Tarpons

Tarpons are the original big-game fish and are well known to sport fishers throughout the world. Long before fishers began to catch sailfish, marlin, or bluefin tuna for sport, they angled for tarpon. To catch this fish, the angler must be strong, skilled, and have a great deal of endurance.

Fishermen who specialize in catching gamefish look for tarpon as far north as Long Island, but they concentrate their efforts in locations where tarpons are known to live more regularly. The best places to catch Megalops atlanticus are in waters surrounding the Florida Keys, off the west coast of Florida, in the Rio Encantado in Cuba, and in the Rio Panuca in Mexico. Megalops cyprinoides is also coveted by sport fishers off the east coast of Africa.

Tarpons are exciting fish to catch because of their tenacious fighting. The instant that the fish is hooked, it hurls itself upward into the air and goes through an astounding series of leaps in an effort to free itself. In fact, this fish can jump as high as 10 ft (3 m) and as far as 20 ft (6 m). These leaps are so violent that, after a while, the tarpon exhausts itself; at this point, it can be brought to the boat.

Tarpons are not often prized as a food fish in North America, because the adults are relatively tough and full of bones. There are exceptions, however. In Mexico and in South America, people eat tarpon salted or smoked. Smaller tarpon are also eaten in Africa. The silvery scales of tarpon are sometimes used to make folk jewelry.