i 
Feb. 20, 1904.] 
Forest and stream. 
149 
Tarpon and Woodcock in Old 
Mexico. 
We left New York about December i, for Tampico, 
Mexico, and after four days at sea we made Nassau, 
one of the Bahama Islands, an English possession. There 
are two very large hotels there, that were not open, 
as it was too earlj'^ in the season. As near as I could 
judge, about 99 per cent, of the population was negroes. 
The sea water there is noted for its clearness and most 
beautiful colors. The sea gardens are one of the at- 
tractions of the place, the bottom, which is plainly seen 
from the boat, consists of a growth of all sorts, shapes 
and sizes of sea plants, with fish swimming around, all 
sizes and colors. But alas! they tell me there, these 
fish don't bite; in fact, they say the fish are so smart 
there, that they can tell you how much you paid for 
your hooks. 
After a day's stay at Nassau we headed west, for 
Mexico, and after steaming four days across the gulf, 
arrived at the mouth of the Panuco River. Entering we 
went up seven miles to the city of Tampico, landing 
at the new four million dollar Custom House where, 
after a hurried look at our baggage, we went ashore 
with a string of natives carrying our baggage up to the 
Plaza, where Mr. Kulka had the carriage to take us 
to the ranch, about two miles out of the city, on the 
banks of the Tamise River, a branch of the Panuco 
River. 
As T had promised the purser and chief engineer to 
take them up to the big flat the next day, duck shoot- 
ing, I unpacked in the afternoon and got out shells 
and gun. I joined the men the next morning at five 
o'clock, and after a most delightful day, we got back 
to the ranch with thirty-five ducks — canvasback, spoon- 
bill, sprigtail, bluebill, gray duck and teal. Besides, 
the chief shot a large sacred ibis, and we got a lot of 
white ibis, roseate spoonbill, curlew, etc. The chief's 
arm was black from shooting a borrowed gun, which 
he must have held loosely. 
Now, as far as ducks are concerned, there are always 
plenty of them there each winter, but Mr. Kulka asked 
me, "Do you like woodcock shooting?" I said "Yes, 
but there are no woodcock here." He said, "I will 
show you hundreds to-morrow." Now I had been go- 
ing to Mexico for nearly ten years, each winter, and 
never saw a woodcock, so of course I was skeptical. 
The next morning Mr. Kulka took me to a marshy 
place at the foot of the bluff, right on the ranch, not 
200 yards from the house, and as I reached the edge, 
one jumped-up which I killed nicely. On picking it 
up I found a nice, large woodcock. I plunged into the 
marsh — sometimes it was over my knees — and they be- 
gan jumping right and left. I missed a great many 
more than I hit. I found it was a different thing from 
shooting ducks, I also found they had a habit of get- 
ting a tree between myself and them. After shooting 
twenty-five shells I stopped and found I had eight 
birds. I found that for miles on the edge of all the 
lagoons, there were hundreds of woodcock, and the 
reason I had never seen them before was that I never 
went into the marshes, as I never thought of looking 
for them. A man that can hit them every time, could 
bag 200 in a day there. I did not have any small shot 
shehs, so did not get the practice I would have liked 
on them; and it don't pay to buy black powder shells 
"at Tampico, at ten dollars a hundred, which is five 
dollars gold. The best way is to take all the shells 
needed with you. There are also lots of English snipe 
there, but I did not shoot any of them. Woodcock 
was good enough for me. 
The next day a party of us made a trip to the big 
flat, for ducks. One of the party being Mrs. George 
Monell, who is an inveterate sportswoman, with both 
rod and gun, and also a first-class wing shot. She 
shoots a light 20-bore double gun. Our party killed 
twenty ducks, and we stopped shooting as we knew 
Mr. Kulka could not use any more. Mrs. Monell was 
high gun, having killed eight. This shooting was done 
by each taking a stand on a point and killing them as 
they wizzed past. 
As it was still early we voted to catch a lot of fish 
for the house. So after killing a few blackbirds, and 
using their entrails in lieu of worms, in a short time 
we landed twenty-four sunfish, weighing about a pound 
each. I happened to have a phantom minnow with me, 
that I had used at the Delaware Water Gap last sum- 
mer, and caught three nice bass with it there. I made 
it fast to Mrs. Monell's line, she started trolling on the 
road horne. In a short time she had a strike^ hooked, 
and after an exciting time and lots of advice from us 
all. she brought to the side of the canoe a fish that we 
judged weighed about twelve pounds, that looked like 
a cross between a pike and a striped bass. The natives 
called it by some Spanish name, and said it was good 
eating. She tried again and hooked, and after a short 
fight, landed a jack fish we judged to be about eight 
pounds in weight. Her next fish was a mullet, about 
five pounds. We were all wishing for a lot: of pjiantom 
minnows. Altogether, she landed about . fifteen fish 
with that one second-hand minnow, and as she had lost 
two sets of the gang hoOks, and the only one left was 
]3fO|venj ^nd the miniiow lQQke4 a§ if it had beet^ i^j | 
cyclone, she gave it up as played out. The next time 
I go there I will have a nice lot of these phantom min- 
nows. I would have given quite a sum for one after 
I saw what they would do there, but you can't buy any- 
thing of that kind there. 
I had a new tarpon rig with me, and Mrs. Monell 
also had one, and neither of us had ever caught a 
tarpon, Mrs. Monell's rig was a Shipley rod, 200 yards, 
18 linen line, plain reel, fitted with a thumb brake. My 
rod was a Shipley, with agate tip. I used a 21 line, 
thumb brake on reel. All the people told us we were 
too early for tarpon, as there would be no tarpon fish- 
ing until February and March. I talked with a man 
there, who said I might get a strike at the mouth of 
the Tamise River where it empties into the Panuco 
River. So after engaging a native to get me 
mullet for bait for the next day, Mrs. Monell and 
myself left in a native canoe, about 20 feet long. We 
instructed the boatman to call at the native's house on 
the banks of the river for the bait, and when we arrived 
there the native had a string of about a dozen mullet, 
that weighed from two pounds to five each. Of course, 
we were disappointed, but the native naturally thought 
he was giving us good measure, although I had dis- 
tinctly told him I wanted fish only four to six inches 
long. Possibly my Spanish was as defective as his bait. 
As we had started we concluded to go across the 
river, and try at the mouth of the stream they called 
Pueblo Veheco, as it was near, and we both trolled one 
line on each side of the canoe, with the agreement 
that if one got a strike, the other should reel in quickly, 
and we had the consolation of knowing that if we did 
not catch anything that we already had a string of nice 
eating fish. As it was our first experience with big 
fish, it was amusing when Mrs. Monell's hook got 
caught on some sunken log and she thought she had a 
big one for sure, as it took line until the canoe stopped. 
After getting under way again, she got a strike by a 
big fish of some kind, but he did not act as 
tarpon do. He was a big, slow fighter, but very strong. 
I reeled in at once. The native boatman wanted to 
help the angler, but she would not let him touch her 
line, and after an exciting ten minutes the fish got 
loose, and we never; even got a look at him. Mrs. 
Monell was almost ready to cry, but I told her that 
there was just as good fish in the river as the one she 
lost. 
A short time after I got fast to what I thought was 
the bottom of the river, but it turned out to be a big 
ISO-pound fish, a slow, heavy fighter. The native called 
him a charra; the Americans call him a jewfish. After 
Mrs. Monell. shot him five times with a .22 cal. rifle, I got 
the gaff in him, and as he wiggled he turned the head 
of the gaff on the screw; but after a lot of exciting 
work, we got him into the boat. I had been a little 
over an hour landing him. Then we concluaed to go 
home. 
Then ^ve told our troubles about the bait to Mr. Kulka. 
He promised the next time we wanted to go out he would 
guarantee to get us the kind of bait we wanted, and it 
was arranged to go December 28. Mrs. Monell, whose 
fighting blood was up nowj declared she would catch a 
big fish if it took all winter. 
True to his word, Mr. Kulka had a native bring us 
over a dozen mullet of the most inviting size, from four 
to six inches long. We concluded to try up at the mouth 
of the Tamise River, about which the American had told 
me. Mrs. Kulka packed us a nice lunch, and with several 
orders and admonitions as to what to do if we hooked a 
tarpon, we got under way at six o'clock in the morning, 
shortly after sunrise, and it was one of the most beautiful 
mornings I ever saw, just cool enough to be pleasant. 
The ducks offered us some splendid shots as they hurried 
up and down the river ; they seemed to have no fear of 
us, as if they knew we were not after ducks that 
morning. 
After we got into the Panuco River two large turtles 
with heads almost as large as ours stuck their heads up, 
took a look at us, then sank quietly below the surface. 
We agreed to take turns trolling, and only have one line 
out at a time. Mrs. Monell was to try for first strike. 
After we reached the mouth of the river we could see a 
few tarpon turning, and Mrs. Monell's line was not out 
five minutes when she got a strike by a big tarpon. He 
jumped fully ten feet in the air, then spat out bait and 
hook fully twenty feet; it all came so suddenly that I 
suggested that if these fish are not handled just right they 
will cause trouble, as they are so large. Mrs. Monell 
now insisted that I try for one, so that she could see how 
I handled him. I had read up a whole lot on how to act, 
and on the road up Mrs. Monell and I had talked this 
over, I had read of some who advocated giving the fish 
line as soon as he struck; others claimed it was best to 
strike hard the minute you felt the fish. 
I made up my mind that I would strike hard; so I 
put out a nice bait, and we had not been going ten min- 
utes when I got a strike. I struck back until my pole 
was almost in a circle, then let him have his run; he 
broke w^ter and then , sulked. I gOt the boat near him, 
when away he went; I made 'him tow the" boat; he 
jumped about twelve feet in the air and came down, 
nearly drowning us with the splash. After a fight of 
an hour and a half I got him alongside and Mrs. Monell 
§h,Qt through the spine j I gaffed him 5|nd hauled him 
out on the bank. He measured 6 feet 4 inches, and was 
the longest one we caught. I passed a rope through his 
gills, and tied him to a tree and left him there, and we 
could see his beautiful silver side shining way across 
the river. 
I now put a nice bait on Mrs. Monell's hook. I passed 
the hook in the mouth of the mullett, then turned it, 
bringing the point of hook out through the top of the 
head. She had not let out over fifty feet of line when 
she got her strike, and she struck for all the pole would, 
stand. The fish jumped out of water, then dove and 
sulked, then took out nearly 100 yards of line, then, as 
she reeled in on him, he sulked. On account of her 
having her back to him she did not see the fish when he 
jumped, and she said: "I think it is not a tarpon; I 
think it is a jewfish." I assured her it was a tarpon. 
"Well," she said, "I would love to see him." The boat 
then was nearly over him, and it would almost appear 
that he heard_ her request, for he came up with a rush 
and jumped high out of water, and as he struck alongside 
the boat we got our second wetting. She said, "Now I 
am satisfied." Although he was the smallest fish we 
caught, 5 feet 4 inches, yet he jumped out of water five 
times, and it took Mrs. Monell an hour and fifty minutes 
of good hard work to land him. As we were landing 
him on the opposite side of the river from where we 
left my big one, we happened to look across the river, 
where we saw a flock of turkey buzzards all over my fish. 
We got over as quickly as possible, and drove them oflf. 
They had not hurt it. 
Mrs. Monell just laughed and cried when I gaffed and 
pulled her fish out of the wet. She said: "This is the 
greatest sport on. earth. Now, just let me try for an- 
other." We had only made one turn through the mouth of 
the river past the stone abutments where the railroad bridge 
crosses, when she had her second strike, and he was a 
lively fighter. He jumped about twelve feet out of water, 
and repeated that six times before she killed him. I 
wanted her to let me take her pole for a short time to 
rest her, as I saw he was good for a long fight, but she 
was game. She would not let the boatman or me touch 
her line, although she was exhausted. After a little over 
two hours she brought him up where I put a ball in his 
spine. I then gaffed him and pulled him out on the 
bank of the river. 
Quite a crowd of natives had been watching the fight, 
and they flocked around and examined that little 18 linen 
line, and seemed to think it was wonderful. This last 
fish measured 6 feet. 
Mrs. Monell was now exhausted, and I said I would 
hook one more and then start for home. I cast off, and 
on the second turn around the mouth of the river I got 
a strike, and drove the hook into him for all the rig 
would stand. He made a flying leap, and Mrs. Moneli 
said, "He is the biggest fish of the lot, don't lose him." 
He seemed to want to go down the river our way, so I 
made him tow the boat for over a mile. Then he sulked, 
but I kept him working, as I wanted to get home, and I 
did not really care much whether I lost him or not; so 
I put as much strain as possible on him, and after an 
hour and a quarter Mrs. Monell shot him, and I, want- 
ing to end it, jumped out of the boat on the bank with the 
pole and told the boatman to throw me the gaff. I then 
dropped the pole and took the line to pull him in, when 
he suddenly took a new lease of life, and started for the 
middle of the river. I sincerely wished at that time that 
I was back in the boat. I quickly grabbed the pole and 
put the break on him hard as I could. After taking about 
150 yards of line, he slowed up, then stopped. I reeled 
him in close, then dropped the pole again, took a turn 
around my wrist with the line, and pulled him into three 
feet of water, then ran in with the gaff and quickly had 
him on the bank, but I will never try that trick again. 
If he had not been very securely hooked I should have 
lost him. He was four inches shorter than my other fish, 
and the same size as Mrs. Monell's, 6 feet, but he was 
very broad for his length. 
I had no chance to get the weight of these fish, but 
1 skinned this last fish and sent him to Werner, the tax- 
idermist, of Atlantic City, where he arrived in good con- 
dition, and is being mounted. 
From what I can learn, tarpon can be caught in the 
Panuco River any time in the year, but of course the 
season they are more plentiful is February and March. 
The river for fifty miles seems to be full of them there. 
I learned that during the rainy season in July the tarpon 
at the mouth of the Tamise River where we fished make 
alrnost as much noise jumping and feeding as a railroad 
train. The mullet come down this river from a large 
lagoon fully twenty miles long, and although it was said 
to be too early for tarpon, there were as many there 
ready for business as I ever want to see, although it was 
only December 28. There is a fascination about this sport 
that is irresistible. We brought all four fish to the ranch 
and removed and saved all the scales of the three fish 
we left there to use as visiting cards. Mrs. Monell was 
nursed by Aunt Annie for three days, suffering from 
strained muscles after her day with the tarpon. 
As our party had to leave for home, this was our last 
day at tarpOn. Mrs. Monell, while sitting on the porch, 
remarked that for the last few days she had seen large 
flocks of canvasback ducks on the river flats at the foot 
of our bluff. We figured out how we could get some of 
th^nv The next tuomiii| Mrs. Mo^eU took a stand ©a a 
