The equipment for tarpon fishing consists of a heavy striped bass rod, seven or eight feet long, a first-class multiplying reel, 100 to 150 yards of Cuttyhunk line of from 18 to 21 threads, and knobbed hooks, Nos. 8–0 to 10–0. The tarpon has no sharp teeth, but the edges of its jaws are sharp enough to cut an ordinary line, and open vertically. Owing to this fact it is imperative that a snell of wire, whit-leather, or of heavy braided cotton line be used.
Tarpon Bait Fishing
Tarpon fishing, as usually practiced, requires a level head, considerable muscle, and a just appreciation of the tensile strength of tackle. With no thought of disparagement, it is none the less true, that not much real angling knowledge—as that term is understood in relation to salmon, trout or black bass fishing—is required. The hook is baited with mullet or other fish bait, a long cast made, and the bait allowed to remain on the bottom until "negotiated" by the huge fish. Usually a lot of slack line is pulled from the reel and coiled in the boat, in order that the fish may carry off the bait without hindrance, and so be induced to swallow it, when he is hooked in the gullet. Then the trouble begins. Feeling the prick of the hook he vaults into the air several feet, and continues to do so until exhausted, when he is reeled in to the gaff or taken ashore into shallow water, the latter plan being the best.
Pumping Them In
Huge fishes like the tarpon, jewfish or tuna are sooner brought to gaff by "pumping," as it is called. It is effected in this way: The rod is raised upward and backward and then quickly lowered to a horizontal position, when advantage is taken of any decreased tension or slack line by reeling it in as rapidly as possible. This operation is repeated whenever practicable, and as often as possible.
Tarpon Reel
The plan of having a quantity of slack line in the boat, as mentioned, is really not necessary with a reel of the best quality, and is open to several obvious objections. A tarpon would not notice the slight pull on the line from such a reel, as it renders on the slightest provocation. A leather brake sewed to one of the bars of the reel, or one of the patented drag-handles, is absolutely necessary in playing a tarpon, otherwise the fingers are likely to suffer in consequence of the fierce rushes of the fish for freedom.
A Tarpon Enthusiast
My good friend Major-General Eustace Hill, a retired officer of the British army, whom I initiated in tarpon fishing, declared to me—after an experience of thirty-five years in India, and ten summers in Norway, salmon fishing—that the two finest sports in the world were pig-sticking and tarpon fishing, notwithstanding he has a record of two hundred salmon in a single season—and there you are. But the General is one of the "strenuous" type of sportsmen. By the way his grandfather, Admiral Keppel, the ranking officer of the British navy, died a few years ago at the advanced age of ninety-four years; by a special Act of Parliament he was continued in active service until the day of his death.
