A TARPON SEIZING A BAIT OF MULLET.
tarpon requires no skill and no experience, but the very strongest of tackle. It also taxes the angler’s strength and staying power to an extent that would, save in very exceptional circumstances, be out of the question in salmon fishing. And why, after all, any call for these eternal comparisons? To every country and season and income their fish; and those who have the opportunities may without difficulty kill their Florida tarpon and their Highland salmon in the same summer. Nor is the tarpon, though first, the only fish worth catching in those waters, and I have purposely devoted a page here and there to the sport obtainable with smaller species, and even with the harpoon.
The best time of tide for sea-fishing at Boca Grand is slack water, and the interval immediately before and after it. A good deal depends on the quarter of the moon and direction of the wind, for it is these that regulate the duration of a fishing-tide. The tides are erratic in those seas; at times it is possible to fish for three hours on end, while on other days no sooner are you fairly under way than the tide becomes too strong, and there is nothing for it but to reel up and go ashore. Much the same difference is, of course, discernible in sea-fishing at home during a week of spring or neap tides, but there is much greater irregularity on the Florida coast.
Tarpon fishing by night is exciting work, somewhat too exciting for many people. The fish, however, bite with far more certainty than by day, particularly when the moon is shining. There is an element of danger about this night-fishing, and more than one nervous system has been shattered by a porpoise jumping into a boat; indeed, Mr. Otis Mygatt, one of the most celebrated of tarpon-fishermen, suffered severely from this startling intrusion.
It is impossible to know how far one is drifting towards the open sea, and on all sides are heard the plunges of mighty fish, which are far more likely to land in the boat than during the day. A great tarpon may seize the bait and get round behind the angler, to his utter confusion. Even if the shore is reached in time, there is considerable difficulty and excitement in landing a tarpon on a dark night. Towards the end of May those who are not strong enough to land their tarpon without delay lose them to the sharks. As many as five of these monsters will attack a hooked tarpon at once, and on one occasion I remember four of them while thus engaged attacking a fifth, and in a few moments not a shred of that fifth shark remained. The angler recovered only the head of the tarpon. It is remarkable, seeing the position of the shark’s mouth, what rapid bites he can take at a struggling tarpon, just as we should take the first bite of a sandwich. It is no bad plan to carry a rifle in the boat so late in the season. It will often keep off sharks and save a good fish.
A few words must now be said as to the means of reaching Boca Grand Pass, the most fashionable tarpon