fish. Dode cut up a great quantity of mullet 

 chum in large pieci s, and cast it around the boat. It was 

 a full hour before there was a &trike, and then a grouper 

 rushed into his hole m the rocks and the line had to be 

 broken to continue fishing. This occurred two or three 

 limes, and then when we had a strike we would keep the 

 fi?h away from the bottom by main strength. We then 

 began to take the fish in rapidly and ran the score up to 

 thirteen black and three red groupers, in weight from 4 

 to lolbs. Two instances showed the power of the fish. 

 In each case Norris's rod was jerked below the surface, 

 and his line spun out against his strongest pressure on the 

 reel, until it broke. "Jewfish !" quoth Dode, "There are 

 plenty of 'em here," Great was our surprise when 

 shortly after we took two groupers of about 12lbs. weight 

 each, with the missing snells hanging from their mouths. 

 Another of bode's "jewfish" was very difficult to handle, 

 and gave Norris a protracted tussle which ended in dis- 

 closing a 831b. green turtle, which was a welcome addi- 

 tion to the larder at the hotel. 



During our stay we made three other excursions to 

 this ground, and took thirteen, fourteen and thirty 

 groupers. Dode took great pride in keeping its location 

 a secret, and refused $10 to disclose its whereabouts, and 

 was much chagrined when we innocently revealed our 

 knowledge of it. Our directions must have heen too 

 vague, however, for no one besides ourselves brought 

 grouper from there. 



And the tarpon, which is the final cause; — raison <TStre 

 — of this Ultima Thule of fishing resorts. 



The great silver king classed with the herring ! It 

 may be correct as a scientific grouping; just as the jew- 

 fish — most bulky and uninteresting, though savory — is 

 a perch. But think of a perch weighing 600ibs., and 

 picture a herring seven feet in length (as Colonel Kew's 

 fish was), clad in mail of solid silver, with a mouth big 

 enough to engulf a man, and so powerful that he can, 

 and does, throw his great bulk six feet in air aud, while 

 above the suiface of the sea, twist every muscle with 

 frantic contortion. For beauty and power he has among 

 fishes no equal. Those wh© have once pursued him— ex- 

 cept now and then an Englishman, who cannot forget 

 the traditions as to a tlmon and the literature appurten- 

 ant—acknowledge his supremacy, and come again and 

 again and invoke the old thrill. And it is not necessary 



to creation and sustaining of interest to have taken his 

 majesty: for has not my friend, the Colonel (from Ken- 

 tucky, of course), spent three solid winter?, anil deviled 

 many ingenious mechanical patented appliance for his 

 capture? and has he not had m^ny strikes? and has he 

 captured one king? Nay, veiily. But he will come- 

 again this winter. 



There are some canons as to the taking of tarpon which 

 have not been einphasizetl in writing; some have not 

 been mentioned. What Mr. W. H. Wood says is good, 

 for he is the chief of tarpon fishermen. Col. Pinckney 

 tins related what he gleaned from Mr. Wood and others 

 during a short stay at the harbor, when he did not take a 

 fish. Mr. S. C, Clarke, whn-e Writings are agreeable 

 reading, relates the old opinion of the fish by cb scribing 

 a terrifying monster, "with scales as big as a half dollar," 

 which can never be captured with a rod, and only by 

 tying a barrel to him or fnstening a dip°ey by which the 

 tarpon can beat his own brains out. This is perhaps to 

 be excused in one who is content to while away his time 

 at Mosquito Inlet, instead of crossing the peninsula to 

 Charlotte Harbor, where the only tarpon fishing is. Let 

 me give two or three canons of my own. 



First— Procure a long pole, and when anchored attach 

 the stern of the skiff to it by a cord. Never allow the 

 boat to swing. Amoving boat draws the bait over the 

 bottom, collecting seaweed and fouling the line. It 

 makes it necessary also for the fisherman to constantly 

 give out and take in line as the boat swings, a nuisance 

 to the placid soul who wishes to read a book or take a nap. 



Second — Do not coil any spRre line on the stern sheets. 

 The boat being (according to the first rule) without 

 motion this is not necessary, for a well-built reel will 

 give out line without a check or friction. The tarpon, 

 while a caul ions fish, will not notice such resistance. 

 This rule is valuable, although contrary to the accepted 

 notions. Almost all the tarpon are taken on the incom- 

 ing tide, and as it makes, the wind risf s until toward 

 high water there is a stiff breeze. The line coiled on the 

 after thwart in the conventional fashion offers a favorite 

 plaything to this brisk air, and it will be twisted and 

 tangled in many loops, and one single kink means a lost 

 fish. 



Lastly — Do not strike. Let the fish alone, and he will 

 book himself. If the hook is not gorged he will eject it 

 anyway. I have known two fish taken which were 

 hooked in the mouth; mere chance, which does not avoid 

 the rule. The prick of the hook in the walls of the 

 stomach sends the monster with sudden impulse into the 

 air, and his contortions imbed the steel firmly in his 

 system, when after his first leap you see him flash by, 

 with only a foot of snell streaming behind him, you may 

 know he is your fish — barring accidents. 



To this I should add that no great strain should be put 

 cn the fish while he is leaping. Let him have the floor 

 the fir-t fifteen minutes. He will be out of the water a 

 good deal of that time, and every leap he makes is at the 

 expense of his vitality. Merely keep your line tnut 

 enough to prevent fouling and save your strength for the 

 next fifteen minutes. Then he will be weary and you 

 fresh, and you can yank anel haul and "lift" him with 

 deadlv effect. If he comes to the surface to breathe — as 

 he will — lift him with all your strength: don't let him 

 uet a mouthful of air. 



Many fishermen have fallen exhausted and spent in the 

 bottom of the boat because of useless struggles with a 

 fresh fish. I have made it a practice to stop "tarpon fish- 

 ing after the annual fish. The chance of a strike is too 

 uncertain to justify the waste of time. There is abund- 

 ance of other fi-h which give constant pleasurable ex- 

 citement, and pursuit of them contrasts favorably with 

 the long and tiresome waiting and sleeping attendant on 

 pursuit of their greater neighbor. This year, I gave the 

 king four solid dnys before he noticed me. 



Match 2*6, I anchored just inside of Punta Blanca, in 

 the mouth of the Oaloosahatcb'e, at the precise point 

 where I took my first tarpon, in 1887. The skiff's stern, 

 pointed toward the land, was firmly fastened to a pole. 

 A hundred yards off was the nearest yacht, anchored per- 

 manently on the fishing ground, and beyond that, another 

 yacht, both of them the winter homes "of New York tar- 

 pon fishermen. Soon the boats from Punta Rassa, a half 

 dozen of them, appeared, and then two or three from St. 

 James, among them Dr. K.'s, nearly out in the channel. 

 I case my bait toward the shore and to the left, and Nor- 

 ris his to the right of mine, and then we made ourselves 

 comfortable and awaited— as Uncle Reams says — "what 

 the news was gwine to be." 



About eleven o'clock we were aroused by a great splash 

 behind us, and, out near the channel, saw a great silver 

 body rem 1 itself in air in front of Dr. K. Immediately 

 from those old mossbackers of Punta Rassa, came the 

 simultaneous shout of "Tar-pon! Tar pon!" which war 

 c y they kept up during the contest. The fight was brief. 

 Dr. K. had the theory that he could take the fi-h in a few 

 minutes, and putting a tremendous strain on his rod, he 

 smashed that — with a report like a pistol shot— and, 

 singularly enough, the line broke at the same time. 



The day was lovely, scarct ly any wind, and the occu- 

 pants of the different boats discussed the late contest 

 with freedom, every one satisfied, as usual, that be would 

 have improved on it. Norris and I betook ourselves to 

 our lunch-basket. We had renewed our bftita which had 

 been torn by the catfish, thousanels of which swarmeel 

 about our boat. Dode would now and then scale a mullet 

 for bait or chum, and, as the catfish swarmed to the sur- 

 face for the scales or offal, he would strike quickly with 

 bis knife and a dead catfish would float away with the 

 tide. He killed not less than twenty ia this way. 



We were finishing the post-prandial grape fruit, when 

 my reel handle began to revolve. There is no more vivid 

 and intense emotion on earth than that simple revolution 

 conveys to the sensoria of the tarpon fisherman. I threw 

 the remains of the luncheon into the basket, put the din- 

 ner table — a board— across the boat, seated myself upon 

 it, facing the stem, yelled to Dode to take up the grapnel, 

 untied the line from the pole at the stern, and then picked 

 up my rod. The reel, by this time, was going so fasttbat 

 the handle was invisible. Dode had the grapnel in the 

 boat, and Norris his line half reeled in, when out of the 

 brown water shot a magnifieent fish, to be saluted by the 

 Punta Rassa, contingent with their war cry. After his 

 leap he went by me, right at the surface of the water, 

 with about a foot of chain snell visible, I knew then 

 that there were two good feet of it in him, and that he 

 was mine, barring accidents. 



W« were now adrift, with Dode at the oars, keeping 



