THE SAUCER-EYE PORGY

TAKING BONITO BY TROLLING OFF BLOCK ISLAND

While catching porgies at a lively rate one day I asked my boatman, a Bahama negro, why the big porgy was called "jolt-head." He answered in the cockney dialect peculiar to Bahama fishermen: "Vell, you see, sir, 'e 'as a big 'ed and an 'ump back, and 'e butts the rocks like a billy-goat, a-joltin' off the snail-shells and shrimps, and 'e goes a-blunderin' along like a wessel that 'as a bluff bow and a small 'elm. 'E 'as more happetite than gumption, and swallers anythink that comes 'andy, like the jolt-'ed or numbskull that 'e is. 'E is werry heasy to ketch and werry good to heat."

This porgy is called "saucer-eye," owing to its having a larger eye than the other porgies. It was first described by Cuvier and Valenciennes,in 1830, from the West Indies. They named itcalamus, meaning "quill" or "reed," from the quill-like bones (interhæmal) that articulate with the spines of the anal fin. It is abundant in the West Indies, and is common about the Florida Keys, but not so plentiful as the jolt-head or little-head porgies.

It is very similar in conformation to the jolt-head, but is more humpbacked, being quite elevated above the shoulder. The body is short, its depth about half its length. Its head is short and deep, with a thin and gibbous profile, and small mouth. Its color is silvery with bluish reflections; the scales golden, forming longitudinal stripes, with pearly-bluish interspaces; the cheeks and snout are purplish, with round brassy spots; the fins are pale, blotched with orange; the iris of the eye is golden.

The saucer-eye grows to twelve or fifteen inches in length, and is considered a good pan-fish at Key West, commanding a ready sale. It is found in the same situations as the other porgies, grunts, and snappers, and is equally voracious, taking the proffered bait eagerly. The tackle for this porgy is the same as for the others, consistingof a light rod, multiplying reel, braided linen line, size F or G, three-foot leader, Sproat-bend hooks. No. 1 or 2, on gut snells, with sinker in accordance with the depth of the water and the strength of the tide. Almost any bait will answer, as sea-crawfish, cut conch, or fish.

This species was first described by Jordan and Gilbert, in 1883, from Key West. They named itproridens, meaning "prow tooth," owing to its projecting canines. It is abundant in the West Indies, and is quite common about Key West and the neighboring keys. It is one of the smallest and prettiest of the porgies, and is called little-head in contradistinction to the jolt-head or big-head porgy. It is almost identical in shape to the saucer-eye porgy, both in head and body.

It is brighter in color than the other porgies, being quite silvery with iridescent reflections; the scales of the upper part of the body have violet spots, forming longitudinal streaks; those on the lower part have pale orange spots; the sides have several dark bands; the snout and cheeks have horizontal, wavy stripes of violet-blue; thedorsal fin is violet, with orange border; the anal fin is blue; the caudal fin has an orange band. It is of similar habits to the other porgies, and found with them, but is less common. It is a good pan-fish, growing only to six or eight inches in length.

The little-head porgy, though small in size, is equally as voracious as the other porgies, and is well worth catching if only to admire its beauty. The same tackle will answer as for the others, or more especially that mentioned for the saucer-eye, and the same baits can be employed.

My Bahama negro boatman, alluded to under the jolt-head, continued his dissertation on the porgies somewhat in this wise: "Now, sir, the little-'ed porgy is a cute little chap; 'e gits to vind'ard o' the big-'ed, hevry time. 'E doesn't butt 'is 'ed aginst the rocks, a-knockin' the shells, but 'e 'as two long teeth like gouge-chisels, and 'e jist scoops hoff the crawlin' things from the rock-patches as 'andsome as you like. Little-'ed little wit; big-'ed not a bit!"

This pretty porgy was first described by Goode and Bean, in 1882, from Pensacola, Florida. Theynamed itarctifrons, meaning "contracted forehead," owing to the narrow forehead. It has a more extended range in the Gulf of Mexico than the other porgies, being common in grassy situations from Pensacola to Key West; it is not known from the West Indies.

The general outline of the grass porgy is very similar to that of the saucer-eye and little-head porgies, though the back is not quite so elevated; the profile is unevenly curved, being quite convex in front of the eye. The mouth is slightly larger than in the saucer-eye. Its color is olivaceous, with dark spots, and several dark vertical bars across the body; many of the scales have pearly spots; there are several yellow spots along the lateral line; the cheeks are brownish, with yellow shades; the upper fins are barred or spotted; the lower fins are paler.

It is the smallest of the porgies, but one of the prettiest. It grows to six or eight inches in length. It is mentioned incidentally with the others of its family in order that it may be known to anglers who are so fortunate as to catch it and admire it. The same tackle and bait employed for the others are suitable. It is found usually in grassy situations.

Albula vulpes.The Lady-fish. Body rather elongate, little compressed, covered with rather small, brilliantly-silvery scales; head naked; snout conic, subquadrangular, shaped like the snout of a pig, and overlapping the small, inferior, horizontal mouth; head 3-3/4; depth 4; scales 9-71-7; D. 15; A. 8; maxillary rather strong, short, with a distinct supplemental bone, slipping under the membraneous edge of the very broad preorbital; premaxillaries short, not protractile; lateral margin of upper jaw formed by the maxillaries; both jaws, vomer and palatines, with bands of villiform teeth; broad patches of coarse, blunt, paved teeth on the tongue behind and on the sphenoid and pterygoid bones; opercle moderate, firm; preopercle with a broad, flat, membraneous edge, which extends backward over the base of the opercle; gill membranes separate; no gular plate; a fold of skin across gill membranes, its free edge crenate; belly flattish, covered with ordinary scales, not carinate; eye large, with a bony ridge above it, and almost covered with an annular adipose eyelid.

The lady-fish, or bonefish, is the only representative of the familyAlbulidæ. It has long been known to science through the early voyagers to the southern coasts of America. It was first described by Marcgrave in his "History of Brazil," in 1648, and afterward by Catesby, in his"History of the Carolinas," in 1737, and namedvulpes, or "fox," by Linnæus, in 1758, from a specimen taken at the Bahamas.

It inhabits the sandy shores of all warm seas and is, perhaps, the most cosmopolitan of all game-fishes, being known from Asia, Arabia. North and South America, the Pacific Islands, etc. It is common on the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific in the United States, and is especially abundant in Florida waters, occasionally straying in summer as far north as Long Island.

The lady-fish is allied to the herring tribe. It has a long, gracefully-shaped body, nearly round, or but little compressed; its depth is a fourth of its length; it has a long head with a projecting, piglike snout, overlapping the small mouth, which is well armed with teeth; both jaws and the roof of the mouth in front have bands of brushlike teeth, with patches of coarse, blunt, paved teeth on the back of the mouth and tongue. Its color is bluish green above, with metallic reflections; the sides are very bright and silvery, with faint streaks along the rows of scales; the belly is white, and it feeds on small fishes and crustaceans.

Its spawning habits are not well understood, though the young pass through a metamorphosis,being band-shaped, with very small head and loose, transparent tissues. I have found them abundant on the Gulf coast of Florida. The lady-fish grows to a length of from one to three feet, and to a weight of from one to twelve pounds, though it is usually taken from two to five pounds. It is a good food-fish, highly esteemed at Key West and in the Bermudas by those who know it best.

For its size it is one of the gamest fishes of the seacoast. When hooked it fights as much in the air as in the water, continually leaping above the surface like an animated silver shuttle, to which I likened it more than twenty years ago. It is now becoming better known to anglers who visit Florida in the winter season, who recognize in it much more enjoyable sport on light tackle than they can obtain with the heavy tools required for the tarpon and jewfish.

A black-bass rod, or the Little Giant rod of eight ounces, is light enough, as a heavier fish than the lady-fish is apt to be hooked. A good multiplying reel and fifty yards of braided linen line, size F, and Sproat hooks, No. 1 or 2, on gut snells, will be found eminently suitable. No sinker is needed, as the fishing is done on thesurface, though a small brass box-swivel may be used to connect the snell and line, as in black-bass fishing. A leader is not necessary, but it may be used if thought best.

The bait may be a beach-flea, or a very small, silvery fish, as a sardine, pilchard, or mullet, though a small shell squid, or a trolling-spoon of the size of a nickel, with a single hook, may be employed in lieu of live bait, and is quite successful if kept in constant motion. The minnow is to be hooked through the lips and cast as in black-bass fishing, reeling it in slowly on or near the surface.

The fishing may be done from any convenient place near a pass or inlet on the flood tide. A sand-spit at the entrance, or a boat anchored just within the inlet, are desirable places, though good fishing is sometimes available from the end of a pier in a tideway. Fine fishing may also be had at other stages of the tide about offshore reefs and shoals. I have taken the lady-fish, with both fly and bait, in Biscayne Bay, in Cards and Barnes sounds, along the keys to Key West, and at nearly every inlet on the Gulf coast, as far north as Pass-a-Grille, above Tampa Bay, and usually found it associated with the ten-pounder.

The lady-fish, when hooked, will probably astonish the angler who is attached to one for the first time, by its aërial gyrations and quick movements. But the rod must be held at an angle of forty-five degrees, so as to maintain a taut line, notwithstanding its constant leaping; for if any slack line is given, it is almost sure to shake out the hook. And as the leaps are made in such quick succession, the only safe plan is to keep the rod bent, either in giving or taking line, or when holding the fish on the strain of the rod.

The lady-fish will often take a gaudy black-bass fly, in which event a black-bass fly-rod or a heavy trout fly-rod will come handy, with corresponding tackle. A heavy braided linen line, size D, is better suited for salt water than the enamelled silk line, and will cast a fly nearly as well. The flies advised for the Spanish mackerel will answer as well for the lady-fish, though I have found the silver-doctor and coachman both very taking toward dusk, which is the most favorable time for fly-fishing, though the first half of the flood tide and the last half of the ebb are usually both favorable times about the inlets.

Twenty years or more ago I called the attention of northern anglers to the lady-fish, orbone-fish, and the ten-pounder, or bony-fish, as game-fishes of high degree, and accorded equal praise to both species as to gameness. I have never been able to convince myself as to which is entitled to the palm; but they are both good enough, and comparisons are indeed odious as between them. I am glad to note that they are coming to the front and their merits at last recognized. Of late years northern anglers are having great sport with the lady-fish on Biscayne Bay; but judging from their communications in the sportsman's journals, they are confusing the lady-fish with the ten-pounder. This is easily accounted for, inasmuch as they are usually of about the same size, and have very much the same general appearance in form and bright silvery coloration; and moreover there is a confusion attending their vernacular names, as the lady-fish is sometimes known as bony-fish. It should be remembered that the lady-fish has an overhanging, piglike snout and larger scales, while the ten-pounder has a terminal mouth with the jaws about equal, and smaller scales. Moreover, the bony-fish, or ten-pounder, has a bony plate under the lower jaw, like the tarpon, which is absent in the lady-fish. Both are cosmopolitan,inhabiting the warm seas of both continents. They have been known to science for a century and a half, and have been described by many naturalists from different parts of the world. The current specific names were both bestowed by Linnæus. Catesby, in 1837, called the lady-fish (Albula vulpes) of the Bahamas "bone-fish," while Captain William Dampier, one of the early explorers, called the bony-fish (Elops saurus) of the Bahamas "ten-pounder." The fishermen of Key West usually know the lady-fish as bone-fish, and the ten-pounder as bony-fish. The best plan for anglers is to adopt the names lady-fish and ten-pounder for them, and relegate or ignore the names bone-fish, bony-fish, and skip-jack.

Elops saurus.The Ten-pounder. Body elongate, covered with small, silvery scales; head 4-1/4; depth 6; eye 4, large; scales 12-120-13; D. 20; A. 13; dorsal fin slightly behind ventrals, its last rays short, depressible into a sheath of scales; anal fin smaller, similarly depressible; pectoral and ventral fins moderate, each with a long, accessory scale; opercular bones thin, with expanded membraneous borders; a scaly occipital collar; gular plate 3 to 4 times as long as broad; pseudobranchiæ large; lateral line straight, its tubes simple.

The ten-pounder, or bony-fish, belongs to the same family,Elopidæ, as the tarpon, and both areallied to the herring tribe. The ten-pounder was first described by Linnæus, in 1776, from specimens sent to him from South Carolina by Dr. Garden. He named itsaurus, or "lizard," but there is nothing lizard-like about the ten-pounder. I imagine that Dr. Garden sent the fish under the name of "lizard," from hearing it called by its Spanish name of "lisa," which is pronounced much like lizard. The ten-pounder was mentioned by some of the old voyagers to the West Indies and Carolinas. Like the lady-fish, the ten-pounder is a cosmopolitan, existing in the warm seas of both hemispheres. In the United States it is common to the southern portions of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the Gulf of Mexico.

In the general aspect and contour of its silvery body the ten-pounder has much the appearance of the lady-fish, and has been often confounded with it by anglers. Its body, however, is more slender than that of the lady-fish, with smaller scales and a very different head and mouth; the lady-fish has a piglike, overhanging snout, while the lower jaw of the ten-pounder projects slightly. The depth of the body of the ten-pounder is only about a sixth of its length, and the body is notmuch compressed, being nearly round. The head is long and pointed, with a very wide mouth, with upper and lower lips nearly equal, or terminal. The eye is large, hence one of its names, big-eyed herring. There are many series of small and sharp cardlike teeth on the jaws, tongue, and roof of the mouth. There is a bony plate beneath the lower jaw.

The color on the back is greenish or bluish, the sides silvery and bright, and belly white; the top of the head is greenish, with bronze reflections; the cheeks have a golden lustre; the lower fins are tinged with yellow, the others dusky.

Its habits are not unlike those of the lady-fish, and they often associate. It feeds principally on crustaceans and also on small fishes. It frequents sandy shoals and banks in shallow water at high tide, also grassy situations where its food abounds. Its breeding habits are not well understood, though, like the lady-fish, its young pass through a larval form, and are ribbon-shaped. It grows to a length of two feet or more, and weighs several pounds, sometimes ten or more. It is quite bony, and is not considered a good food-fish, but excels as a game-fish, being equal to the lady-fish in this respect.

The same tackle as that recommended for its congener, the lady-fish, answers just as well for the ten-pounder, and it can be fished for in the same locations. It frequents shallow water on the grassy banks and sandy shoals rather more than the lady-fish, and can be sought there accordingly, as well as at the inlets when the tide is making.

Both the ten-pounder and the lady-fish are warm-water fishes. They are to be found in Biscayne Bay and along the neighboring keys during winter, and as the water becomes warmer they extend their range northward on both coasts. After the disastrous frosts that occurred during the winters of 1886 and 1895 in Florida, I saw windrows of dead ten-pounders, lady-fishes, and tarpon on the beaches about Charlotte Harbor. They had become chilled from the sudden lowering of the temperature. I have caught both the ten-pounder and lady-fish as far north as Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida, and Indian River Inlet on the east coast. My fishing was mostly done from the points of inlets and passes, on the flood tide, and usually with the artificial fly, in shallow water, the time and places mentioned being the most favorable for fly-fishing. At other times I have fished on the shallow bars and grassybanks, using such crustaceans as fiddlers, beach-fleas, and shrimps for bait, alternated with small minnows. When beach-fleas are used a fly-rod is preferable and the hook should be smaller than where other bait is employed; No. 4 is about right, if of the Sproat or O'Shaughnessy pattern, they being of larger and stronger wire than other patterns. If beach-fleas are used with a bait-rod, a small sinker must be added to give weight to the cast.

The ten-pounder snaps at the bait or fly in the manner of most fishes, and is off immediately in a wild whirl, skimming through the water, if shallow, in a way to astonish the angler who hooks one for the first time. Then follows a series of brilliant leaps and aërial contortions that commands the admiration of the coldest-blooded fisher. The lady-fish, however, owing to the position of its mouth, being underneath its projecting snout, does not at first take the bait with the vim and snap of the ten-pounder, but apparently nibbles or mouths it for a while, but when hooked displays the same energy and desperate efforts to escape as its congener. The consistent angler may truly exclaim with Pope:—

"How happy could I be with either.Were t'other dear charmer away."

Centropomus undecimalis.The Snook. Body elongate, with elevated back and straight abdomen; head 3; depth 4; eye 7; scales 9-75-16; D. VIII-I, 10; A. III, 6; head depressed, pikelike, the lower jaw projecting; villiform teeth in bands on jaws, vomer, and palatines; tongue smooth; dorsal fins well separated; preorbital faintly serrated; subopercular flap extending nearly to dorsal fin; maxillary to middle of eye; gill-rakers 4 + 9.

The snook belongs to the familyCentropomidæ, which embraces a dozen or more species, most of which inhabit the West Indies and the southern Pacific coast, and are all good game-fishes. The snook was first described by Bloch from Jamaica, in 1792; he named itundecimalis, or "eleven," as the soft dorsal fin has eleven rays. The name snook was mentioned as the name of this fish by the early explorers, among whom was Captain William Dampier, who also mentioned several others, as "ten-pounders," "cavallies," "tarpoms," etc. Snook is derived from "snoek," the Dutch name for the pike, which it resembles slightly in the shape of the head, though it is more like the pike-perch in its structure and appearance. On the east coast of Florida this fish is known as the snook, and on the Gulf coast as rovallia, the lattername being a corruption of its Spanish namerobalo, by which it is known in Havana. It is sometimes called sergeant-fish, from the black stripe along its sides. It is common along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, from Texas to the West Indies, and is especially abundant in the bays and lagoons of both coasts of Florida, often ascending the rivers to fresh water.

It has a long, robust, and nearly round body, its depth being a fourth of its length; the back is slightly elevated and arched. The head is long and depressed, or flat, and is more than a third of the total length of the body; the mouth is large, with a projecting lower jaw; the gill-cover is very long; there are brushlike teeth on the jaws and the roof of the mouth, but no sharp or conical teeth as in the pike or pike-perch.

The color of the back is olive-green, the sides silvery, and the belly white; there is a distinct and very black stripe along the side, following the lateral line from the head to the caudal fin; the dorsal fins are dusky; the lower fins are yellowish.

The snook is a very voracious fish, feeding on fishes, crabs, and other crustaceans, and resorts to sandy shoals and grassy flats where its foodis found. It grows to a length of two or three feet, and a weight of twenty or thirty pounds. It is a fair food-fish, though not held in much favor in Florida where so many better food-fishes are common. It is better flavored if skinned instead of scaled.

It is a strong, active game-fish, that, when hooked, starts off with a rush that is dangerous to light tackle, and its subsequent manœuvres require very careful handling when it is of a large size. It has smashed many light rods in the hands of anglers who were not aware of its pugnacity. It will take any kind of natural bait, and rises well to the artificial fly.

A rather heavy black-bass rod or a light striped-bass rod is required for the large fish of the bays and estuaries, though ordinary black-bass tackle will answer for those of less weight at the mouths of streams, or in fresh water, to which it often resorts. A good multiplying reel and fifty yards of braided linen line are sufficient, though one hundred yards will not be amiss, as large fishes of other species are very apt to be hooked in Florida waters. Sproat or O'Shaughnessy hooks, Nos. 1-0 to 3-0, on heavy gut snells are required, with a brass box-swivel toconnect the snell with the reel line; a sinker may be used or not, depending on the strength of the tide, though the fishing is usually practised in quiet water, and not in the tideways.

A small fish, mullet or sardine, or fiddler-crab bait, will prove very enticing to the snook, though the minnow is better adapted for casting. The fishing is much like black-bass fishing in fresh waters, and the snook takes the bait in its mouth in much the same way as a bass, starting off at once with a great commotion if near the surface. Its desperate and vigorous spurts and rushes are apt to put one's tackle in jeopardy if the fish is large, and it must be handled with caution and skill.

For fly-fishing, a rod of nine or ten ounces is not too heavy where the fish run large. A heavy braided linen line, size D or E, is best for casting the fly in salt water. Black-bass flies of showy patterns, on hooks No. 1 or 2, as coachman, silver-doctor, polka, oriole, red ibis, professor, etc., will answer. The most favorable time is on the flood tide near the inlets, or toward evening if in quiet coves or lagoons. The fly should be repeatedly cast and then allowed to sink a foot or two. If fishing from a boat, it must be kept inthe deeper water, and the casts made under the mangroves, or to the edges of sand-spits, shoals, or mud-flats, which abound in all bays on the west coast of Florida.

The snook is easily captured by trolling with hand-line and the spoon or minnow, though it is a questionable style of sport at best. Along the edges of shoals and mud-flats and over grassy banks the snook will be found at home. A landing-net should always be used for any kind of fishing with the fly.

Lobotes surinamensis.The Triple-tail. Body oblong, deep, compressed and elevated; head 3; depth 2; scales 47; head small; snout short; mouth moderate, oblique, with thick lips; profile of head concave; upper jaw very protractile; the lower, the longest; maxillary without supplemental bone; jaws with narrow bands of villiform teeth, in front of which is a row of larger conical teeth, directed backward; no teeth on vomer or palatines; preopercle strongly serrate; maxillary reaching middle of orbit; scales around eyes small, those on opercles large; eye small; small scales running up on the base of soft dorsal, anal, and caudal fins; caudal rounded; D. XII, 15; A. III, 11; soft rays of dorsal and anal fins elevated, of nearly equal size, and opposite each other; anal spines graduated; branchial rays 6.

The triple-tail belongs to the familyLobotidæ. It is allied to the snapper family, but differs in having no teeth on the roof of the mouth. It wasfirst described by Bloch, in 1790, from Surinam. South America. He named itsurinamensis, from the name of the locality whence his specimens were procured. There is another species on the Pacific coast,Lobotes pacificus, that is quite abundant at Panama, where it is known as berrugate.

The triple-tail is known in all warm seas. Its range on the Atlantic coast extends from South America north to Cape Cod, though it is not abundant. I have taken it on both the east and west coasts of Florida. At Tampa it is called black snapper, and in South Carolina it is known as black perch. I have never heard it called flasher, which is said to be its name in the markets of New York.

It is a short, thick, robust fish, nearly half as deep as long, with an elevated back, and with the ventral outline corresponding with its dorsal curve. The head is a third of the length of the body, its profile concave, the snout prominent, and the lower jaw projecting; the mouth is of moderate size, with thick lips.

The color of the back is dark, or greenish black, the sides silvery gray, sometimes blotched and tinged with yellow; the fins are dusky gray oryellowish. In life these colors are very bright, but after death they become almost black.

It feeds on small fishes, mussels, and crustaceans and grows to a length of two or three feet, weighing from ten to fifteen pounds, though its usual size is not more than one-half of this length and weight. Its breeding habits are unknown. It is found in northern waters only during the summer months, but from South Carolina to Florida it is common all the year.

It is a strong and vigorous fish, but rather slow and sluggish in its movements, and not remarkable for game qualities, though it pulls steadily and strongly when hooked. It will take shrimp, clam, fiddler, or small fishes as bait.

A light striped-bass chum rod is very suitable for the triple-tail when of good size. A multiplying reel and fifty yards of braided linen line, hooks No. 1-0 or 2-0, on heavy gut snells, and a brass box-swivel, make up the rest of the tackle. A sinker will probably not be needed as it is usually found in quiet coves about sandy shoals or grassy flats. I have taken it on both coasts of Florida, though it is more common on the east coast. I have also caught it in Chesapeake Bay and near Charleston, South Carolina, but never over fivepounds in weight, though I have seen it taken in nets up to about ten pounds. Its short and rounded caudal fin, with the soft portions of the dorsal and anal fins, together, give the appearance of three tails, hence the name triple-tail, by which it is generally known.

Rachycentron canadus.The Cobia. Body elongate, fusiform, sub cylindrical, covered with very small, smooth, adherent scales; head 4-1/4; depth 5-2/3; D. VIII-I, 26; A. II, 25; head broad, low, pikelike, the bones above appearing through the thin skin; mouth wide, nearly horizontal, the maxillary reaching front of eye; both jaws, vomer, palatines, and tongue with bands of short, sharp teeth; lower jaw longest; premaxillaries not protractile; preopercle unarmed; two dorsal fins, the spines of the first depressible in a groove; soft dorsal long and low, somewhat falcate, similar to, and nearly opposite, the anal; caudal fin strongly forked; no caudal keel; no finlets; gill-rakers short and stout; pectorals broad and falcate.

The cobia, or sergeant-fish, is the only fish of its family,Rachycentridæ. It was first described by Linnæus, in 1766, from a specimen sent to him by Dr. Garden from South Carolina; it is allied to the mackerel tribe, and is found in all warm seas in the old and new worlds. On the Atlantic coast it is common from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida, but occasionally strays north to Cape Cod in thesummer. It is rather rare on the west coast of Florida, but common on the east coast.

It is a long and round-bodied fish, quite gracefully formed, with a depth of about one-fifth of its length. The head is broad and flat, something like that of the pike, with a wide mouth, and with jaws, roof of mouth, and tongue armed with bands of short, sharp teeth; the lower jaw projects. The back is olive-brown, or dusky, the sides lighter and silvery, and the belly white; a distinct broad and very dark stripe extends from the upper jaw and through the eye to the caudal fin, with an indistinct one above and below, and parallel with it. Owing to this dark stripe the cobia is sometimes called sergeant-fish, thus confounding it with the snook.

The habits of the cobia are not unlike those of the pike, or mascalonge, of fresh waters, in that it is solitary and lies in wait for its prey, and is almost as rapacious. It lies under the mangroves and cocoa-plum bushes along Indian River and other streams of the east coast of Florida, watching for stray fishes and crabs on which it feeds. It is commonly seen of a length of two or three feet, but grows considerably longer, with a weight of fifteen to twenty pounds. The largest I haveseen was at Key West; it was fully five feet long. It is not uncommon in the Chesapeake Bay, and like most of the mackerel tribe it is a fairly good food-fish. It spawns in summer, but its breeding habits are not fully understood.

As might be imagined from its shape and habits, it is a good game-fish, and quite strong and vigorous on the rod. It requires all of the angler's skill to land it safely, especially when it is taken about the mangroves, among whose arching and numerous roots it is sure to take refuge if it can do so. It will take a small fish bait or a crab, going for it with a pikelike rush. I once took one on Indian River with a large red ibis fly, but never succeeded in catching another with the same lure.

A strong, rather heavy rod is necessary for the cobia, which the Key West fishermen call cobi-ó. A striped-bass chum rod of natural bamboo is a good and serviceable tool for the work, with multiplying reel and braided linen line, to which is affixed a Sproat hook, No. 3-0, on gimp snell, by a brass box-swivel. A sinker should not be used about the mangroves.

A fiddler-crab, a mullet, or other small fish is hooked through the lips, and is cast from a boatto the edge of the mangroves or other bushes, in the same way as in casting for mascalonge in northern waters. I have never tried casting with a spoon, which might be successful, but a minnow is better by far. The cobia takes the bait with a fierce lunge, and turning quickly endeavors to return to his lair, a proceeding that must be thwarted by the angler at all hazards to his rod or tackle, for once under the arching roots of the mangroves he is as good as gone. The boat must be rowed to open water at once, while a strong strain is maintained by the rod on the fish. With open water the angler can play his fish with leisure, though he will be severely taxed by the struggles of as game a fish as he is likely to meet during a winter's sojourn in Florida.

Cynoscion nebulosus.The Spotted Weakfish. Body rather elongate, compressed; head 3-1/2; depth 4-1/2; scales 10-70-11; D. X-I, 26; A. II, 10; eye 7; snout long and acute; mouth large, maxillary reaching to posterior edge of eye; lower pharyngeals narrow, each with 7 or 8 series of short teeth, the inner enlarged; maxillary, preorbital, and lower jaw naked; canines in upper jaw strong; lower jaw without canines, other teeth in narrow bands, sharp, but closely set; membrane of preopercle serrate, the bone entire; pseudobranchiæ well developed; caudal lunate; soft rays of dorsal and anal scaleless; gill-rakers short and thick, 4 + 7.

This fish is closely allied to the northern weakfish, and belongs to the same family,Sciænidæ. It is known very generally in Florida as trout, salt-water trout, or sea-trout, owing to its spots. It is, of course, not a trout at all, and these names should be set aside; moreover, the name sea-trout is preoccupied by the sea-run brook-trout of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its present specific name,nebulosus, or "clouded," was bestowed by Cuvier and Valenciennes, in 1830, displacing the earlier and better namemaculatus, or "spotted," conferred by Dr. S. L. Mitchill, in 1815, for reasons that it is unnecessary to refer to here. It is abundant from Virginia to Florida, and along the Gulf coast to Texas. It occasionally strays as far north as New Jersey.

It is almost the counterpart of the common weakfish in the form of its body, the depth of which is about a fourth of its length, and with a similar head, eye, and mouth, but with somewhat smaller scales, and a few less rays in the second dorsal fin. Its mouth is large, with narrow bands of sharp teeth on the jaws, and two long canine teeth in the upper jaw.

Its color is bluish gray on the back, with steely reflections, the sides are silvery and the bellywhite. The upper half of the body has numerous black spots, as large as the pupil of the eye, with smaller ones on the soft dorsal and anal fins; the other fins are plainer, and the anal fin is dusky.

The spotted weakfish is a better food-fish, and also a better game-fish, than its northern cousin. It is abundant in the bays of Florida during the entire year, often ascending the streams to fresh water. Its usual weight is from two to four pounds, often of six to eight, and sometimes of even ten pounds or more. It appears in schools in March and April, often in company with the Spanish mackerel, and runs into brackish water for the purpose of spawning. It spawns in the spring; the eggs are buoyant, quite small, about thirty to the inch, and hatch in two days. It feeds on small fishes and crustaceans.

All things considered, it is one of the best game-fishes of Florida. It is a surface feeder and takes the artificial fly eagerly, as well as natural bait, or the artificial squid and trolling-spoon. With light tackle it affords good sport, being a strong and determined fighter. It is a great favorite with all anglers who are acquainted with its merits.

When of the usual weight of from two to fourpounds, black-bass tackle is very suitable and serviceable in rod, reel, line, hooks, or flies, though a rather heavy braided linen line is better adapted for salt water than a silk one. To be more explicit, an eight-ounce rod, multiplying reel, line size F, Sproat hooks Nos. 2-0 to 3-0 on gut or gimp snells, will be found to be just about right for bait-fishing.

For fly-fishing, a rod of eight ounces, click reel, braided linen line, size E, leader of three or four feet, single gut, and black-bass flies such as silver-doctor, red ibis, Abbey, soldier, oriole, coachman, etc., on hooks Nos. 1 to 2, will be found to answer in skilful hands. A heavier rod may be used when the fish run larger, and also flies on hooks a size or two larger. Very small phantom minnows, spoons, or squids may be often used with success when the fish are running in schools in the spring.

Fishing, either with fly or bait, can be practised with good results at flood tide from the end of long piers that extend to deep water, or at the points of inlets during the running season. The piers at Port Tampa and St. Petersburg, on Tampa Bay, also at Mullet Key and Egmont Key, or Pass-a-Grille, in the same vicinity, arefamed fishing resorts in March and April. I prefer to fish from a boat moored to the pier, rather than from the pier itself, as the fish are not so likely to see one, and they are more conveniently landed.

During the winter the best fishing will be found in the bays and bayous, or in the streams, in the vicinity of sand-shoals or mud-flats, at almost any stage of the tide, which usually rises but a foot or two in the bays of the west coast. At the inlets and passes, at the first of the flood and last of the ebb tide, the fishing is also good during the winter months.

The spotted weakfish takes its prey at the surface with a snap of its jaws that is quite audible, especially at night when one's yacht is at anchor. It takes the angler's fly or bait in the same way. It will remind him forcibly of the bite of a large brook-trout, and its manner of resistance when hooked is very much the same as with that fish—one reason for the name sea-trout.

The fishing is especially good in Tampa and Sarasota bays, and the upper portion of Charlotte Harbor, on the west coast; and on the east coast at the mouths of streams entering Halifax River. Mosquito Lagoon, or Indian River.

This species was first described by Dr. Holbrook, in 1859, from the coast of South Carolina. He named itthalassinus, or "pertaining to the sea," from its supposed habit of living in deep water. It is either a rare fish or it has been confounded with the common weakfish. It has been recorded from several places on the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, in Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi. It is supposed to inhabit the deep water of the sea and Gulf, though this is by no means certain.

Its form is very similar to the spotted weakfish, with a more pointed snout and somewhat larger eye; otherwise it is much the same. Its color is brownish above, lighter below; the middle of the sides is marked with many dark dots; there is a dark blotch on the upper part of the cheek; the first dorsal fin is black, the second dorsal and anal fins are dusky, and the other fins pale. The same remarks as to fishing for the spotted weakfish will apply as well to this species, if the opportunity should occur to the angler. It is a doubtful species at best, and may eventually prove to be an aberrant form of the spotted weakfish.

Kyphosus sectatrix.The Bermuda Chub. Body ovate, somewhat compressed; head 3-3/4; depth 2-1/8; scales 10-55-16; D. XI, 12; A. III, 11; head short, with blunt snout; mouth small, maxillary reaching front of eye; each jaw with a series of narrow incisors, implanted with compressed conspicuous roots posteriorly; behind these a narrow band of villiform teeth; fine teeth on vomer, palatines, and tongue; teeth 35 to 40 on each side; preopercle weakly serrate; top and sides of head finely scaled; interorbital region gibbous, below which point snout is truncate; soft dorsal and anal very low; second anal spine highest; caudal well forked, the lower lobe longest; gill-rakers long; dorsal spines depressible in a groove of scales; small ctenoid scales entirely covering the soft portions of the vertical fins, and extending up on the paired fins.

The chub belongs to the family of rudder-fishes,Kyphosidæ. It was noticed assectatrixby Catesby in his "History of the Carolinas," in 1738, and was so named by Linnæus in 1758.Sectatrixis the feminine ofsectator, meaning "one who follows," in allusion to its habit of following vessels. Its range is along the South Atlantic coast to the West Indies, sometimes straying as far north as Cape Cod in the summer. It is common on the west coast of Florida.

It has an oblong, elliptical body, its depth being more than a third of its length. The head is short, with a blunt snout and small mouth, and a curved profile. There are well-developedincisor teeth in each jaw, with peculiar horizontal bases. Its color is bluish-gray, with steely lustre; the sides have numerous narrow, indistinct, yellowish or brassy stripes, alternating with bluish ones; there is a pale stripe below the eye, and a yellowish one above and below it; the fins are dull grayish.

The chub feeds on barnacles and other small mollusks, and is found wherever they abound, sometimes in rather deep water. Its usual size is six to ten inches, weighing from one to three or four pounds, but it occasionally grows to fifteen or eighteen inches in length in favorable locations. Its spawning habits have not been studied. It is an excellent pan-fish. Light tackle is needed for the chub and pin-fish, both being usually found together. The hook should be small but strong, with gimp snell; Sproat hooks, No. 1 or 2, are very suitable. The best bait is fiddler-crab or hermit-crab. It is quite a game little fish.

I was once staying for a few days' fishing at the Quarantine Station on Mullet Key, in Tampa Bay. The station is built on piles in water twenty feet deep. There was a trap-door in the floor of one of the rooms, through which manykinds of fish could be seen swimming about in the very clear water. These fishes could be readily taken with the hook or the spear, as they were unable to see any one in the dark room above. I was much interested watching the chub and sheepshead pinching off the barnacles from the piles with their chisel-like teeth. A dozen could be easily taken in as many minutes with fiddler bait, and the table was kept well supplied with chub, which was the favorite food-fish during my sojourn.

Back to Index Next