FL Y FISHING W FLORIDA. 289 



fished the locality, the lower Indian River and its tribu- 

 taries will furnish a fine field for the fly-caster. West 

 of Cedar Keys to St. Marks is a shoal coast covered 

 with marine algae ; and the coast line is cut up with a 

 number of small streams stocked — nay, swarming— with 

 fish. This section is uninhabited, the streams have 

 not been fished, and a fine field for sport awaits the 

 fisherman. In addition, hand line or bass rod fishing 

 can be enjoyed for sheepshead and channel bass. The 

 woods abound with deer, the hummocks contain plenty 

 of turkeys, and the bays and grassy flats during the 

 winter are alive with ducks, and in certain localities 

 geese and brant will be found. Beech birds, as snipe 

 and curlews, can be bagged in quantity. 



The first stream worthy of notice on the southwest 

 coast is the Homosassa River, forty miles south of 

 Cedar Keys. But this beautiful river has lost its 

 greatest attraction, " Mother Jones." I have been in- 

 formed that she left Homosassa, and, as a sequence, 

 there will be wanting the clean rooms and beds, the 

 stewed and scalloped oysters, the aromatic coffee, the 

 delicious breakfast bacon, and the luscious sheepshead 

 done to a turn. With "Mother Jones" will depart 

 many of the attractions of the place, more particularly 

 the cusine. I write feelingly, for I was the first to 

 make known the attractions of my favorite Homosassa. 

 According to my friend, Dr. Ferber, Billy Bow Legs 

 Creek, a tributary of Sarasota Bay, presents many at- 

 tractions to the fly-fisher, more especially in the capture 

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