view raw text
SPORT AMONG BIG FLORIDA FISH Boat Loads of Mackerel with Big Tarpon and Sharks on the Side One Monday morning at Petersburg Fn old man Williams came into the store and said Bob I am crazy to catch a tarpon You know my boat called the Pawnee has a reputation of being lucky for catching tarpon It was built by Governor Neville of Nebraska and in one season he caught over forty tarpon with it Why not take u vacation witli Bofo Jr and his mother and go to Anna Maria and rent a cottage Then we can fish in Long Boat Pass and also in the Northwest and Southwest Channels DadeDad at Fort Dade Dad that will just suit me I replied for I have a two weeks vacation coming to me and if Bob and his mother will go we can arrange to leave about the fifteenth just before the full moon That is the time to catch tarpon three days before and three days after the moon is full The tarpon stay out in the gulf on the rocks and with the full tide they come into the passes and feed on catfish crabs shiners and minnows as the tide goes out I will ask Bob and his mother when I go to dinner dinnerThey They were more than nleased to accept the invi ¬ tation so we wrote the agent at Anna Maria and he got us a nice cottage near the bay just what we were looking for We paid the rent and told Mr McDonald we would be down on Sunday I told Dad that if he had no objections I would like to have my friend Charles Warder accompany us and he said Get whoever you like I called up Charley and asked him how he would like to take a fishing trip to Anna Maria He replied Just the thing Ill be ready readyOn On Sunday morning at 9 oclock we left the Home Line dock to traverse the twenty miles re ¬ quired to reach our destination We arrived at 11 oclock and hired a man to take our things to our cottage Karnp Keys Next morning we got our fishing tackle together went out on the flats and caught1 a number of trout and mackerel We met a fellow foy name of Tom Butler who hailed from Paris Ky He had a rowfooat with an Evinrude engine sometimes the engine would work and sometimes it wonld not We never knew when we were going fishing Dad Williams was getting old and did not want to fish for anything hut big fish so we would go after trout and redfish in Toms boat 297 MACKEREL IN SIX HOURS HOURSAs As the tide would not be right for tarpon until Thursday jwe put in our time oh small fish until then One day we cailght 297 mackerel in six hours Thursday morning we were busy catching shiners for bait We paid one cent each for them and had Bob and all the children helping ua catch them After we had our dinner we were ready to go to Fort Dade the haiirit of the tarpon We got started about 1 p m and in the7 excitement Charley left his pole on the dock We had to go back to get it and forgot to watch the bait box which we had tied to the back of the boat It got caught in the propeller and was lost in the bay We had some large minnows on ice so we decided we would go on and try them as it was then around 2 p m There were ten boats in the pass when we arrived but the fish had not commenced to bite yet yetI I had my line marked to fish tifty feet deep Charley and Did not mark theirs so they did not know how deep they weifej f ishing The water is ninety feet deep in the pass As we drifted along we saw a large school of tarpon rolling Just ahead of us and as we were drifting into thein I said Look out boys we are going to get one Just then Dads reel began to spin and a hundred pound tarpon jumped about ten feet into the air und got off Dad reeled in and found his hook broken square tin two Just then I thought Charley wdftld be pulled out of the boat J hollered Hold him Charley The fish made a run of about fifty yards then gave a beautiful jump and landed on his side with a splash Charleys reel started to spin and I knew he still had him After making six nice leaps into the air the tarpon began to play olit I was ready with the gaff and we soon landed him into the boat He was five feet and three inches long and weighed sixtyfive pounds By poundsBy this time we had drifted out into the gulf We got our engine started and came back for another trial As we went up the pass we saw another school roll We stopped went just above them baited up and cast out again In less time than it takes to tell it I had a big one hooked He made four jumps and was then played out and was lying on his side I was reeling him in when a twenty foot shark came up and at one bite took the fish hook and leader I Was as mad as a jWet hen In our next drift down Mr Duffy and the famous tarpon guide George Roberts came by f us with two tarpon tied on the back of their boat and one dragging in the water When they wero within about twenty feet of the spot where I lost my fish a shark cainc up back of the boat and at one bite took all but the head of their tarpon Mr Duffy called to George to get the gun as the shark would be back Sure enough Mr SJiark came back to get the head and George shot him with the end of the gun not three feet from his head There were some lively times then He made one dash for Key West and we did not see him again until morning when we found him dead on the beach beachMR MR TARPON NINETYFIVE POUNDS HEAVY HEAVYWe We made two more drifts and after a hard fight I caught a tarpon weighing ninetyfive pounds Charley never got another strike and Dad only one We had had enough fun for one day and started for home On the way back our engine went bad badThe The next day about 2 p m we went back and saw plenty of tarpon but they were not in a biting mood There was more trouble witli the engine Dad said that lie had enough so Charley and I knew that meant no more trips after tarpon We decided that we should fish for channel bass so Saturday morning we got a bucketful of fiddlers and caught several dozen shiners also some sar ¬ dines We decided to go out in Toms boat pro ¬ vided workThe the engine would work The fish come in around the point to feed about an hour before the tide starts and while the water is at its lowest point We were ready about 430 and as luck would have it the engine started The point is near the dock and we were there in ten minutes anchored and ready for business The business started as soon as we got our hooks into the water Tom Charley and myself each had a bass on at the same time and eacli one of us landed his fish Charley and I were using our tarpon reels and poles In two hours we had landed forty two fish totaling 249 pounds We wanted to photo ¬ graph them but it was too late by the time we got up to the dock Tom and I fished at the point every night for a week and caught twentysix more bass the largest weighing nineteen and one half pounds poundsAfter After two pleasant weeks spent mostly out of doors we returned home feeling well repaid for our trip and hoping to go again next year R M in American Field
