THE GIANT FISH OF
FLORIDA
[Illustration: A WHIP RAY LEAPING.]
THE GIANT FISH
OF
FLORIDA
BY
J. TURNER-TURNER
WITH 48 ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
C. ARTHUR PEARSON LIMITED
PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
1902
PREFACE
The sea has its big game as well as the land, and there are some of
us--the name of Mr. W. H. Grenfell, M.P., at once occurs in this
connection--who have derived much sport from its pursuit. Whether, as
Mr. Grenfell and others would seem to indicate, the tunny of the
Mediterranean, which is identical with the tuna of American waters, may
yet be recognised as a sporting fish by British anglers has to be seen;
meanwhile the coast of America, and more particularly that of Florida
and Mexico, is the recognised resort of those who angle for the biggest
that the sea has to give.
In this volume I have endeavoured to lay before fellow sportsmen at home
some of the charms of fishing for tarpon and the other rangers of the
Gulf. The tarpon, of course, stands first; indeed, there are many
visitors to those parts who will fish for nothing else, thus losing many
excellent opportunities of sport on days that are too rough for them to
get out on the tarpon grounds. No attempt has been made at anything in
the nature of an exhaustive list of the sea fish of Florida, which might
easily have been gathered from one or other of the American standard
works on the subject, such as the invaluable volumes by Jordan and
Evermann, published under the auspices of the United States National
Museum. Only fish that are likely to attract the notice of the angler
have been figured and briefly described, and this from the sporting
rather than from the natural-history point of view. Nor have I devoted
much space to the remaining fauna of the coast and islands; although a
few conspicuous birds like the cormorant and pelican, and an occasional
reptile, such as the turtle and alligator, the pursuit of which may pass
an otherwise wasted hour, have claimed a place in these notes.
Much interest attaches to the realistic photographs with which these
pages are illustrated. One of the first anglers in this country to
inspect them was Mr. F. G. Aflalo, a fishing enthusiast to whom I am
indebted in no small measure for the final arrangement of my notes, and
he at once pronounced them to be certainly the most remarkable in their
own way that had ever passed through his hands. They are all from the
natural (not mounted) fish, and the effects were obtained by a simple,
though careful, arrangement of pegs and sheeting. I think that I may
claim for them a correctness that, while combining the impressions of
both, could never have been obtained by either the brush or camera
unaided. My thanks are also due to Professor George A. Boulenger, who,
with Mr. Aflalo, identified as far as possible the subjects of my
photographs.
There are but one or two really successful photographers of living fish
under water, and these artists must obviously confine their efforts to
comparatively small fish in the confinement of aquarium tanks. Now, a
considerable observation of fish at home and abroad under every variety
of conditions has persuaded me (though I hardly expect the statement to
pass unchallenged) that the narrow confines of the aquarium tank tend to
cramped and unnatural attitudes in the subjects; and this contention
seems to me abundantly substantiated by a careful comparison of the
otherwise excellent photographs from time to time published, and the
best studies of the best fish painters. My own system of illustration
combines the two, and in great measure, I venture to think, obviates
many of the faults of both. Constant observation of the fish in their
natural habitat impresses on me their every attitude, and, while
unfortunately not possessed of the necessary talent to transfer these
groups to canvas, there is no insuperable difficulty in the way of
pegging the various subjects in just the positions they assumed before
my eyes an hour or two earlier. The camera does the rest.
Tarpon fishing is still in its infancy. New methods and grounds will be
discovered. Meanwhile, it is a congenial task to tell the story of the
big fish of Florida seas, not from hearsay or printed reports, but from
personal and vivid experience.
J. T. T.
_Cavalry Club, Christmas, 1901._
CONTENTS
PREFACE.
CHAPTER I.--THE GIANT TARPON.
“ II.--AMONG THE ALLIGATORS.
“ III.--HOW TO CATCH TARPON.
“ IV.--A LIVELY MORNING IN THE PASS.
“ V.--LADIES WHO LOVE THE SPORT.
“ VI.--ENORMOUS RAYS OR DEVIL-FISH.
“ VII.--HARPOONING A MONSTER.
“ VIII.--THE LOGGERHEAD TURTLE.
“ IX.--CATFISH AS SCAVENGERS.
“ X.--BONY FISH--JACK--GARFISH--JEWFISH--SQUEATEAGUE--AND
BASS.
“ XI.--SPOTTED EELS--CRAB-EATERS--SURF-WHITING--MOONFISH--LEATHER
JACKETS--TRIGGER-FISH--AND MULLET.
“ XII.--STRIPED MULLET--SHARKS--BIRD LIFE.
INDEX.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE.
1. A WHIP RAY LEAPING _Frontispiece_
2. THE TARPON 23
3. THE FLOATING HOTEL 27
4. INTERIOR OF AN ALLIGATOR ISLAND 31
5. THE ALLIGATOR MADE STRAIGHT FOR THE OPEN SEA 37
6. A TARPON GUIDE 45
7. A GOOD CATCH OF TARPON FOR A LADY 56
8. A HOOKED PIECE OF CORAL WHICH WAS MISTAKEN FOR A JEWFISH 57
9. KINGFISH ACCIDENTALLY FOUL-HOOKED 62
10. WITH LIGHTNING SPEED THE KINGFISH CHASED THE LIVELY
SKIPJACK 63
11. THE KINGFISH LEAPT SOME TWENTY FEET INTO THE AIR 67
12. A BIG JEWFISH FOR A WOMAN TO LAND 76
13. JEWFISH WITH SUCKER CLINGING TO IT 77
14. A VANQUISHED WHIP RAY 82
15. THE WHIP RAY TURNED HELPLESSLY ON ITS BACK 83
16. THE HOOKED TARPON FOLLOWED THE BOAT TOWARDS SHORE 83
17. THE CREWS OF SIX BOATS TOWING A HARPOONED WHIP RAY 83
18. A STRANDED WHIP RAY 95
19. HARPOONED DEVIL-FISH IN SHALLOW WATER 102
20. HARPOONED DEVIL-FISH WITH JAWS PROPPED OPEN 103
21. A TURTLE SWIMMING 109
22. HARPOONING A TURTLE 114
23. PLAYING A TURTLE 115
24. HOISTING A TURTLE ON BOARD 119
25. DEAD GROUPER BEING DEVOURED BY CATFISH AND BREAM 127
26. GAFF TOPSAIL CATFISH AND YOUNG HAMMERHEAD SHARK 131
27. THE SHEEPSHEAD 135
28. TOAD FISH WATCHING BONY FISH AS THEY LEAP 139
29. GARFISH PURSUED BY A KINGFISH 143
30. A MARMORATUS LYING MOTIONLESS 146
31. A CARANX HIPPOS 147
32. THE MIGHTY PERCH AND HIS DEEP-WATER COMPANION, THE
RED GROUPER 149
33. PIECE OF SNAKE-LIKE CONCH SPAWN, AND SEA TROUT 156
34. CHANNEL BASS AND RED GROUPER 157
35. CURIOUS, SNAKE-LIKE EEL 163
36. THE COBIA, OR CRAB EATER 168
37. SURF WHITING AND MANGO SNAPPER 169
38. A MOON FISH 174
39. A LEATHER JACKET 175
40. THE TRIGGER FISH AND THE ANGEL FISH 180
41. SILVER MULLET 181
42. MULLET LEAPING 187
43. CAPTURED SAWFISH WITH SUCKER 192
44. HAMMERHEAD SHARK 193
45. HOOKED SHARK SEIZED BY ANOTHER 193
46. EXTRACTING A FIRMLY EMBEDDED HOOK FROM A SHARK 198
47. ALL HANDS GIVE THE SHARK A MIGHTY HEAVE ASHORE 199
48. LEOPARD SHARK 203