SH 
 
 G9I 
 
 T 
 
 THE TARPON 
 
 BY 
 
 F. GRAY GRISWOLD 
 
GENERAL 
 IBRARY 
 
 NIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 er 
 

 THE SPORTING GALLERY 
 AND BOOKSHOP, INC. 
 
 No. 38, East $znd Street, New Tork 
 
THE TARPON 
 
 COMPLIMENTS OF 
 F. GRAY } GRISWOLD 
 
THE TARPON 
 
 BY 
 
 F. GRAY GRISWOLD 
 
 NEW YORK 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 
 1922 
 
THE TARPON 
 
 (Tarpon Atlanticus) 
 
 THIS game fish has the local names of 
 Tarpon, Tarpum, Grand Ecaille, Savalo, Sa- 
 balo, Savanilla, Savalle, Silver Fish, and Silver 
 King. 
 
 He belongs to the family of Elopidea, and is 
 the largest of the herring tribe. His habitat at 
 sea is in the warn^d^ters of the Atlantic Ocean 
 and of the Gulf Stream. He is found along the 
 coasts of Brazil and Central America, as well 
 as among the islands of the West Indies and 
 also along the gulf coast of Mexico. In the 
 summer time tarpon are numerous all around 
 the Gulf of Mexico and on the east coast of 
 Florida. 
 
 A few fish have been known to appear in 
 midsummer as far north as the New England 
 coast. I have seen some in the New York 
 Aquarium that had been taken in nets in New 
 York Bay. In the summer of 1919, 1 saw a fine 
 
 M8420SO 
 
6 THE TARPON 
 
 specimen that was caught in a net in Narra- 
 gansett Bay near Newport. 
 
 Little is known of the habits of the tarpon 
 when in the open sea. I never met them at sea 
 but once, and that was in the month of Febru- 
 ary along the edge of the Gulf Stream off New 
 River Inlet. On that occasion I sailed through 
 a large school on the surface swimming south. 
 
 Tarpon are often taken in the nets off Hills- 
 boro Inlet, which is not far from where I met 
 them. 
 
 They arrive among the Keys of lower Florida 
 in small schools of an average weight in Febru- 
 ary, and from then on their numbers increase 
 until midsummer. These schools of fish dwell 
 in Bahia Hondo, Matecumbe Sound and other 
 channels for a few days before working their 
 way into the Gulf of Mexico. If a Norther 
 blows they go to sea, and return later. Other 
 fish enter the rivers of the east coast of Flor- 
 ida. 
 
 The building of the East Coast Railway 
 greatly disturbed their customs, for many of 
 the fairways they were in the habit of journey- 
 ing through were closed by trestles and via- 
 ducts. At that time schools of fish appeared 
 in Biscayan Bay, and many were taken off the 
 
THE TARPON 7 
 
 mouth of Arch Creek. These fish were evi- 
 dently looking for a passage through to the 
 west coast, having found their usual route 
 further south barred by the railroad. 
 
 On the west coast tarpon are to be found in 
 Shark, Harney, Broad, Turner's and Losman's 
 rivers, and among the Thousand Islands. In 
 Surveyor's Creek, Estero, and the Caloosa- 
 hatchee River, also in the Passes that divide 
 the outer islands such as Captiva and Boca 
 Grande, and up along the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 These fish are supposed to return south in 
 early November, but many remain in the deep 
 holes of the rivers during the winter and do 
 not show unless the water is at least as warm 
 as 68 degrees. 
 
 Where these fish come from is not known, but 
 they appear to arrive from the West Indies via 
 the Gulf Stream. 
 
 There is another migration up the west side 
 of the Gulf that appears to come from the rivers 
 of Mexico. They begin to arrive at Aransas 
 Pass in March. 
 
 It is not known where they spawn. Some 
 people believe it happens at sea but, from what 
 I have seen, I believe they spawn in brackish 
 water at the headwaters of streams, or at the 
 
8 THE TARPON 
 
 head of the tide, for it is there only that you find 
 small fish. 
 
 Fifteen miles up rivers in Cuba I have taken 
 large tarpon that were evidently spent fish, not 
 only from their appearance but because they 
 had little strength. It is possible they also 
 spawn on the flats and sandbars inside the 
 outer islands. 
 
 Tarpon are very susceptible to the cold, and 
 love warm water. When in the rivers and not 
 looking for food they will lie on the bottom, 
 coming up from time to time for a mouthful 
 of air and then retiring to their resting place, 
 after which air-bubbles will arise to the surface. 
 
 It is this action that makes the natives insist 
 that these fish have lungs and use them for 
 breathing. Then again they will lie on the 
 bottom for hours as other fish do, with little 
 or no motion of the fins. 
 
 I once saw quite a school of large tarpon 
 lying on the bottom in the Los Angeles River 
 in the Isle of Pines. They took no notice of 
 the launch, although we passed over them twice 
 in seven feet of clear water. 
 
 I once caught a baby tarpon five inches long 
 in a gill net in New River. He was badly gilled, 
 yet lived all day in a tub. He did not act as 
 
THE TARPON 9 
 
 other fish do, but allowed me to stroke him 
 gently and, tarpon-like, showed no -fear. From 
 time to time he would rise to the surface as the 
 large fish do in the rivers, then go to the bottom 
 of the tub again, and in a moment the bubbles 
 would slowly issue from his mouth. 
 
 The long lower jaw of the tarpon shows that 
 he is a bottom feeder, and lives on crabs; yet 
 he also feeds on school fish such as mullet, 
 needle fish, and the like. 
 
 Although the tarpon's mouth is as hard as 
 stone, there is a very sensitive cuticle that 
 covers the roof of the mouth. When you see 
 a tarpon in 1 a river jump you may be sure that 
 a crab has nipped this cuticle. When they 
 jump in the sea it may be done to get rid of 
 ramoras. 
 
 I believe that the tarpon not only come to 
 the rivers of Florida in the spring and early 
 summer for the purpose of spawning, but that 
 like the salmon they return to the same river 
 as a rule, and that many fish remain in deep 
 holes in the rivers throughout the winter. 
 
 This belief is based on the fact that in the 
 late 80's and early 90's there were many tarpon 
 to be found in the Peace River. During the 
 freeze in 1894 many hundreds of tarpon were 
 
10 THE TARPON 
 
 killed by the cold in this stream. The banks 
 were lined with dead fish of the largest kind. 
 Since that time, few tarpon are to be found in 
 the Peace River. 
 
 I was in Florida at the time of the "Big 
 Freeze," living in a houseboat on the St. Lucie 
 River. The mercury went to 18 degrees, and 
 the river water steamed and smoked. It was 
 not the cold that directly killed the fish, but 
 the cold seemed to have consumed the oxygen 
 in the water, for the fish died from asphyxia- 
 tion. 
 
 For two hundred miles both shores of the 
 shallow Indian River were banked with dead 
 fish, mostly so-called surface feeders such as 
 snook, bluefish, and the like. The bottom fish 
 did not seem to be affected. 
 
 I saw many bluefish of five pounds flopping 
 along on the surface, but no mullet. These 
 wise fish went to sea in schools the day before 
 the Norther arrived. 
 
 We picked up nineteen green turtles that were 
 benumbed by the cold and floating on the sur- 
 face. These turtles were stacked on the lower 
 deck of the houseboat and revived much to the 
 consternation of the crew, although they were 
 compensated for their troubles the following day 
 
THE TARPON 11 
 
 when they disposed of the turtles at Fort Pierce 
 for $200. 
 
 I have fished for tarpon in the St. Lucie 
 River in midwinter. For days you would not 
 see any fish, but if you waited until after a few 
 days of hot sun had warmed the water to 68 
 degrees they would begin to roll and show them- 
 selves and would then take live silver mullet 
 bait. 
 
 It took me some time to find out how to keep 
 mullet alive, for if you put them into a well in 
 a boat they bruise their noses against the sides 
 of the well and die. 
 
 I procured oat bags and laced barrel hoops 
 around them on the outside. I then ran draw- 
 ing strings around the mouths of the bags. 
 After placing half a dozen live mullet, taken by 
 cast-net, in each of several bags I practised with 
 them to find out in what depth of water the 
 mullet were most comfortable. I then tied the 
 bags to the roots of trees along the bank of the 
 stretch of river I proposed to fish. In this 
 manner I always had fresh, live bait at my 
 convenient disposal. 
 
 I found the new moon was the best day of 
 the month to fish. One winter, on the new 
 moon in January, I took a 187-pound tarpon; 
 
THE TARPON 
 
 and on the following new moon, in February, 
 I landed a fish weighing 165 pounds. 
 
 This fishing was done from a row boat; but 
 in later years and since the advent of the Wil- 
 son spoon I have fished in a small launch. A 
 live bait behind a launch soon dies and revolves 
 like a pin-wheel which destroys one's line, but 
 the Wilson spoon skitters and does not revolve 
 in the water. 
 
 Tarpon are greatly attracted by this spoon, 
 and it has been a blessing to me in Cuba where 
 no mullet were to be had. 
 
 I built two fishing yachts, the Savalo and the 
 Kona, for tarpon fishing in Cuba, and fished 
 there almost every winter from 1904 to 1920. 
 
 I have cruised from Nipe Bay to the west- 
 ward around Cape San Antonio and as far as 
 Cienfuegos on the south coast, and also to the 
 Isle of Pines 60 miles south of Cuba. 
 
 Tarpon are to be found in certain rivers in 
 Cuba at all times of the year. I say certain 
 rivers, for the tarpon is a clean fish and does 
 not favor muddy water. The soil of Cuba is 
 red and rich, so that the streams that drain 
 the cultivated lands are mostly muddy; in such 
 rivers no tarpon are to be found. 
 
 There are large swamps in Cuba, and the 
 
THE TARPON 13 
 
 rivers that drain these swamps run clear. It is 
 in these rivers that the most fish are to be 
 found. 
 
 The Rio Negro and Jatibonico drain over 
 one hundred square miles of swamp, and in 
 these rivers the tarpon abound. 
 
 The Damuji River is also a river of fairly 
 clear water, and at times there is good fishing 
 there. 
 
 These rivers are all on the south coast of Cuba. 
 On the north coast a small river with a long 
 name, the Zaraguanacan, is often full of tarpon. 
 
 The fish do not seem to go above the tide. 
 The limit of the mangroves, which do not grow 
 along fresh water, seems to be the limit of the 
 tarpon from what I have seen, yet Mr. Zane 
 Grey says he found tarpon one hundred miles 
 up the Panuco River in Mexico. 
 
 The fish do not run as large as at some places 
 in Florida, although I have taken fish of 130 
 pounds in weight and have lost heavier ones. 
 The headwaters of the rivers abound in small 
 fish. I have at times seen hundreds of tarpon 
 that would weigh from 10 to 15 pounds and have 
 taken them four inches long. 
 
 On one occasion I found a narrow stretch of 
 the Jatibonico River simply alive with 15 -pound 
 
14 THE TARPON 
 
 tarpon. I landed 14 in an hour's fishing and 
 must have "jumped" 25 more fish. At another 
 time and in another river I "jumped" 52 large 
 tarpon in three days' fishing of the flood tides. 
 
 My fishing journal tells me that I landed 254 
 tarpon in Cuba, which means that I must have 
 hooked over 1,000 fish, for it is not possible to 
 save more than one hooked tarpon out of five 
 fish hung on a Wilson spoon. The weight of the 
 spoon helps the fish to free himself. 
 
 I invariably turned the hooked fish loose 
 unless they were damaged. They sometimes 
 bruise their gills in jumping and bleed profusely. 
 In such cases the fish will not live if liberated. 
 
 The natives of Cuba spear tarpon and I am 
 sorry to say net the small ones. Both there and 
 in Mexico the fish are eaten fresh as well as 
 salted. 
 
 My method of fishing in Cuba has been trolling 
 a large sized Wilson spoon with sixty feet of line 
 over the stern of a small launch. The launch 
 travels at the rate of four miles an hour. If a 
 fish is hooked in a wide part of the river I have 
 the launch circle the fish. It is easy to land a 
 100-pound tarpon in 8 minutes by this method 
 if you understand fighting fish. 
 
 If a fish is hooked in a narrow stream it is 
 
THE TARPON 15 
 
 necessary to keep the boat away from the fish 
 until he is well spent. In narrow streams you 
 lose many fish for they jump into the over- 
 hanging branches of the mangrove trees which 
 line the banks and tumble back into the wa- 
 ter leaving your tackle entangled among the 
 branches. 
 
 The Cauto on the south coast is the only 
 river in Cuba that is navigagable. The other 
 streams are often from eight to ten feet deep, 
 excepting where they flow into the sea; here 
 you will find wide bars with but four feet of water. 
 
 It is a delight to fish in these rivers in winter 
 for there are no sharks to rob you of your fish 
 nor any insects of any kind excepting a few 
 mosquitoes at sunset if your yacht happens to 
 be five or ten miles up a river and moored to 
 the windward bank. The rivers are lined with 
 mangroves and dotted here and there along the 
 banks with royal palms, the most beautiful of 
 trees. 
 
 Of this tree Davis wrote: "The royal palm 
 is the characteristic feature of the landscape in 
 Cuba. It is the most beautiful of all palms and 
 possibly the most beautiful of trees. The co- 
 coanut palm, picturesque as it is, has a pathetic 
 resemblance to a shabby feather duster and its 
 
16 THE TARPON 
 
 trunk bends and twists as though it had not the 
 strength to push its way through the air and to 
 hold itself erect. But the royal palm shoots 
 up boldly from the earth with the grace and 
 symmetry of a marble column." 
 
 At sunset the small white cranes and egrets 
 fly upstream to their roosts. They flit along 
 close to the surface of the river and it is amusing 
 to watch the tarpon rise at their shadows as 
 they fly by. 
 
 There is a pond of brackish water on Pine 
 Island, Florida, which has no outlet to the sea 
 and contains many quite small tarpon. The 
 spawn must have been dropped by birds or 
 carried to the pond on the backs of alligators. 
 Owing to the poor food these fish do not increase 
 in size. 
 
 I do not take any interest in fishing for tarpon 
 with so-called light tackle. I believe a 15-thread 
 line is quite light enough and that the "punish- 
 ment should fit the crime." In other words the 
 charm of heavy fishing is being "up against" a 
 big fish and landing him as quickly and as 
 humanely as possible. The chief pleasure is 
 the give and take between man and fish. 
 
 The theory that fish are cold-blooded creatures 
 and therefore do not suffer is all very well as a 
 
THE TARPON 17 
 
 theory but I never want any fish to dangle at 
 the end of my line and eventually commit 
 suicide. 
 
 What anglers mean when they tell stories of 
 fighting a salmon for an hour or longer is beyond 
 me. Any salmon up to 45 pounds in weight 
 ought to be killed in twenty minutes even with 
 light grilse tackle if the angler knows how to fish. 
 
 Fishing with a 16-ounce grilse rod I once rose, 
 hooked, landed and weighed in 50 minutes, 5 
 salmon that weighed 128 pounds. This was not 
 done with intent but in the regular course of 
 fishing. 
 
 What I do believe in is fishing for tarpon with 
 a plain reel without any drag. The science of 
 tarpon fishing was lost when the reel drag was 
 invented. It came about in the following manner : 
 
 The science of sea fishing was first developed 
 along the Atlantic seaboard in the early 60's 
 and the Striped Bass (Roccus lineatus) was the 
 interesting fish which started this development. 
 
 The multiplying reels and Cuttyhunk twisted 
 linen lines were invented for this purpose, it 
 being discovered that these fish were too quick 
 for the old single action reels and that the braided 
 cotton lines were not strong enough to hold 
 these active, agile fish. 
 
18 THE TARPON 
 
 The method of fishing was casting a bait into 
 the white tumbling surf from the rocks or from 
 stands built for that purpose. 
 
 The three jointed rods of ash or lance wood 
 used at first were later abandoned, for two-piece 
 rods of Japan or Calcutta bamboo, and these 
 rods were later developed into the two-piece 
 split bamboos with guides and tips of agate of 
 the present day. 
 
 The reels had no drag but were supplied with a 
 musical click of small value. Later on in the 
 80 's a light drag was placed on the left side of 
 the reel for tarpon fishing, to prevent the line 
 from over-running in case of carelessness. 
 
 The first tarpon fishermen were old bass fish- 
 ermen who had learned the trick of playing 
 heavy fish with rod and reel and they all fished 
 with the right thumb on the reel as it had been 
 their custom so to fish when casting. 
 
 A few of us took up tarpon fishing without ever 
 having done much bass fishing and we fished 
 with the left thumbs on the reels and pumped 
 the fish with our right hands. 
 
 This method had a great advantage for the 
 right hand was always free, away from the reel 
 handle and out of danger, yet always ready to 
 reel in the slack. 
 
THE TARPON 19 
 
 The man who attempted to check a fish with 
 his right thumb on the reel and then reel in the 
 slack with his right hand was always in danger 
 of the back lash of the reel handle. 
 
 E. H. Vom Hofe, the celebrated tackle man- 
 ufacturer, was one of the first and most success- 
 ful tarpon fishermen, and, being an expert bass 
 fisherman as well, always fished with his right 
 thumb on the reel. 
 
 We often discussed the two ways of fishing 
 and I could not persuade him that my way was 
 right and his way was wrong until one day as he 
 was playing a heavy fish at Captiva Pass the 
 reel handle broke his right thumb. 
 
 The Rabbeth drag had already been invented 
 but was taboo according to the Tuna Club 
 Rules, so Vom Hofe sat up nights until he had 
 perfected the reel drag as we know it to-day. 
 
 He showed it to me and I had the first reel 
 made with the new invention. He described 
 it to me at the time as a "reel with which a man 
 can fish who has no thumbs at all." (1902). 
 
 Later on the B -Ocean reel was adapted by 
 Mr. Boschen, the greatest fisherman of all time, 
 with a free running spool and stationary handle 
 for heavy sword-fishing, for this fish takes sud- 
 den dives of two hundred feet and more and if 
 
20 THE TARPON 
 
 you cannot quickly free the line your rod is 
 pulled out of your hands or broken. 
 
 The tackle as it exists to-day is capable of 
 holding and landing a 1,000-pound game fish 
 and the reels will hold 1,200-feet of 24-thread 
 line. 
 
 The drag is necessary for swordfish, marlin, 
 and giant tuna, for you cannot fight such heavy 
 fish for four and more hours with thumb pres- 
 sure only, but for tarpon and tuna up to 200 
 pounds in weight thumb pressure is quite suf- 
 ficient and much more sportsmanlike. 
 
 I killed 5 tuna that weighed 491 pounds in 
 six hours with a plain reel and have landed very 
 many tarpon weighing from 187 pounds down 
 without any reel drag, so I write of my own per- 
 sonal experience. 
 
 With the invention of the reel drag the science 
 of tarpon fishing received a coup de grace. It 
 is no longer fishing but "coffee grinding" and 
 the fish have no chance whatever. 
 
 I have seen men at Boca Grande block the 
 line at the first jump of a tarpon, start the launch 
 engine and tow the fish ashore with his mouth 
 wide open. 
 
 That is not fishing; it is murder! 
 
 Tarpon can readily be killed on light tackle, 
 
THE TARPON 21 
 
 only it takes more line and more time and the 
 rod enjoys most of the fun. 
 
 With light tackle you must follow the fish, 
 with heavy tackle the fish comes to you. As 
 hooked tarpon always float with the tide or 
 current it is at times hard work, but when you 
 hear of a fisherman who has been an hour or 
 more killing a tarpon you may be quite certain 
 he has been trying to pull the heavy fish against 
 the tide. 
 
 The Light Tackle Club at Aransas Pass died a 
 natural death, for many members have told me 
 they gave up going there because they wearied 
 of light tackle yet did not like to go back to 
 the only real sport, heavy tackle. 
 
 Mr. L. G. Murphy holds the Aransas Pass 
 record for light tackle, a tarpon 6 feet 9i inches 
 long. 
 
 At Catalina Island a marlin of 185 pounds and 
 a tuna weighing 14/,? pounds have been landed 
 with light tackle by Mr. Jump. This is done by 
 setting the drag at the proper tension so that 
 a long run of the fish will not break the line. 
 The angler holds the handle of the reel which 
 works but one way when the drag is on. The 
 fish takes the line from the reel with the set 
 drag and the fisherman reels in the slack when he 
 
THE TARPON 
 
 can get it. It takes skill, time, and patience 
 but to me it does not give the satisfaction of 
 being "up against" a big fish. 
 
 If the advocates of light tackle for tarpon 
 would go back to the plain reel instead I can 
 promise them plenty of exercise and entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 I am greatly interested in all fish and have a 
 real affection for the tarpon. He is a gentleman 
 among fishes. He is not in the least afraid of 
 man or boat and when once hooked does not 
 attempt to run away or take advantage of his 
 great strength. 
 
 His one idea is to get rid of the hook which 
 annoys him and he will jump clear of the surface 
 many times and attempt to free himself. If 
 these tactics fail he will then swim close up to 
 the boat, raise himself out of the water and 
 shake his head. It is then that he is usually lost. 
 
 He is the grandest and most beautiful silver 
 fish that swims and he has the best manners of 
 any of the denizens of the deep, for he avoids 
 all snags, stumps, or obstructions in a river 
 when hooked and never takes advantage of the 
 fisherman but fights square. 
 
 I have the greatest admiration for this Silver 
 King of sea fishes. 
 
METHODS OF TARPON FISHING 
 
 The first tarpon were taken bottom fishing. 
 It was the custom to anchor the boat at some 
 chosen spot that was frequented by the fish and 
 then to chum with pieces of cut mullet. Two 
 hooks baited with the better part of a mullet 
 on each hook were cast out. The angler 
 watched one rod and his guide took charge of 
 the other. 
 
 I always took pains that my rod pointed 
 towards the spot where my bait lay so that 
 when the latter was picked up the line would 
 run free from the reel. The fish was allowed to 
 take fifty feet of line before striking because a 
 tarpon will pick up a bait and move off with 
 it in his mouth before gorging it. 
 
 The theory that loose line must be coiled in 
 the bottom of the boat was for novices that 
 could not pick up a rod without checking the 
 fish. 
 
 Tarpon that have gorged the bait, unless 
 hooked in a vital spot, fight much harder than 
 those that are hooked in the mouth. 
 
 23 
 
24 THE TARPON 
 
 The drawback to bottom fishing was that the 
 fish were all destroyed and could not be set free. 
 
 The snoods were made of deerskin or cotton 
 cord partly for the reason that wire is stiff and 
 the fish would drop such a bait and also that if 
 a shark picked up the bait he would bite through 
 the snood and free himself. 
 
 I always used snoods made of three strands 
 of fine wire twisted. They were not so easily 
 seen, were pliable and took more fish, besides I 
 enjoyed playing the mackerel sharks for they 
 are great jumpers and strong fighters. 
 
 When the Van Vleck hook was invented the 
 general method of fishing changed. It had been 
 discovered that when trolling the greater part 
 of the fish were hooked over the incisors which 
 are very large in the tarpon and that the fish 
 would jump and throw the hook. Mr. Van 
 Vleck had hooks made with the belly nearer the 
 point of the hook, which made it more difficult 
 for the fish to get rid of the hook when jumping. 
 
 I say this hook was invented, yet I have seen 
 in the Naples Museum, the very same hook 
 found in Pompeii (destroyed A. D. 79) and 
 probably used for trolling for tunney-fish. 
 
 We then either trolled for tarpon or anchored 
 in strong tideways in the Passes with a strip of 
 
THE TARPON 25 
 
 mullet for bait and with one hundred feet of 
 wet line. When a tarpon was hooked your 
 guide would throw the buoyed anchor rope 
 overboard and you would follow the fish. Hav- 
 ing your anchor buoyed saved time and it also 
 gave you a reserved position to return to. 
 
 When Mr. Mygatt discovered Boca Grande 
 as a fishing possibility (1898), owing to the great 
 depth of water there drift fishing was adopted. 
 
 The leader used is of heavy strong piano wire 
 six feet in length and at the upper or rod end of 
 the leader a sinker is fastened to the swivel or 
 ring with a light piece of string. The hook, is 
 baited with a live blue crab or a strip of mullet. 
 The launch goes under power to the entrance to 
 the Pass and drifts in with the tide. The fisher- 
 man keeps the hook off the bottom, in other 
 words slowly trolls the bait close to the bottom 
 where the tarpon lie. 
 
 As the depth of water changes, the length of 
 line is changed. If you hook a fish his first 
 jump frees the sinker. The drawback to this 
 fishing is that the sharks are numerous and steal 
 the hooked fish. 
 
 To my mind this is the most uninteresting 
 form of tarpon fishing, for to hook a fish near 
 the bottom in 60 feet of water does not give the 
 
26 THE TARPON 
 
 same sensation as travelling along at four miles 
 an hour and hooking near the surface, a fish 
 that immediately leaps in the air. A tarpon 
 will also jump twice as often in 8 feet of water. 
 
 I have seen forty or more boats drifting fairly 
 close together at Boca Grande on a moonlit 
 night and consternation caused among them by 
 the sudden jumping of two or three large hooked 
 fish. 
 
 It is a popular and lazy form of sport where 
 fish are plentiful, and as the tarpon is an elusive 
 fish and difficult to find, Boca Grande is much 
 frequented for the fish are known to be there in 
 numbers. 
 
 To me the great charm of tarpon fishing is to 
 hunt for the fish and find them, which you can 
 do in rivers as they often swim along the sur- 
 face, or if lying on the bottom come up from 
 time to time for air. 
 
 Fish hooked in the mouth can readily be set 
 free. Your guide is provided with a large 
 barbless release-hook which he inserts in the 
 fish's jaw and then removes the fishhook with 
 his gloved hand. 
 
 The season for tarpon fishing in Florida is 
 from the month of May to October. 
 
 At Aransas Pass, Texas, they fish in the Gulf 
 
THETARPON 27 
 
 outside the jetties with live or dead silver 
 mullet. The drawbacks are the rough water 
 and the numerous sharks. June and October 
 are the best months. 
 
 When I was at Tampico, Mexico, the method 
 of fishing was trolling a dead silver mullet 
 behind a row boat. We fished at the jetties 
 seven miles below the town or ten miles up the 
 Panuco River above Tampico. There is also 
 a Laguna that contains small tarpon. Owing 
 to the trade wind, afternoon fishing is difficult. 
 The best months are February and March. 
 
 In the Panama Zone the fishing is done from 
 the shore below the spillway of the Gatun Dam. 
 The method of fishing is with the fly and the 
 season is from May to November. If the Canal 
 had no locks the tarpon would now be in the 
 Pacific as well as in the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
ADVICE 
 
 When going seafishing I always choose from 
 the new to the full moon, for fish feed at night 
 when there is a moon, and are therefore less 
 hungry than after dark nights. 
 
 This does not apply to Boca Grande where 
 the moon is necessary for night fishing. 
 
 The days of the changes of the moon, espe 
 cially the first day of the new moon, are the best 
 days during the month for tarpon fishing. The 
 probable reason for this is that the tides are 
 high and strong at such times, which means 
 more food or more inclination to feed, for the 
 new moon increases the activity of all fish. 
 
 When on a fishing trip I never dry my lines. 
 Salt water preserves linen lines and a wet line 
 is stronger than a dry one. The lines must 
 be thoroughly dried indoors at the end of a 
 fishing trip. Never dry lines in the sun or wind 
 for they are fatal. Lines used in fresh water 
 must be dried daily. 
 
 After a day's fishing unreel the line and reel 
 
 28 
 
THE TARPON 29 
 
 it on again with care. This is done to take the 
 strain off the reel-drum and to prevent the 
 reel from spreading. 
 
 Split bamboo rods are the only rods that are 
 strong and durable enough for heavy fishing. 
 For ease and comfort fish with a rod that is not 
 over six inches longer than you are tall. Long 
 rods are back breakers. 
 
 When I first visited Catalina Island in 1900 
 I broke at the butt, a defective 6 ft. 9 in. rod, 
 which, when repaired, was 6 ft. 5 in. long. With 
 this rod I killed 13 tuna that weighed 1,411 
 pounds in fourteen days and discovered the 
 advantage of a short rod. I now fish with 
 split-bamboo rods in one piece, tip and butt 
 all in one, 6 ft. 5 in. long. 
 
 My success at Catalina in 1900 was the cause 
 of the Tuna Club Rules. The Secretary of the 
 Club informed me as I was leaving the island 
 that they had desired that an experienced tarpon 
 fisherman should try the tuna but that they were 
 disappointed with my "great success!" 
 
 The Tuna Club Rules followed. They were 
 quite right to limit the size and strength of 
 lines but an angler should be allowed to choose 
 his own length of rod. It takes better hands 
 to fish with a short stiff rod than with a long 
 
30 THE TARPON 
 
 pliable one and in heavy fishing comfort and 
 ease is the desideratum. 
 
 If the insects are bad use: 
 3C's 
 
 Oils of Camphor, Cedar and Citronella in 
 equal parts. For the bites of insects Pine Oil 
 is the best palliative. If subject to sunburn 
 "Face Paint" is an absolutely sure preventative. 
 It makes one look like a Red Indian but it is 
 pleasant to use and no sun has the slightest 
 effect on skin covered with this mixture. 
 
 Prescription for Face Paint to Prevent 
 Sunburn 
 
 3 oz. Yellow Ochre 
 2 oz. Burnt Sienna 
 
 4 oz. Mucilage of Quince or Flax Seed, or 
 
 bandoline, Rose water, to make one pint- 
 
 Shake well before using. 
 
 Put in a large-mouthed bottle and apply with 
 absorbent cotton and when nearly dry, spread 
 evenly over the face with the fingers. 
 
WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENT 
 
 Mr. William H. Wood, the pioneer of tarpon 
 fishing, was the originator of the formula for 
 estimating the weight of tarpon when first taken 
 from the water: 
 
 Girth * x length 
 
 I was puzzled for a long time trying to dis- 
 cover the reason for the divisor being 800. A 
 friendly fellow fisherman, Mr. B. R. Kittredge, 
 eventually solved the question as follows: 
 
 "Consider in the first place that the shape 
 of the fish is represented by two wedges placed 
 base to base. The area of the base of a wedge 
 multiplied by half its length gives its cubic 
 volume. So the volume of the two wedges 
 would be the area of the base multiplied by the 
 length of one wedge. The volume of a fish 
 in cubic inches would be the area of his middle 
 section multiplied by half his length. 
 
 If you square the circumference of any given 
 square you obtain a square that is 16 times the 
 area of the given square. For example 10 x 10 
 
 31 
 
32 THE TARPON 
 
 has an area of 100. It has a circumference of 
 40 which squared gives 1,600. So that the 
 square of the girth of a fish divided by 16 would 
 give the area of that section of the fish. Mul- 
 tiply the area of this section by half his length 
 and you will have the cubic volume of the fish. 
 
 Girth 2 length 
 
 .t ormula : x - = cubic volume 
 
 lo 2 
 
 The specific gravity of fish is approximately 
 1.15 so that about 25 cubic inches of fish weigh 
 29 of water or one pound. 
 
 So that if you divide the number of cubic 
 inches in a fish by 25 you will have his weight 
 in pounds: 
 
 _, Girth * length 1 . 
 
 r ormula: -r x - x = weight in Ibs. 
 16 2 25 
 
 which simplified is Girth 2 x length over 800. 
 
 My friend says a more simple formula is: 
 i Girth 2 x 2 times length = weight. 
 
 Tarpon must be measured when first taken 
 from the water in order to obtain their true 
 weight for they shrink when exposed to the air. 
 A heavy fish that is hung up over night will 
 stretch inches in length by the following morn- 
 ing. The length should be measured from the 
 tip of the closed mouth over the swell of the 
 fish to a line drawn between the flukes of the tail. 
 
RECORDS 
 
 As far as my personal knowledge is con- 
 cerned the first tarpon was landed with rod and 
 reel by Mr. W. H. Wood on March 25th, 1885, 
 bottom fishing in Surveyors' Creek, Florida. 
 Mr. Wood's great ambition was to land a tarpon 
 while fishing from the shore or beach. 
 
 I know of over a dozen fish that have been 
 taken that weighed 200 pounds or more. 
 
 The first was landed by Mrs. Stagg and 
 weighed, I believe, 205 pounds. 
 
 Edward Vom Hofe's fish followed on April 
 30, 1898, 210 pounds at Captiva Pass, Florida. 
 
 N. M. George took one of 213 pounds at 
 Bahia Honda, Florida, on April 8th, 1901. 
 
 Dr. Howe wrote me from Mexico that he had 
 captured a 223-pound tarpon at Tampico. 
 
 The largest tarpon I ever saw was caught off 
 Tea Table Key, Florida, on May 15th, 1904. 
 I was told that it weighed 224 pounds. Charlie 
 Thompson, a professional fisherman, was the 
 lucky angler. 
 
 W. A. McLaren holds the record for a fish 
 
 S3 
 
34 THE TARPON 
 
 taken in the Panuco River, Mexico, on March 
 27th, 1911. Length 7 ft. 8 ins.; girth 47 ins. 
 Weight 232 pounds. 
 
 Mrs. W. Ashby Jones caught a tarpon in the 
 Caloosahatchee River, Florida, in 1916, that 
 weighed 210 pounds. 
 
 Mr. B. W. Crowninshield has a record of 
 25 tarpon taken between sunrise and sunset at 
 Boca Grande and I believe Mr. L. G. Murphy 
 has a like record at Aransas Pass. 
 
 The greatest fishing I ever heard of was done 
 by Mr. and Mrs. Magill on a cruise along the 
 west coast of Florida in 1915. They captured 
 176 tarpon that weighed 16,377 pounds. The 
 heaviest fish weighed 196J pounds, eleven 
 weighed over 180 and forty over 150 pounds 
 each. 
 
 There were 785 tarpon weighed at Useppa 
 Island in 1917 and but 23 of them weighed over 
 150 pounds. 
 
 At Aransas Pass, Texas, the following fish 
 were liberated after being measured: 
 
 1906 1,573 
 
 1907 1,333 
 
 1908 700 Beginning of light tackle 
 
 1909 720 
 
 1910 800 49% on light tackle 
 
THE TARPON 35 
 
 1911 718 66% on light tackle 
 
 1912 530 64% " " 
 
 1913 960 78% " " 
 
 The falling off between 1907 and 1908 was 
 partly owing to the introduction of light tackle 
 but also to the extension of the jetties which 
 made the channel dangerous and rough. 
 
 In the 90's the tarpon that were weighed 
 would average about 100 pounds but of late 
 years the average has fallen to about 80 pounds. 
 This would lead one to believe that the number 
 of heavy fish is decreasing. 
 
 I believe that the tarpon of over 150 pounds 
 in weight are of great age and that they grow 
 very slowly. I judge this from the fact that 
 they are dainty feeders, for there is very little 
 undigested food found in them when examined. 
 
 Several thousand fish have been destroyed 
 yearly for over twenty-five years and although 
 it is now the custom to liberate most of the 
 hooked fish many of these tired tarpon become 
 the victims of piratical sharks and those that 
 are taken in nets are usually destroyed by the 
 fishermen owing to the damage they do to the 
 nets. 
 
! L/ I