Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-04-21

of time if you give them a chance. Sc
look out for our sawdust girls.
A STRIKE By A TARPON.
Fishing That Is the Summit of the Ang.
4 1er's Art.
Florida letter in New York Times:
l do not know any subject that as
much information can be gathered upon
IN the tarpon country as tarpon fishing,
and l learned enough of the business
theoretically while steaming up the Cal
oosahatchee river to give some idea of
it. 1t must be understood at the start
that the tarpon to be caught may weigh
from 100 to 200 pounds, perhaps even
22o pounds, and that he will fight as
long as there is any breath left in his
body. With half q chance, such a fish
will snap any available line: and the
1isherman'S business is to manipulate
the line in such way that the fish cam
not exert it's strength upon it. The
line is very small one for suchworlS.
no larger than boys use for taking cat
! fish, and may readily be broken by a
man with a sudden jerk. The hook is
about three inches long, wired into
swivel, so that no matter how often
the fish revolves he cannot twist the line
Immediately above the swivel is a sec
ton of line about two feet long, made
Of such soft cotton stuff that the tarpon
cannot bite through it. He would bite
the line short off or would even bite
wire, but he cannot cut the soft cotton
stuff. Any ordinary rod with a good
reel will answer, and several hundred
yards Of line must be wound upon the
reel. The bait is the half of mullet
securely wired to the hook in such
way that the hook is entirely concealed.
The tarpOn does not nibble, but takes
the whole thing at a gulp if he takes
it at all.
With this outfit and bottle of snake
bite antidote in the locker, the tarpon
Usher is ready for work. It is well for
him to begin on Monday morning, to
have the whole week before him. On
Monday he hardly more than gets his
hand in. If by Tuesday, night he has
had Il strike, his Acknowledgement at
the hotel treat him with great respect.
There is no such thing as q bite in
tarpon fishing-it is always strike"
By Wednesday he is sufficiently tanned
to have a professional look. If he is
an extremely lucky man, and works
hard, not less than 10 hours a day, he
may take tarpon on Thursday There
is nothing tedious about this-so they
say; all is glorious expectancy. Just
what happens at the start no fisherman
can tell Ten minutes after the pole
has nearly been jerl1ed from his hand,
and the skin of two or three of his
fingers cut through by line and reel,
he begins to realize that he has hooked
a tarpon and that his line is running out
like mad. The pride of a new presi-
dent taking the oath of office is nothing
to the feelings of this supreme moment;
the interest of the whole world is cen
tered in that line and reel
The tarpon has swallowed the bait
entire and his first movement imbeds
the hook in his throat, where it is
firmly fixed. There is little danger of
the hook tearing out when once well
planted-the danger is that the line will
break. Give the tlrpon one second of
a line too slack OF too taut and he will
snap 1T like a pipe stem. Here is the
chance for sl1illful WOrk-and none
but the most skillful angling will ever
take tarpOn. The secret is to keep
the line always gently tight; no matter
what course the fish takes, the line
must be kept just so. The tarpon
leaps some feet into the air, and he
must have line. He strikes the water
again and runs, and the line must run
freely with him. He turns toward the
boat, and the line must be reeled UP
as fast as he Stacks it. Give him a
chance to make a link in the line, and
you lose your tarpon. When he turns
suddenly and makes off again, the
spring of the pole gives the line some
help, but the reel must be free. He
jumps and tears and jerks and twists
for hours. A hundred times the line
is out almost to the last yard; a hun
dred times it is reeled UP again. Fifty
times the fish throws himself from
the water and fifty times he strikes
it again with thud He is as full
of fight as a mad bull; nothing but
utter exhaustion will conquer him. Very
gradually his resistance becomes feeb-
Ter; very gradually the line is reeled up,
bringing the fish each time little near
er to the boat. When he is brought
within reach there is no doubt of the
result, for that cannot be done till
he is utterly tired out. When he reach
es the side of the boat he is practically
a dead fish-killed, not by the hook but
by his own desperate eXertions. Now
strike the gaffs into him and haul him
on board. Let the bands play. Two
hundred and ten pounds fisherman's
weight. Bring arnica and myrrh and
precious ointments to heal the wounded
fingers.
AN OLD WISCONSIN BOY.