Evening star., 1941-12-07

Beach and all the way down the
east coast, but not in any great
number. There's always the chance
a white marlin will pick up sail
fish bait. If he does you have a
real scrap on your hands. for the
| marlin will Outright, outjump and
out anything the usual sailfSh. But
marlin off Florida, during the win
ter season, are considered rare.
TarpOn Start in Spring.
Tarpon. No use trying the usual
tarpon haunts in January, February
or March. They just aren't there,
although a school usually hangs out
at the entrance to Miami Har-
Dor in the swift water of Govern
ment Cut early in the year. Boca
Grande, Sarasota, Venice, st. Pete,
Tampa Bay, all are out early in the
year for tarpon.
But tarpon do run at Key West
every month in the year. Jack
Channel, Calda Channel, Boca
Chica Pass and Jewish banks are
best in the early months, and acca-
sionally, if the weather has been
warm, Old Silversides will show up
around Bahia Honda and around
the cuts under the highway viaduct
on the Key West road in February
and March.
Some tarpon remain throughout
the winter in the Shark River coun-
try, which means the Harneys,
Broad, Rodgers, Little Shark and
Lostman's Rivers. We've had excel
lent tarpon fishing in the Shark
River in February, but a necessity is
long stretch of warm weather, I'M
interrupted by one of those north
ers' that sweep South Florida every
| winter.
When the thermometer drops
away down there the tarp heads for
deep water. Best months for tar
pom are April, May, June and early
July.
Bonefish Real Angling Treat.
Bonefsh. All, here is the answer
/ w pilC VI ouO anu DdSS 1lMlCl llldll .
| prayer. Here is fish with the
speed of light, the shyness of deer,
| and the "savvy" of a veteran boxer
Here is the answer to the dream of
| the light tackle man-in the ocean.
His royal shyness is present in the
shallow Florida banks anywhere
from Miami south. Hot spots are
CN1linr AF
ier. Matecumb, Islamorada, Pirates
Cove and all shallow banks in the
warm sea. Winter is best time.
Blue marlin. That's a maybe"
weight away up there (world rod
and reel record, 730 pounds) start
to take bait in January. But the
best time is from April on and the
best spot definitely is the Gulf
Stream on its east side, which means
Bimini and Cat Cay waters. Every
year a few blues are picked up on
the west side of the stream in
waters adjacent to Miami, but the
blue marlin cannot be classed as an
East Coast fish.
Wahoo, dolphin, kingfish, bonito.
They are present anywhere in the
blue water off the lower East Coast.
At times they become a nuisance
picking up your. carefully-fashioned
sailfish bait. But a big dolphin,
kingfsh or bonito is no chump on
a rod, particularly the dolphin.
Wahoo Is Game Fighter.
Every once in a while you may
run into wahoo, cousin to the
kingfsh. and appearing much like
him. If you are lucky enough to
tie into a wahoo you have some
thing. The wahoo is real antago-
mist, runs to poundage and every
ounce is gameness, but he is rare.
Shark. More and more some
anglers with a yen for tieing into
something big and hefty are going
after Shovel Nose. He has no sea-
sons, or fondness for any particu-
lar bait. Get yourself the heaviest
tackle you can find, drop over a
bleeding hunk of meat or fish any
where in fairly deep water and hang
on. We leave that to the last be-
cause it isn't too much fun.
But any way you take 'em, those
scrappers in the waters around
Florida are game boys They do
their stuff, and if you catch 'em you
will have done yours.