The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-02-16

Mr.. Patterson lay
In bed at his hotel In Florida. Mr.. Pat
terson Is himself a good angler, but he
Ia not 80 earnest In the sport as his
wife. The larger Of the two fish weighs
100 pounds. and Is ak feet long The
smaller weighs lO7 pounds and Is i've
feet eight inches In length. They are
both tarpons or silver kings" as they
are known among the sportsmen OF the
south. They are fine to look at, having
beautiful scales. but are not very good
to eat. Il is said that none but col
ored person will eat n tarpon. The
same Is said with regard TO sturgeon
and coon.
Both beautiful specimens wereoaught
by Mrs. Patterson after the exercise OF
considerable patience and skin. On the
day before Mr.. Patterson had made
fairly large catch. and had tainted Mrs,
Patterson thereat. saying that woman
might ride the bicycle. but she couldn't
catch fish. stung by this bantering Mrs.
Patterson rose early the next morning
called her boatman. and rowed out on
the Cal0Osahatchie river. where tar
pons are said 10 abound. The morning
los pleasant and there was every
Indication that the tarpons were hun
cry.
In a very short time one was hooked.
and then began an exciting struggle.
The tarpon is a very tlmid FISH OF the
herring kind. and his timidlty, coupled
with his great size and strength. make
him a desirable prey TO the angler In
fishing for them a strong. stiff rod Is
used. about seven feet long. TO which
is attached 100 yards OF strong line
wound around reel. The hook Is
about as big as a gan The bait Is a
piece OF mullet fresh cut from the hsh.
The tarpOn nlbbles the bait slowly and
ON account OF the hardness Of the Jaws
Il IL useless TO attempt TO catch him
until he has swallowed the hook. Al
together. the creature may be said to
be In every way IT TO provide sport for
the new woman angler.
After Mrs. Patterson had hooked her
Ash Il took twenty minutes Of hard
lighting TO tire him out. Then he was
hauled mp alongside and gated by an
enormous hook fastened 10 pole.
This implement was handled by the
boatman, Mrs. Patterson relaxing the
feminine character Of the proceedings
far enough to permit OF his humble as
slstancc
A iO7-pound FISH Is a pretty fair catch
for a woman. especially before break
fast. and Il might have been expected
that the lady would have returned to
the hotel satisfied. hut not So The
hook was balted afresh. and In less
than an hour another bite was had; the
line slowly ran over the side OF the
boat and then the time OF striking came
The monster made heroic efforts Ia
break away. but there was a new wom-
an on the other end Of the line and all
his struggles we're unayailing. She
let the FISH leap aud roll and plunge
aud dive as II would. the line was al
ways stretched out to the proper de-
gree OF tautness.
Il took sixteen minutes TO Kill this
fish. Mrs. Patterson was back at the
hotel before II o'clock. and her husband
could scarce believe his ears when she
told him the story. But he believed hii
eyes when he saw the fish. Mrs Pat
terson now claims the championship h
the matter OF tarpon catching before
breakfast. Hers Is the biggest basket
that has ever been caught by woman
OF course none but the new woman
could have done Il.
The tarpon contains a great quantity
Of oil. for which reason II Ii not a very
choice article OF food. The beautiful
sIlyery scales with which Il Is covered
constitute It's greatest value. They arr
used for various purposes. They var,
In size. being from two to four inches II
diameter. and are not unlike the In
side OF native oyster shell, although
more sllvery. when dried they are re
markably tough. and do not lose am
OF that brllllancy they display on th'
live creature.
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