Aug. 4, 1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
8 7 
jetty at one end and the remains of an old pile pier at 
the other. Of course my duffer frightened the fish ofi 
by his awkwardness — and more than once. For fear of 
cutting the line on the rocks or getting it tangled 
among the piles I had to snub the fish up short and 
haul it back by brute force. After a long struggle, ex- 
hausting not only from the hard, physical work, but 
also from a failing vocabulars' and sore throat, I man- 
aged to get the fish ashore. It is lucky that my midget 
did not understand English, because if he did he might 
not have felt flattered. Perhaps the tone of voice em- 
ployed during the excitement gave him an idea of my 
opinion as to his ability as a tarpon oarsman. 
In the afternoon got one strike, but failed to hold. 
'Heavy south wind blowing all day, making the channel 
rough and waves high._ Fished faithfully till nearly dark, 
then took the 6:20 train for Tampico, 
December 3. 
Being Sunday, there was no early train, so we did not 
start fishing until 9:30. Had no more than gotten the 
line out when I struck a tarpon and landed it in fifteen 
minutes at the same spot where we had beached the jew- 
fish. One more strike in the forenoon, but no fish. At 
noon took luncheon on the south shore, where we landed 
yesterday's big fish. We had with us this day a volunteer 
boatman, who offered his services gratis at the rowing 
in order to see the sport. He proved to be of more 
trouble than assistance, 
While at lunch a howling norther came up suddenly. 
So hard did it blow that it took us at least fifteen min- 
utes to get the boat 50 feet out from the shore, so as to 
pass the piles of the old pier. By degrees we worked 
toward the other shore, then turned and fairly flew before 
the gale in the direction of Tampico, where we arrived 
' early in the afternoon after a rather exciting ride. 
The evening train brought my two companions, who 
were well pleased to learn that I had managed to secure 
four fish in three days, in spite of the stormy weather. 
December 4. 
Turne'd out at the usual time, but did not get away 
till 8:30, as I had a great deal to do in helping to get 
ready the tackle of my friends, securing boats and boat- 
men, etc. Don Jose decided to ride with me in order to 
learn the modus operandi of tarpon fishing before start 
ing in on his own account, so he sat directly behind 
me, ,'md the boatman rowed from the front seat. 
This time we concluded to try to fishing at the mouth 
I of a river that flow.s_ into the main river at the south side 
just opposite the city, and not more than a mile from 
pur starting point. The tide was going out, and conse- 
quently there was a sharp dividing line between the 
waters of the two rivers, those from the branch being 
somewhat muddy, and those of the main river clear and 
blue. We saw a good many tarpon, and it was not 
(long before I had hung a big one. which fought well, first 
by jumping and afterward by sounding. It took half 
an hour to get it into shallow water, during which time 
T had not onl}^ to attend to business, but also delivered a 
lecture to Don Jose upon how to handle a heavy fish. 
He was a most interested and excited pupil, and showed 
I buch thorough anpreciation of the sport that I conse- 
1 quentlj^ enjoyed this catch more than I had ever enjoyed 
any previous one. It was a most exciting half hour for 
all concerned, as this was the biggest fish yet, measuring 
; 6 feet I inch, and being very heavy and solid. We esti- 
( mated its weight to be in excess of 150 pounds. 
i As the landing place was very muddy, and as I did not 
have on my rubber boots, I did not care to gaff the fish 
mif^self, so Dr. Howe rowed up and shot it with his 
pistol, after which my timid boatman mustered up 
enough courage to drag it ashore. It seems odd that 
any one could be afraid of a tarpon — a fish without teeth 
— but such proved to be the case with most of the boat- 
men we employed, one only of the four I tried succeed- 
ing in becoming a truly good gaffer. Dr. Howe took 
a photograph of the fish, wdiich proved upon development 
to be an excellent one, clear and distinct. After taking 
the photo we left the tarpon on the beach for the buz- 
zards, which swarmed in for the feast before our boats 
were 100 yards away. 
During our struggle Dr. Howe had several strikes, but 
failed to hold, probabbr because this was his first ex- 
perience in handling tarpon with a rod. 
I now passed my rod over to Don Jose, telling him that 
I hoped his first fish would be a little one; and sure 
enough it was — not 4 feet long. He held it for a few 
jumps, and then it shook off, much to my friend's dis- 
gust, who feared that he would never be able to catch 
any. Soon after he got another strike, but this time a 
single leap did the business, and poor Jose was bluer than 
ever. I cheered him with the remark, "Better luck next 
time," which very nearly proved to be a true saying, as 
he soon hooked and held a S-footer. He handled the 
fish in first-rate shape, doing exactly as I told him for 
quite a while. We were fighting it out in midstream of 
the big river, towing backw^ard and forward and heading 
finally for the north shore or the Tampico side. 
Thinking that the fish could be landed in the boat 
and thus save us a muddy beaching, I told Jose to reel 
it up close and within reach of the gaff. He tried several 
times to do so, but unsuccessfully. Finally he got it up 
close, with the rod nearlj^ vertical, when suddenly it 
sounded, and Jose not easing up on the brake, snap 
went the line, and the fish was a goner. Poor Jose's 
heart was nearly broken, and to cap the climax when he 
returned to the fray the fish had stopped striking. While 
all this was going on Dr. Howe had had, all told, seven 
Strikes, but failed to hold, so when the striking stopped 
lie started for La Barra, Ave following him soon after. 
We landed on the south bank, near some huts about half 
a mile from the jetty, and set the hand lines, which are 
from 150 to .3C» yards long, The method of setting is 
IS follows. One end of the coded line is attached firmly 
to some solidly bedded object on shore, and the other 
end with the large hook and bait is placed in a boat, 
which is rowed toward midstream till all the line is out, 
when the hook is dropped overboard and the boat returns 
to shore. The line is hauled in a few feet, so as to have 
no reverse in its length, and it is passed loosely over 
and around the top of a short stick forced into the sand. 
This acts as an alarm, for when the fish gets hooked the 
stifk falls, then all h^nds grab the line and haul in. While 
at lunch we caught a small jewfish, then Jose and I left 
the Doctor and tried for tarpon between the jetties, but 
without success. Upon our return to the Doctor we 
found that he had caught another jewfish weighing 280 
pounds, soon after Jose on one of the hand lines landed 
a large pargo raulato of about 75 pounds' weight. This 
fish looks a little like the jewfish, but has great solid 
teeth similar to those of a dog, and is colored a dull red 
beneath and along the sides. 
Returned in the boats to Tampico in order to dispose 
of the big fish, which was given to the negroes who were 
working on the jetties. On the way back we found the 
mosquitoes rather troublesome. 
December 5. 
This morning my little boatman failed to show up, 
sending word that he was ill. Either he had been paid 
too much money or else had had enough hard work. 
]\'Ianaged to pick up a young fellow, who proved to be 
lacking in nerve, for he would not go out where the seas 
were high, and would not go into the water to gaff the 
fish, his excuse for the latter being that he was afraid of 
taking cold. His name has escaped my memory, but any 
tarpon fisherman visiting Tampico can recognize him 
bv his having lost his upper front teeth — rprobably in a 
fight. 
Went alone to La Barra and landed in the forenoon 
two tarpon — one of 5 feet 11 inches and one of 5 feet 3 
inches. Presented them to some natives. 
Early in the afternoon came a rain storm, making 
things somewhat uncomfortable, and as the fish stopped 
striking I quit early and returned to Tampico by train, 
leaving everything at La Barra. The others fished most 
of the day opposite the city; but, although they had a 
number of strikes, landed nothing. 
December 6« >r> 
Tnis morning my boatman did not show up, but sent 
a friend, Aousencia Ruiz, who proved to be the best of 
the lot. He had nerve to go out to sea, and did not fear 
getting his feet wet. He was the only boatman out of 
the four that I tried whom I succeeded in teaching how 
to gaff a fish properly. With the exception of a couple 
of daj's, v;hen he had other business to attend to in the 
city, he remained with me till the end of my stay. 
Thus far the fishing had been only fair, as I had landed 
but seven fish in five days — sport enough to satisfy most 
tarpon fishermen, and good even for Aransas Pass, where 
an average of one fish per rod per day is considered quite 
satisfactory; but this day there was to be a change. 
For a wonder we managed to make the 5:50 train, the 
two boats having started down the river about daylight 
so as to meet us at La Barra wharf. After a meager 
Mexican breakfast we started fishing at 7:30. 
In the forenoon 1 landed one 6-foot and one 5 foot il 
inch tarpon, also one jackfish of about 20 pounds weight. 
Jose got in the same time one small tarpon and one 
jackfish, and- Dr. Howe took in on his light tackle while 
waiting unsuccessfully for some monster of the deep to 
ittach itself to one of the hand lines a jackfish and several 
imall fish. I gave awa}^ niy 6-tooter, but took the other 
:o the rendezvous, where the Doctor photographed it 
,vith the rest of the entire morning's catch. 
Returning to near the outer ends of the jetties, Jose 
;ind I fished unsuccessfully for an hour; then, it being 
about luncheon time, I hailed him, suggesting that we 
turn back, to which he agreed, but he did not do so im- 
mediatel}'^, nor did he show up at the rendezvous for an 
hour after my arrival. Just as I w-as about to start out to 
ascertain whether any ill had befallen him, I saw his 
boat coming, but noticed that he was not fishing. As he 
landed I saw that his right hand was bound up in a 
handkerchief, and that he looked as if he had lost his 
last friend. On inquiring what was the matter, we 
learned that he had hooked a big fellow which had proved 
too much for him. and in trying to brake the reel by the 
handle the latter had been twisted into a corkscrew and 
torn out of his hand, skinning his knuckles badly. It 
was not the injury which made him so blue, but the fact 
that he had, as he thought, ruined my reel, and that there 
was no other spare one of any account in the party. 
During the afternoon he amused himself with light tackle 
on small fish, of which he caught quite a few, and by 
watching the Doctor wait for the big fish that would not 
bite. 
Immediately after luncheon I returned to the fray, 
reaching almost to the end of the jetties, as both wind 
and sea had moderated somewhat. 
It did not take long to tie on to a big fellow, and 
vv'hile overcoming its first struggles a bright idea struck 
me. There was a large and very seaworthy skiff an- 
chored at midchannel, its occupants fishing for sharks, 
which they kill in order to extract the liver and from it 
prepare "cod liver oil." 
In my bad Spanish I asked the boatman if he could 
row over there, board the craft and gaff my fish there- 
from. Assenting, he rowed over, got aboard, and after 
considerable difficulty on my part in getting the fish close 
en.ough without fouling the two shark lines, managed to 
haul it into the boat, wdiere (with my compliments to 
the boatmen) we left it raising Cain in the bottom of 
their craft. 
In less than fifteen minutes I was fast to another big 
fellow, so repeated the operation. This time the boat- 
men did not seem overjoj'ed at our approach, for they 
had all the tarpon they wanted, notwithstanding which, 
being polite fellows, they raised no objection to our 
coming. Remembering our long struggle in the last 
case, I suggested to one of the men that he harpoon the 
fish, which he did bj' a pretty shot at a distance of about 
20 feet. It was a case, though, of "out of the frying pan 
into the fire," because the fish was not hit in a vital part, 
so proceeded to raise Cain with the tackle, twisting the 
harpoon line and mine into a nasty mess. Finally my 
boatman had to get on board the other boat and gaff 
the fish to get it landed. After losing some valuable time 
untangling the lines, we went at it again, joining Dr. 
Howe, who had given up the sharks in despair and con- 
cluded to return to his legitimate business. Pretty soon 
I had another — and a corker. How the fellow fought 
and jumped! It was as handsome a fish as I have ever 
seen, fresh from the Gulf, with scales brighter than 
burnished §ilyer. Not caring tq impose any more on 
the good nature of my neighbors, I proceeded to tow 
the fish toward Tampico against a heavy current; but 
it w^as awful work for both the oarsman and myself, for 
at times the fish would turn our little boat at right angles 
to bur court-e in spite of the boatman's pulling on one 
oar only with all his strength. After a while I got it 
pretty close to the boat, but by no means conquered, 
and the Doctor coming along at the time I asked for the 
assistance, of his pistol, so as not only to save ns a long 
and troiiblesome tow, but also to enable me to land 
another fish before dark and thus break my previous 
record on tarpon, viz., five of an average length of 5 
feet landed in one day at Aransas Pass. 
It may seem an easy task to shoot a tarpon from an- 
other boat, but it took ten minutes' hard struggle to get 
it to the top of the water and keep it quiet long enough 
for the Doctor to shoot. The Doctor took the fish into 
his boat, as his was larger than mine. Its length proved 
to be 6 feet 3 inches, and its girth unusually great, so it 
must have been a pretty heavy fish, but we did not 
weigh it. On only a few occasions did we weigh any of 
our catch, because of the trouble and delay involved. 
Sure enough, I soon hooked my sixth fish — a fair- 
sized one — and towed it in to the beach above the wharf 
landing about dark, just in time to catch the train. 
During the day I landed also two big jackfish, thus ma- 
king my catch six tarpon and two jackfish. 
Up to this time all the tarpon were large ones, only 
one being shorter than 5 feet, and that only an inch or 
two. Curiously enough, the Eiverage length of my first 
dozen tarpon fthe total to this date) was a little over 5 
feet 8 inches — exactly my own height. 
In the evening Dr. Howe, who is a mechanic of no 
mean skill, got to work on my reel and fixed it up in 
good shape, so Jose's spirits rose once more. It seems 
that the handle was merely shrunk on the shaft without 
using a cotter, so after straightening it out the Doctor 
drilled a hole and put a cotter in, thus making the reel 
even better than before the accident. 
I neglected to state that during the early part of the 
afternoon the Doctor landed on one of his hand lines a 
sawfish 9 feet long. 
This was evidently my day, for. while I had landed 
six big tarpon, Jose had taken only one little one, and 
the Doctor not any. although he had a number of strikes. 
Up to this time I had kept an accurate account of the 
number of tarpon strikes, and much to my surprise I 
landed more than 50 per cent, while at Aransas Pass 
my total average had been only 22 per cent. 
This is due possibly to the fact that the fish at Tampico 
were fiercer and appeared to be more hungry than tliose 
caught on the Texas coast, besides being much larger, 
my average length at Aransas Pass .being exactly 5 feet. 
\Vhile fishing at Aransas one is often in doubt whether 
his live mullet is pulling or whether a tarpon is fooling 
with his bait; at Tampico it is decidedly otherwise, be- 
cause the fish strikes the bait with a vim that takes the 
line out in spite of everything, and generally suceeds 
in hooking itself securely. 
December 7. 
At his special request I took with me this morning a 
young American residing in Tampico, who desired to 
see the modus operandi of landing tarpon, leaving the 
two doctors to try again the fishing at the mouth of the 
river, where Jose had had his first experience. 
We followed this time the north jetty almost to the 
end, picking up a couple of jackfish; then crossed over 
to the south jetty, where I had a tarpon strike, but failed 
to hold. On remarking to my companion, who was 
stow-ed away comfortably in the bow of the boat, that ■ 
it was a pretty fish, he replied. that he did not see it, as 
he was reading, upon which I gave him a lecture on his 
lack of true sporting taste, so he put up the book and 
watched me land a couple of small fellows and another 
jack. About half an hour after the lecture, I spoke to 
him, but received no reply, and on looking around I saw 
that he was fast asleep, with a half-empty whisky bottle 
by his side; so I left him to his slumbers and proceeded 
to attend to the business in hand. At noon we went back 
to the wharf and took lunch, after which my companion 
declared that he was tired with his exertions and per- 
fectly satisfied with his experience in tarpon fishing, so 
went ashore to take the train for home. 
During the forenoon I had found that the fish were 
smaller and more plentiful near the end of the north 
jetty than at the other side of the channel, and being 
somewhat stiff and sore from tfie previous da3^'s work 
I contented myself with fishing for the little fellows — all 
under 5 feet, but generall}^ exceeding 4. 
I had a number of strikes that I failed to score on, 
thus lowering my fine percentage somewhat. 
Certainly these little fellows were game! How they 
did jump and fly around! However, I did not linger 
long with any of them, but hauled them up within reach 
of the gaff as quickly as possible, shooting a couple that 
proved unusually obstreperous, for fear that they would 
stave a hole in the bottom of my little boat, which, by the 
way, was really a trifle too frail for such heavy work 
and such high seas. Even a jackfish, when sounding, 
would so tip her as to render it necessary for me to 
lean in my chair far over to the other side in order to 
prevent upsetting. This was an accident of which I 
■was in constant dread; not because of drowning, for I 
think that in spite of the current I could have swum 
clear the river, but on account of the sharks, which are 
said to be numerous in these waters, and of which I 
occasionally saw very large specimens, or, more strictly 
speaking, their back fins. Not once, however, did a 
shark give me any trouble, although. Dr. Howe lost a 
couple of jackfish one day from these monsters. 
Were it not for the sharks there would be fine surf 
bathing at La Barra during the summer, and in fact all 
the year round on warm days. The natives do go in, 
but not a season passes without some of them falling 
victims to these terrors of the sea. 
The reason for there bein.g so many small tarpon in 
the Pass this day was probably due to the fine weather, 
as both sea and wind had gone down materially. My 
experience leads me to believe that the lighter the wind, 
the calmer the. sea. and the clearer the weather, the more 
fish of all kinds will there be in the channel. 
On this day Jose distinguished himself bj^landing in 
tyvo hoijrs and a half a tarpon § f§et 7 inches" long, How 
