CHAPTER I
The Giant Tarpon
CHAPTER I
THE GIANT TARPON
In the old country the sport of sea-fishing, though yearly more popular with its own votaries, can never oust the sport on inland waters, until at any rate these are fished out. Always excepting sharks as vermin, there is no British sea fish so mighty as the salmon, or so game as the trout. American waters, however, provide more than one salt-water giant calculated to test, if not, perhaps, the finest skill, yet certainly the greatest endurance that man is likely to bring to its capture. Of these, the big game of the Atlantic, the tarpon stands easily first.
Better than any detailed description of the fish and dentition, with measurements, is its picture to be found in this volume. Suffice it to say that the tarpon is to all outward appearance, bar the long dorsal fin ray, a gigantic herring, with scales four inches in diameter. It may weigh over two hundred pounds, and the length of such a monster would be about seven feet. The qualities that recommend the tarpon to the sportsman are—first, its power of leaping clear of the water, which lends excitement to its pursuit, since it may, and not infrequently does, land in your boat; and further, its mighty strength, endurance, and cunning, which combine to render it a worthy antagonist. It will, very often, indeed, completely tire out an angler, who then hands the rod to his guide, leaving him to finish off the half-exhausted fish, an alliance that, however unsporting it may seem to the hypercritical, may be absolutely necessary if the fish, or, indeed, the tackle, is to be saved. Not that the fish, except as a trophy, is of much use when gaffed. As food it is of little worth, and it is quite a pity that the pioneers in tarpon fishing should have thought it necessary to gaff through the gills and kill every fish, and leave it dead on the foreshore. Nowadays a more economic and sporting spirit prevails, and fish are often landed without being gaffed at all, and then allowed to go free.
Attempts have from time to time been made to compare tarpon and salmon fishing, to the advantage of one or the other, but the fact is that no such comparison is possible. As well compare shooting trap pigeons and rocketing pheasants. The salmon calls for skill, experience, and light tackle; the