Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-22

NutS y tHS thst w " tNO~fe'a tstN
on Fishing Frontiers. The sseont
article, to appear on Sundays Lei
sure Sportsmon Page, will tell NOR
about the tarpon possibilities on thI
Eastern Shore, plus other pioneerin!
thot may lead to new sport fishing
Sandidge, manager of thu
Wachapreague Hotel, Albert
Phillips, also Of Wachapreague
and Claude Edwards Of Vir'
ginia Beach. In another wert
Rogers and Killmon and in thu
third, Mr.. and Mrs. Meiners
Already on the fishing grounds
we're Birchett and Bill Draper
also from Hopewell.
I accompanied the North
ampton County game warden
grizzled Rufus T. Sweetheart
Charnock, who in Is years ha
learned every inch of the in
tricate channels
We set out with 35-horse'
power motors at full throttle
to thread our way along Sane
Shoal Channel, Cookie Point
Creek, past Eckichy Marsh anc
across Outlet Bay to Gul
Marsh Channel where we knew
the tarpon to be. The 7-milt
run takes about IS minutes al
high speed.
Try to Catch Bait
The outboards paused onct
at a buoy In fairly deep watel
to try with light tackle fol
sea trout or any other small
fish that might serve as bait
These we planned to keep alive
in lard tubs.
The only bait we had were
two very dead spot and We
cut strips from these. Fishing
was poor, however, and the
best I could do was a couple
of small black wills" or sea
bass.
After Charnock lost hooks
sinker and part of his line tt
a gluttonous shark, we al
headed over the flats for oul
objective. All the way the
warden, who gets his nick.
name, Sweetheart, from ad.
dressing everyone he meets
with that endearing term
grumbled:
Sweetheart, I'm a deer
water man. Well tear out oul
boats or motors for certain or
these shoals"
Catch Only Sharks
But we didn't and arrived
safely at Gull Marsh Channel
to try again for bait fish and
then line our boats across the
channel to await the tarpon
Bottom fishing here produced
only voracious dog sharks and
we soon gave it up.
A fisherman loaned me a fat
live perch and I hooked this
through the lower lip on a sc
Titan hook attached to a CO.
pound test monofllament leader
on a 45-pound test dacron line
Boat rods are suitable but mos
Of us were using surf rods tt
better cast out the live bait
when the tide was slack.
The marshes by then were
only Just beginning to emerge
as the tide slowly receded anc
there was no sign Of tarpon
Our only amusement was Il
watch q big sea turtle thai
emerged every so often to stare
at the intruders.
BY mid-afternoon the fiat
were going dry and great
sloughS appeared as the!
poured their waters into thu
channel where the current haC
by now a pronounced roll.
1t was then that I saw my
first tarpon-a magnificent fish
that suddenly arched higl
from the channel to fall bacl
with a cascade Of spray.
More TarpOn Appear
Then ] saw others rolling il
the current, sending UP httl'
geysers Of spray. The excite
ment grew. More and NOR,
they appeared until they &C
tually were swimming arount
the boat, sometimes clos
enough to reach with an oar
BY this time I had lost m!
perch and substituted a blacl
will.
The first to get a strike wa
Killmon, fishing with Rogers
quarter-mile behind us. He hat
on a whole squid for bait. Hi
fish leaped once and Roger
Immediately pulled anchor o.
the big tarpon tore OF line. TIT
fight was shorter than most
however, and within 10 minute
the fish was boated on the fiat
! More time passed and in TIL