116 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March, 1920 
TARPON FISHING AT PORT ARANSAS 
THE SECOND PART OF A RECORD OF RARE DAYS OF SPORT IN GULF 
WATERS WHERE THE LEAPING TARPON FURNISH MANY THRILLS 
T HE trip to New Orleans .spoiled a 
whole week’s fishing, for I did not 
get back to Port Aransas until noon 
of May 31. Leonard arrived there on 
the afternoon of Sunday, the 26th; and 
the next day, fishing outside of the South 
Jetty, he had 16 tarpon strikes, but land- 
ed only two and three jackfish. Both of 
the tarpon were large — over 6 ft. in 
length. His failure to score a bigger 
percentage of strikes was undoubtedly 
due to the fact that only once before, 
when he was a boy of nine, had he ever 
tried tarpon fishing; for later he got 
onto the game in good style. The next 
day the weather was not favorable, and 
in consequence he landed only one tarpon 
and two jacks. Next day, Wednesday, 
being stormy he stayed inside and tried 
for small fish, but had no luck. On 
Thursday he tried the tarpon again for 
half a day without result, and then wait- 
ed for my arrival, amusing himself by 
rigging up half a dozen of our tarpon 
rods so as to be ready for the fray later 
on. 
) 
A BOUT two o’clock Leonard and I 
made our start together, going out 
to the end of the North Jetty, as it 
was too rough at the other side of the 
Pass. I hung four tarpon, landing three 
and almost securing the fourth, which 
escaped from alongside the boat just as 
my boatman was about to gaff it. Leon- 
ard had retained Charlie to row him and 
Clem, an old-time oarsman, had been al- 
lotted to me. He is truly expert in 
everything relating to the game, and is 
a most agreeable chap besides. I could 
not have been better suited and he 
seemed to like rowing me, for he has ar- 
ranged to take me out in October, pro- 
vided I can get away for a two weeks’ 
outing during the early part of that 
month, as I am at present planning. 
That afternoon Leonard landed a five- 
foot tarpon and one jackfish. My fish 
varied in length from 4% to 6 feet. 
I I 
O N June 1st I again ventured forth 
but got no tarpon, although I 
struck at a little one that was fool- 
ing around my bait, and succeeded in 
bringing in a single scale on the point 
of the hook. However, I landed a small 
kingfish and a jack and Leonard took 
three jacks, one kingfish, and a small 
shark. A rainstorm rather interfered 
with the sport. We avoided the worst 
of it by taking shelter on two motor 
By J. A. L. WADDELL 
boats that were anchored in the Pass; 
but their roofs leaked, owing to a long 
succession of rainless days; conse- 
quently, we were wet, but not soaked, 
as we would have been without any 
shelter at all. 
In the afternoon we tried angling for 
small fishes, going first to Corpus 
Christi Channel, where a big catch had 
been made two days before. The fish, 
it appeared, had moved to other quar- 
ters, and after wasting an hour we 
moved to the neighborhood of a wharf 
on St. Joseph’s Island, about two miles 
from the Tarpon Inn. There we found 
an abundance of skipjacks, or ladyfish. 
It is a worthless little fish that puts up a 
wonderful fight, jumping at times like a 
tarpon (often 2% feet vertically) and at 
other times circling at high speed around 
the boat with its back-fin out of water — 
always on the move and doing the unex- 
The king of ocean game fishes 
pected. About half the time they succeed 
in making their escape, owing both to 
their agility and to the possession of very 
tender mouths. We used our lightest 
tackle and employed floats. The sport 
lasted less than two hours, but we landed 
some 40 or 50 of them, besides a few 
small jackfish and a number of little cat- 
fish. It behooves one to be careful in re- 
moving the latter from the hook, because 
they have sharp spines which carry 
venom. A puncture by one of them will 
sometimes make a man feel quite ill. 
O N June 2nd the wind and sea were 
too high in the forenoon to war- 
rant trying for tarpon, conse- 
quently we repeated our experience of 
the previous afternoon, but the luck 
was not quite as good. However, we 
took some 25 skipjacks and a number of 
other small fishes. 
In the afternoon we started for the 
outside in spite of a strong breeze and a 
heavy sea. At first we fished inside of 
the North Jetty, but it grew a trifle 
calmer, enabling us to go around it and 
fish on the north side. Leonard had 
four tarpon strikes and landed two, be- 
sides three jacks and a five- foot shark 
which put up a long, hard fight. I had 
three strikes and landed two tarpon, one 
being exactly six feet long and weighing 
exactly 100 pounds. We had a guessing 
contest before measuring and weighing 
the fish, I hitting it exactly to the inch 
and pound, while the others varied as 
much as 10 or 12 pounds in their 
guesses. By long experience I can esti- 
mate with great accuracy both the 
length and the weight of any tarpon 
when it jumps. It is quite a knack, but 
anyone can cultivate it, provided he does 
not let his desire dominate his judgment. 
Later on I estimated another tarpon- 
length at 6 feet four inches, and it 
proved to be exactly six feet four and a 
half inches. As we kill very few of the 
tarpon, we do not often have an oppor- 
tunity to check our estimates made on 
the leap. 
That afternoon I caught a kingfish 
that weighed 23 pounds. Unfortunately, 
I forgot to measure its length, but it 
was, as nearly as may be guessed, five 
feet long. It put up a good fight, but 
did not make as "long runs as did the 
kingfish which I used to land on tarpon 
tackle at Aransas some two decades ago. 
One of Leonard’s tarpon was a very 
large one. Wishing to save it, he towed 
