58 THE ENGLISH ANGLER IN FLORIDA vi 



Gulf, according to the laws of ebb and flow, spring and neap, 

 runs at from 5 to 8 knots an hour. The breakers outside are 

 no doubt picturesque and musical in their roar and murmur, 

 but they are mighty in power, and always gave me the 

 impression that, although this may be and is an excellent place 

 for miscellaneous sport, it is not exactly the spot in which one 

 would care to be capsized. In fishing, however, the boat is 

 anchored well clear of this apparent danger. Sometimes at a 

 push it is necessary to have your boat on the move as quickly 

 as possible, and it is the custom therefore to attach a buoy to 

 your anchor, and so, at the critical moment, it becomes simply 

 a case of casting adrift from your moorings and picking them 

 up afterwards. 



The style of fishing here is commonly called trolling, but 

 Trolling or it is not at all that according to our English 

 Trailing, acceptation of the term. Perhaps it may be best 

 described as automatic trailing. It differs in most essential 

 respects from gorge fishing for tarpon. In the Pass you sit 

 with your rod in hand, with some 30 or 40 yards of taut 

 line out, and everything free for the running of the reel when a 

 fish strikes. The current works the bait briskly enough for all 

 practical purposes. A large spoon or an artificial minnow 



