308 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



ifax River Inlet, at New Smyrna, and at the Indian River 

 Inlet, the angler will usually find all the Sheep's-head he 

 wants; doubtless in other places also, but these can be 

 recommended. 



In Jordan and Gilbert's Synopsis, the following description 

 is given: 



sheep's-head DIPLODUS PROBATOCEPHALUS (WALT. ) 



Grayish, with about eight vertical black bands, which are 

 about as broad as the interspaces; dorsal dusky. Body robust, 

 becoming very deep with age; the back compressed and ele- 

 vated; axis of the body below the middle of the depth; snout 

 entirely below axis of body; profile very steep; preorbital 

 broad. Mouth low, horizontal; incisors broad, serrated in the 

 young, then becoming emarginate and finally entire. Cheeks 

 with six rows of scales; scales on breast very small, crowded. 

 Dorsal spines very strong, higher than the soft rays, the 

 last considerably shortened, so that the outline of the fin is 

 emarginate; second anal spine very strong, nearly as long as 

 the snout and eye; pectoral very long, reaching past the front 

 of the anal; ventrals reaching vent. Head 35/(; depth 1^3. 

 D XII, 12; A. Ill, 10; Scales 7 — 45—16. L. 30 inches. 

 Cape Cod to Texas; abundant. 



The same rig that is used for Channel Bass — a two-piece 

 bamboo rod, eight feet long, multiplying reel with drag, 

 and one hundred yards of Cuttyhunk line, 15 -thread. In 

 Florida-fishing, the unexpected often happens, and while look- 

 ing for a four-pound Sheep's-head, you may hook a twent}-- 

 five pound Bass or other runaway fish. Some anglers put the 

 sinker at the end of the line, and tie the hooks eight or ten 

 inches above. Others use round perforated sinkers, with 

 the hooks below; the sinker, from one to two ounces in 

 weight, lies on the bottom. 



Only the best Virginia hooks can be trusted to resist the 

 jaws of the Sheep's-head (No. 4 or 5) and these sometimes 

 fail. A piece of hemp or cotton line rather thicker than the 

 reel-line makes the best snood; no gut, however strong or 

 doubled, will resist the teeth of the Sheep's-head. With two 



