The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-02-14
rARpoN TACTICS.
Wonderful Feats. Flights and Leaps es
the Silver kim.

Wonoerfui feats, fh9hte ana Leaps "
the Silver King.
In the big pass tarpon can best be
caught from near the bottom Of the
channel and should be fished for with
fifty feet OF line and heavy sinker.
In shallow water the tarpon leaps
high In air the instant he feels the
hook. but In the pass he often fights
for a minute or two before coming to
the surface. More than once when l
had come to fear that my tarpon was
a shark he has suddenly shot above
the surface like bullet from a gun
and in the first wild shake OF his head
thrown hook and bait fifty feet in the
air and one even sent four ounce
leaden sinker flying over my head from
nearly twice that distance. Other tar
pom when struck came straight up
from the bottom, one grazing our gun
vale as he rose and another leaping
over the stern Of the canoe. As soon
as tarpon was tired enough to let us
pull the canoe beside him we renewed
the hook from his mouth and let him
swim home to his family. 1t happened
once that tarpon was less tired than
we had assumed. On that occasion We
swan home. and he had good man
story to tell his friends.
1t had been counted poor year for
tarpon, yet In fifteen consecutive days
Of fishing we were fast to forty-four
tarpon, each OF which had jumped for
us from one to twelve times. This
high water mark OF twelve jumps was
made by n tarpon which was stimu-
lated to his later efforts by the pres
ence Of pursuing shark. and the
twelfth jump was a double number.
There was commotion in the crimsoned
water, new vigor at the other end OF
my line, and 1t was an hour later when
I finally landed on a sand bar a shark
with an aldermanic stomach. A knife
drawn across this distended organ dis
closed the tarpon in sections, with the
hook still fast In his jaw. and enabled
the camera man to photograph to-
gether the subjects he had recently
photographed separately. Although
this shark was only one-fifth the size
Of our big hammerhead, yet he made
but two bites of his victim.
Our work at Boca Grande ended with
the red letter day Of the season OF all
seasons. I was fishing in the pass with
fifty feet Of line and the bait was d.
rectly under the canoe when tarpon
struck fercely. quickly carried away a
hundred more feet of line and then
swan 30 swiftly toward us that I fear
ed from the loosened line that he had
escaped. Then, fifty feet from the ca.
noe, there shot into the air giant tar
pom, measuring, as we learned after
ward. an even seven feet. Up. up, up.
he rose until the camera seemed to be
pointed at the zenith, and before the
ratified camera man could get his aim
the silver king had turned gracefully
In the air and was plunglng downward.
The captain swears that he saw, swing
ing clear Of the water, the ribbon which
marked twenty-five feet on the line as
1t hung plumb down from the tarpon.
Once / gave my own estimate of the
height Of the Jump to group OF
friends and after glance at their
grieved expressions appealed to the one
of most experience on the coast and
with the tarpon. After a single mo-
ment of hesitation he remarked firmly:
1--WE fishermen must stand together.
I believe the story."-A. w. Dimock in
Appleton's.