The National tribune., 1902-02-13
TARPON And SHARKS
On the East Coast of Florida.
BY r. B. SEAGER.

1901 fishing about Miami, where is to be
had the finest sport in Florida, if not i'll
the world, and caught king-ish and nearly
all the other varieties found there, such
as barracuda, grOupers and amber-Jacks,
my ambition grew to catch a tarpOn, the
prize fish of the Florida waters.
Those unfamiliar with tarpon fishing
and who see the royal fish perform would
be likely to suppose a bOckand-taclle
with Il mast for pole the only suitable
weapons with which to attack such pow
erful creature. However, the real outfit
is not very heavy, and ! could hardly be-
lieye when | purchased mine that 1t would
| stand the necessary strain. A tarpOn pole
is usually about seven feet long and made
of carefully-selected pieces of bamboo,
greenhart or similar wood. The guides
must be very smooth. and every precau-
ton is taken to prevent the wearing Of
the line. The reels are very carefully
made and usually carry 100 feet of line.
A cheaply-made reel is apt to jam as soon
as so great a strain is put on it, and no
enc should ever be persuaded TO ecOno-
mize on this part of the outfit. The mouth
of tarpOn is practically solid bone, and
there are very few places in which a hook
can possibly find a hold. The best hooks
for trolling are fastened to siX-fOot-Iong
piano wire leader, which. if kent free from
rust, is seldom known to break.
| The usual method of fishing for tarnon
| is by trolling from Il rowbOat. a shiny
halt is cut in the form of triangle or
| long diamond, and fastened to the hook,
so that in the water it will have the ap-
uearance of a small fish Every angler
has his own ideas and ways Of batting n
| tarDOn hook. hut we chose to hook our
! haits through the end so that the rest
waved freely in the water behind; and
| this seemed more successful! than any
I IL. L.
would do for bait; the generally accepted
lure. mulet. was no better, if so good rs
kinC-fish, white shark skin or the skin of
other light-colored fish.
As soon as tarpon strikes the hook
must he firmly set into the mouth of the
fish, which usually jumps a few seconds
after taking the bait; if there is no jump
Won may be sure yOu have captured
shark or some other large fish. The
length of time it takes to land a tarpon
varies from 10 minutes to two or more
heurs, according to the skill Of the fish
erman and the character of the place in
which the fish is hooked.
1t is usually supposed, ! believe. that
tarpon fishing is confined to the west
coast of Florida, from Tampa to Cape
Sable. for although largo schools Of these
fish are found on the East coast. Occa-
sional ones even caught. yet anglers seem
to consider that the fish do not begin f.
bite well until they have worked around
into the Gulf. Up to the time we started.
about the first of April, very few fish
had been caught on the West coast. ard
so we resolved TO cruise through the Kcvs
with the idea of testing the quality of the
East-coast fishing.
We spent the first three days in king
fishing ont on the reefs. but on the morn
ing of the fourth as we were crossing
Barnes Sound, some 40 miles south of
Miami. we ran into an immense school of
tarrOn lying near the mouth of jew Fish
Creek. As the water was only about eight
feet deep and very clear, we could see
them plainly; and they were very much
at ease. some rolling laziy. others lying
with their back fins just showing above the
surface. For minutes rode through the
school without disturbing them. then on n
sudden they anueared TO awaken. and
shortly thereafter each boat had 90 or 30
fish following. apparently out of curiosity
which is not their habit. as ! afterward
observed. They were close behind nv
boat. 50 ! reeled in till my bait was in
their midst. Almost Immediately / felt
n strike, which seemed so puny for so
large a fish that / could scarcely credit
It, hut as the tarpon started off ! found
it quite as strong as ii looked, and I GER
tainlv expected to lose all the skin off NV
fingers as the reel handle hummcd around
compare with that on seeing this huge sill
very creature shoot into the air and shake
himself in his efforts to diSlodge the hook.
Because of my excitement and of my in
experience, I must have given my fish
slack line or else the hook did not hold for
it got away after I had played il - min
utes. However, il was not long before
had hooked another, which / landed
without disaster. though at one time dur
ing the struggle I felt that the fish had
as good n chance OF firing me out as | had
of getting him
In the afternoon no sooner had we start
cd ont than the tarp0n seemed to take
fright. making off up the sound and throw
ing spray as they dart"d along somewhat
like small whales. In II minutes all that
| could be seen of our school of tarpon were
n few SplaSheS off toward the horizon
Much Disguised, we cOnSolcd ourselves
trolling for the grnupcrs that abound In
the creek. and occasionally hooking n good
snapper, which furnished Lively iightin"
with Our steel rods. Shortly after sun
down we heard tremendous SplnShin9 at
the mouth of the creek, which we at first
thought 10 be sharks tearing up the dead
tarpOn we had tied 10 Il stake on n fat.
As the noise continued. however, | went
to investigate, and loi there was our tar
ron school Of the morning banked up at
| the mouth Of the creek and going through
| IT toward the ocean as fast as they were
able. The moon was full and very bright
so that we could see the fish living on the
surface from the close approach they per-
mitted. They were evidently very hungry.
and we hooked eight in about an hour.
.hree of which were landed 1t was Il
strange and fascinating scene for the
snort. with the huge fish splashng and
swirling not an oars length from the boat.
rs we disturbed them in the bright, trop-
irai moonlight. Every few minutes
shout would 20 up from one boat or the
other, and big, silvery creature shoot
six or seven feet mp into the moonlight.
falling back To send the spray flashing
| like molten silver. At last they diSan-
neared again and we went back TO bed
hoping our luck might continue: for six
tarpon in one day was exceptional snort.
The reason for tlIe departure of the fish
was explained next morning when n cold
norther, which soon developed into Il gale,
set in. The tarpOn is essentially Il warm
water fish, and at the first signal of an
approaching storm, which it detects even
before the barometer, Immediately seeks
refuge in deep water or IN the Gulf
Stream, where the temperature is little
affected by changes of weather.
From Barnes Sound we moved slowly
down the coast to Indian Key, securing
fine snapper fishing. Those who enioy
this milder sport will find on moonlight
nights the finest snapper fishing imagin-