380 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



famed fishing resorts in March and April. I pre- 

 fer 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 sur- 

 face 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. 



