54 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Photograph of a Leaping Tarpon (Retouched to Make Printing Possible, But Otherwise Unaltered.) 
glory in the water and twelve to fifteen 
feet in the air. To see a tarpon six feet 
long jump ten feet is startling but not a 
rare sight here. When a tarpon is “struck,” 
eight times out of ten he will beat it for 
the clouds above. He will try to throw the 
hook and bait and sometimes will succeed. 
I have seen a tarpon throw hook and 
bait forty feet to be gobbled by a pelican, 
and instead of fins, I had to play feathers. 
This is not the way to catch pelican. 
Mr. Dimmock tells a story, no doubt 
absolutely true, of his needle-fish bait be¬ 
ing thrown by a tarpon and caught in the 
air by a “man-of-war” hawk. 
An enumeration of the principal varie¬ 
ties of sport fish and approximate dates 
when best sport is to be expected will be 
of some use. Some wise man has said, 
“the time to catch suckers is when suckers 
are running.” 
The best all round fishing on the west 
coast of Florida certainly comes when Na¬ 
ture is at her best. No sport can be car¬ 
ried on amid more beautiful and healthful 
surroundings, and certainly there is no 
sport more legitimately exciting than tarpon 
fishing. 
Tarpon, April 15th to July 15th 
Kingfish, April ist to July 1st 
Mackerel, March ist to November ist 
Pompano, May ist to August ist 
Channel Bass, all year 
Trout, all year 
Cobia, July ist to October ist 
Robalon, January ist to July ist 
Weakfish, February ist to July ist 
Jew Fish, all year 
Mullet, all year 
An ideal cruise is between St. Petersburg 
and Port Richey, starting at either point. 
This covers about fifty miles of coast and 
takes in all the best grounds. 
Up past Anclote Light which marks the 
mouth of the Anclote River at Tarpon 
Springs, which is a very interesting place 
to visit, as there is the largest sponge fish¬ 
ery in the world. It maintains a fleet of 
Greek “spongers” as quaint and ancient as 
the Greek galleys built two thousand 
years ago. 
Then up along the coast to the mouth 
of the Pithlachascotee River (called “Co- 
tee” for short). The Cotee at Port 
Richey is famed for its trout and mullet 
fishing all the year round. Boats and fish¬ 
ing guides may be had at St. Petersburg 
or at Port Richey. The guide is not nec¬ 
essary at all; it is a matter of inclination 
Petersburg is a good starting point be¬ 
cause everybody knows the game here, and 
one can obtain any part or all of his equip¬ 
ment and tackle right here, at prices that 
are right. In the shops here, one may 
get anything from a canoe to split shot. 
A camping-out proposition is the thing 
for genuine sport. A waterproof cover and 
mosquito bar are essential. Farm produce 
may be had at any time from any point oflf 
shore and a dollar looks like a cart-wheel to 
the average island farmer. Oyster beds are 
numerous and duck are plenty. Take a gun 
that you do not care much about because 
salt water is pretty sure to get ahead of 
“Three in One.” The bud of a cabbage 
palm is “victuals and drink” to a Cracker 
and you will never be out of sight of them. 
The writer has taken at one time and 
another about all kinds of game fish be¬ 
tween Eastport, Me., and Astoria, Ore., and 
between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mex¬ 
ico. Until I struck the Silver King tarpon, 
I supposed trout fishing in Maine lakes and 
streams was about the last word in fishing, 
but it is not. 
In the final analysis tarpon fishing off the 
west coast of Florida is as far ahead of 
any trout or salmon fishing as an Amer¬ 
ican eagle is ahead of a chicadee, and Flor¬ 
ida is a fisherman’s hunting ground. That 
is a fact. 
whether one takes a congenial friend and 
good outfit for company or the same out¬ 
fit and a guide. There is no heavy work 
or “carrying” to be done. No “portage up 
over the mountains” in Florida. 
Perhaps the most abundant fish in the 
waters of the Gulf hereabouts is the mullet, 
but few excel them when they are cooked. 
The flesh is hard and rich. They are not 
considered a sport or game fish; they will 
take no bait but are taken with the cast 
net. A “cast nqt” when extended as an 
umbrella is pyramidal or cone shaped. The 
base of the cone or pyramid is about seven 
or eight feet in diameter and has attached 
at intervals of about one foot lead sinkers, 
weighing about two ounces each. 
A line is attached to the point of the 
cone and another is strung around the cir¬ 
cumference of the base and acts as a puck¬ 
ering string after the cast is made, thus 
enveloping the fish in the net. In cast¬ 
ing the operator takes the sinker in his 
teeth and the “pucker line” in his left hand 
coiled and throws the net with a centri¬ 
fugal motion, much like throwing a lariat. 
This extends the net and it drops into the 
water where the mullet has been seen, 
extended to its widest capacity. It sinks 
quickly and immediately pulled in. 
Perhaps he has bagged ten, perhaps one, 
and perhaps none. There is no better trout 
or mullet fishing on the Gulf coast than 
at Port Richey and no more picturesque 
camping place. The shores are high and 
abundant supplies of all kinds may be had 
at the stores and of the farmers here. 
A canoe trip up the Cotte River is a trip 
worth taking. 
J UST how a man is to proceed on his 
first fishing trip for tarpon and other 
game fish depends on his individual taste 
and desire. The geographic area of good 
fishing is so wide that he may safely go 
in any direction which appeals to him. St. 
Landing Porpoises on the Beach. 
