S8 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 4, 1900. 
often is it the case that the tyro gets away with his in- 
structor, or, to quote an old verse, 
" To teach his grandson draughts, 
His leisure he'd employ, 
Until at last the old man was 
Beaten by the boy." 
It did not take Jose many days to learn to beat me, for 
my tarpon record to date is only 6 feet 3 inches. 
Dr. Howe made a deal with an American taxidermist, 
whom he ran across in Tampico, to mount Josh's big 
fish and mine; but after fooling away several days and 
getting into the Doctor's pocket to the tune of several 
dollars by going on an extended drunk, he let the skins 
spoil. He claims to be the taxidermist who mounted 
Mr. Ed vom Hofe's record tarpon, the weight of which 
was 210 pounds. <t| 
Photo No. 5 shows Don Jose and his big tarpon, also 
his boatman and those of Dr. Howe. It is Don Jose 
who is holding the back fin. 
December 8. 
In order to vary the sport I took this day off to try 
the duck shooting in some lagunas up the little river 
that passes through Tampico. 
Having heard that the ducics were very plentiful and 
that big bags were often made, I took with me all the 
shells I had, some 250 altogether, varying from 9s to 5s. 
Many of them were old, and had deteriorated, so as to 
be absolutely of no account. Ducks were scarce, but 
mud hens plentiful, so I turned my attention to the latter, 
which soon became wild enough to afford excellent sport. 
By 3 o'clock I had used up all of my shells, and when 
we got into Tampico about 4 we counted out 112 birds. 
The city market was glutted with mud hens next day. 
and my boatmen must have been fully $5 the richer on 
account of having taken me shooting instead of fishing. 
I did not get a single .shot at a duck the whole day, but 
perhaps might have killed a few were it not for the noise 
of the cannonading on the mud hens. 
The doctors landed only one small tarpon ai 'e this 
day. 
December 9. 
We all took the 8:30 train for La Barra, and carried 
with us an unusually large supply of mullet — forty or fifty 
apiece. 
Dr. Howe again went for the sea monsters with his 
hand lines, this time setting them out from the south 
jetty, just where it intersects the coast line, while Jose 
and I went out to the ends of the jetties. The day was 
calm, but there was a big swell on, so that uaica not 
go outside. 
We fished mainly along the north jetty, very close to 
the end, and the way that the fish struck would have de- 
lighted the heart of the most blase sportsman There 
was one particular spot where we were sure to get a 
strike from cither jackfish or small tarpon within a 
minute or two after getting our baits there. It was 
however, a rather danarerous place to reach, as it was al- 
most at the end of the jetty, where immense walls of 
water were coming in and breaking. I tried drifting 
down, but gave that up after losing a snell on the rocks 
By crossing to the other side we could probably have 
struck larger tarpon, but these little fellows (4 to 5 feet 
Ions:) were game enough to satisfy anybody 
_ We fished from 9:30 A. M. till i P. M.. then went to 
jom the Doctor. Jose's score for the three hours and a 
half was six tarpon and six jackfish. and mine six tarpon 
and ten jackfish. When we reached the Doctor we found 
that he had landed a 300-pound jewfish, and just as we 
got ashore he struck a shark, which we helped to land 
About the time the brute was killed there was a big puli 
on one of the other lines. It proved to have been given 
by another jewfish, which must have weighed more than 
400 pounds. It soon succumbed, however, to a rouole 
of bullets from Dr. Howe's rifle. 
Havin.QT once weighed a 35o-pound jewfish caught at 
Aransas Pass by my friend and companion. Mr. John 
Perry, of Kansas Citv, I feel competent to estimate the 
weight of any jewfish of about that size. In this case 
my estimates were conservative ones. Besides Dr Howe 
had weurhed already on this trip a 280-pound jewfish. 
Dr. Howe insisted on taking some photographs of our 
morning s catch and to nlease him we all turned to and 
-hauled the shark (an 8i/^-footer, weighing probably 300 
pounds) and our smaller fish over the rocks; but the 
jewfish were too mucli for us, so we left them in the 
channel tied to the rocks. 
There must have been fullv a ton of fish collected at 
this rendezvous, and all cau.ght within the short period 
<?c u , "''^-^ °^ """y readers will certainly term 
us tish hogs and perhaps we were; but as we made 
a business of sendinsc our fish to help feed some Soo 
negro_ workmen at Dona Cecelia, the station betwefn 
laniDico and La Barra, we cannot well be accused of 
much heedless waste. Had we been market fishermen 
we could have sold enough jewfish and jackfish to more 
than pay the entire expenses of the oarty for the whole 
trip: but that is not our wav of doing things More 
over we considered the .supoly of fish 'to be practically 
inexhaustible, so did not hesitate to kill all we could I*- 
was not practicable, as it is at Aransas Pass, to beach the 
hsh, then measure them and let them go because the 
distance from the best fi.shing ground to the nearest 
beach IS too great. 
Having run short of bait. I bent on a large ohantom 
minnow of Dr. Howe's manufacture, and with it just 
before dark struck a large tarpon, which started out for 
sea on a swift run, jumping every few seconds My 
best efforts failed to stop it until it had gotten over 100 
yards of line and made four jumps. On the fourth jump 
it got oft. 
There was one sight that I saw this dav which T 
would have given much to have had photograohed A.t 
the end of the north jetty the rollers often piled up as 
much as 10 or 12 feet without breaking, and the water 
seemed to form an almost vertical wall, clear and green 
In one of these waveswas a horizontal row of eight tarpon 
all of the same size, and all with their heads down and 
their bodies nearly vertical, for they had kept themselves 
nearly parallel to the surface of the moving water. The 
view lasted only an instant, but while it did it was mag- 
nificent. Dr. Howe tells me that a day or two afterward 
he saw 3n enormous shark swim across the fase ©f one 
of these nearly vertical waves. Perhaps, by spending a 
day or two at the end of the north jetty, a skilled pho- 
tographer could catch some interesting and valuable 
pictures; but he would have to keep his nerves strung 
up to the highest pitch, and watch for his chance without 
relaxing. Then again there would be a spice of danger 
attached to the work, because it would be necessary to 
keep within 150 feet of where these rollers break. 
December 10. 
An off day; cloudy, with light wind from the south, and 
more sea than we had yesterday. I picked up a couple of 
jacks and Jose got a small tarpon. After working faith- 
DON JOSE AND HIS BIG TARPON. 
fully for two and a half hours, we gaA'e it up and went to 
the fishing grounds near Tampico, but were unsuccess- 
ful there. I did not get a single tarpon strike the whole 
day, but Jose got two. Dr. Howe spent the day with his 
shark lines, without taking a single fish. There must, 
have been some good reason for the fish failing to strike, 
but what it was none of us could even surmise, 
December lU 
Because of our bad luck of yesterday at the bar. Dr. 
Howe and I decided to try the Tampico fishing again, and 
I made up my mind to go some three or four miles above 
the city to the junction of two large rivers, just where 
the railroad bridge crosses the smaller stream, as I had 
DR. HOWE AND HIS 223-POUND TARPON. 
heard that it is at times a great place for fish of all kinds. 
There proved to be but few fish at the first river mouth 
and they were not inclined to strike, so, putting on a 
lead, I dropped my bait to the bottom and presently 
took a tarpon, which put up a good fight, and landed it on 
the north bank of the main river. It measured 5 feet 3 
inches. 
Then I again tried the same tactics; however, without 
success; but took pleasure in seeing the Doctor play and 
land a 25-pound whalo, or salt-water pike. It was a game 
fish, but its fighting was all done in the water. 
Pretty soon I left the Doctor and started up river to 
the bridge, where I arrived in about an hour. Unfor- 
tunately the tide was coming in, so the tarpon were not 
there: consequently I put on a sinker and trolled slowly 
and deep for jewfish or whatever else might take the 
bait. After making a few turns I got a strike, and after 
a short time landed a little jewfish of about 60 pounds 
weight. This was the last fish I took that day, and all 
that the Doctor got was the before-mentioned whalo. 
We had the jewfish cooked at the hotel, and found it ex- 
cellent. 
An amusing incident occurred this evening as I landed 
at the bridge. As usual, there was a crowed of natives in- 
terested m the catch, taclde, etc. I heard one of them 
who was examining my line remark to another some- 
thing about electric hooks, so 1 asked an American who 
was near by and who understood Spanish what the fel- 
low said. He replied that the Mexican said, "These fel- 
lows must be using electric hooks, because they never 
could bring in such large fish on such .small lines without 
first killing the fish by electricity." Probably the st^el 
wire snell suggested the ideai 
I December J2. 
My last day's fishing;, important business calling me 
back to the City of Mexico. 
Jose, too, had business to attend to in Tampico, so 
the Doctor and I went alone to La Barra and got to the 
end of the jetties about 10 o'clock. Just as we arrived 
there the jackfish began to strike, and looking out on to 
the Gulf we saw several great schools of them, that kept 
the water boiling constantlj-. The sea being quite calm, 
we ventured outside, and then the fun began. How they 
did strike! One fish would get hooked and a dozen 
more would follow it up almost to the boat. And such 
fights as they would put up! One that I hooked in the 
belly must have taken me between ten and fifteen min- 
utes to bring to gaff. I thought at first that I had on a 
50-pounder, but it proved to be only an average fish. 
After catching a few on my tarpon hook and losing a 
number of others, I took off the hook and put on a 
smaller one, with Avhich I was much more successful. 
It had another advantage, in that, if my jackfish were 
swallowed by a shark, the hook would break. The light 
hooks, however, did not last long, and I must have used 
up four or five of them in the four hours that we fished. 
On three or four occasions, when reeling in the line, a 
small school would follow up the bait to within 20 or 25 
feet of the boat; then one would seize and tear it off, and 
another would strike at the bare hook and get hung. 
Several times I had no more than dropped the bait over- 
board than it was seized, and for a short time on two 
or three occasions I simply still-fished under the boat. 
The bait disappearing rapidly, as jackfish are terrific 
bait robbers, I tried the experiment of cutting a mullet 
in two. This appeared to make quite a difference, because 
a small school would follow it for two or three minutes 
without touching it, but the moment that I began to reel 
in rapidly one of them would strike. We must have seen 
hundreds of thousands of these fish, for often there were 
two or three schools visible at once, some of them fully 
100 yards in diameter, and others in strings of 200 or 300 
yards in length. They were feeding on small mullet,- of 
which there were a great many. 
At first the current, which was very strong, took us 
eastward directly out to sea; but after" a while a littoral 
current carried us northward. So powerful were these 
currents that while the boatman was gaffing a fish and 
removing the hook, we would drift from 200 to 300 yards. 
Invariably, we kept working back toward the jetties, so 
as to be able to pull in foj shelter should the wind arise 
suddenly, as it is likely to do in winter on the Mexican 
coast. 
About 1 ;30 it did commence to blow from the south- 
east, so we went inside and continued our fishing for 
another half hour; then the Doctor, either fearing that 
niy little craft would sink with the extra weight in her 
(some 700 pounds) or else because . he was getting 
hungry, or more probably because he wanted to exchange 
rod for camera, proposed that we go to land, which we 
proceeded to do. On our arrival we took two views of 
our catch, which numbered fifty-seven, the Doctor hav- 
in.e' twenty-three and I thirt3'-four. 
I took advantage of this opportunity to weigh a num- 
ber of these fish, and found that the small ones weighed 
as low as 15 pounds, and the large ones no more than 
25 pounds, the average being fully 20 pounds. This was 
quite a surprise, for on account of the big fights they 
put up I imagined their weights to be much g eater. 
A 25-pound jackfish will fight quite as hard as will a 
75-pound tarpon, but not so brilliantly, on account of the 
jackfish very seldom jumping from the water. The 
fierceness of their rushes and the short, sharp jerks which 
they give entitle therii to very high rank among game 
fishes; in fact, no fish that I have, ever caught ranks 
hi.gher. No fresh-water fish is in it witli them for a 
minute ! 
As before, the photographing and lunch broke up the 
afternoon, and I caught afterward only one jackfish, but 
lost a fine tarpon, the only strike of the day. 
Thus ended ray share of the fishing at Tampico. Next 
morning I turned over to Dr. Howe all of my tackle, 
presenting him with my light Divine rod in place of the 
one I broke; then took the Mexican Central train for the 
City of Mexico. 
And now a word in reference to the Empire City 
tarpon line that I used throughout this whole campaign. 
I do not know who manufactures it or where it can be 
bought outside of San Antonio (but I shall find out 
after getting back to the United States), so I can say, 
without risk of being called down for advertising wares, 
that it is certainly by far the best line that I have ever 
seen. It is finer, .stron.ger. and more durable; than any of 
the other lines which I have used. This particular line, 
after landing fully two tons of fish, is still in fairly good 
shape, although it will probably never be used again, 
but will be kept as a relic of the finest fishing trip of our 
lives. 
The Doctor's first step was to transfer my line to his 
patent reel, turning it end for end. What he did with it 
is described in the following affidavit: 
Mexico City, Feb. 1.— This is to certify that I, Dr. H. W. 
Howe, of the City of Mexico, did on the 17th of December, 1899, 
in the Pantico River, opposite the city of Tampioo. catch and 
land on a rod and line a tarpon weighing 223 pounds, length when 
lying on the ground before weighing being 6 feet 8 inches, and 
its dimensions at maximum girth being 9 inches by 15 inches. 
The rod tised was a Divine No. 7, the line an Empire City tarpon 
line. No. 36, and the reel one of my own make furnished with 
llowe & Dinkins patent reel brake. The time required to land 
the fish was three hours and fifteen minutes. The estimated dis- 
tance which I towed the fish was about seven miles. This is 
only one out of forty-seven tarpon caught in two weeks by our 
party of three, viz.. Dr. Jose Rojo, of Mexico Citv; Mr. J. A. L. 
Wadde!!, of Kansas City, and myself. Besides tarpon we Iande(i 
abotit one hundred and thirty other game fish, weighing from 15 
pounds to over 400 pounds, besides scores of small fish with light 
rod and reel. 
(Signed.) H. W. Howe. 
Kepubhc or Mexico. I 
City of Mexico, f 
On this Gth day of February, 1900, before me, Andrew D. Bar- 
low, Consul-General of the United States, personally appeared 
Dr. H. W. Howe, to me well known, and being by me first duly 
sworn according to law, did subscribe his name to the foregoing 
statement in my presence. 
Witness my hand and official seal the dav and year aforesaid. 
(Signed.") Andrew D. Barlow. 
(Seal.) Consul-General of the United States. 
u. S. Consulate-General, City of Mexico. ' 
Feb. 1.— T hereby certify that the foregoing statement made bv 
Di*. Howe m reference to his largest tarpon is correct, and that I 
saw^ it hooked and landed. 
. (.Signed.) ■ ' H. C Dinkins 
Gen 1 Agt Missouri Pacific Ry. and Internatiottai & Great Noftb- 
Sttt «;»! for Mesicoi 
