306 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



On the coasts of Florida, this is so abundant a species as 

 to be rather undervalued. Anglers when they first arrive, 

 engage in the pursuit of Sheep's-head with great eagerness, 

 but after a time it becomes monotonous to catch them at the 

 rate of forty or fifty in a tide, averaging three pounds each. 

 Many go to five and six pounds. My heaviest weighed seven 

 pounds, from many hundreds; and I have heard of one of ten 

 pounds; many aie taken of four to eight ounces, which are 

 returned to the water, fish being so abundant in Florida 

 that the "fish hog" seldom appears. 



I knew a man who caught Sheep's-head for market, and 

 with a hand-line, and the barb filed off the hook. He could 

 supply a smack with one hundred a day at five cents apiece. 

 But the fish died in the well of the smack, and the enter- 

 prise was a failure. Although some Sheep's-head migrate, 

 and some run up the rivers into fresh water, yet it is usually 

 a stationary species, living in deep channels and tide-ways 

 along the shores of the bays and inlets, among rocks and the 

 roots of mangroves, and other trees that have fallen into the 

 water, as these are soon covered with barnacles, upon which 

 these fish feed, as well as upon crabs, clams, and oysters. 

 Especially the small crab called the fiddler, which is a fa- 

 vorite bait, but it is easily taken off the hook by the project- 

 ing teeth of this fish. In places where much fishing is done, 

 the Sheep's-head become very expert in stealing bait, and if 

 you secure one out of four baits you do well. Where little 

 disturbed, they seize the hook eagerly, and are easily taken 

 by a stroke vigorous enough to penetrate the hard pavement 

 of teeth which they carry. Their jaws are strong, and the 

 hook must be equally so, and if large, it is necessary to give 

 your fish line, till it is somewhat exhausted. When it is 

 brought to the surface, it makes a violent rush to the bottom, 

 and if too suddenly checked, hook, line, or rod is apt to be 

 broken. It makes no long runs, like a Bass, but fights up 

 and down, with heavy surges. A good-sized landing-net will 



