THE ENGLISH ANGLER IN FLORIDA 



ranks them amongst the sea breams. They are very abundant 

 around the American coast. The red snapper, or grunt 

 {Mesoprion aya), as it is sometimes dubbed, is in everlasting 

 Red evidence in the Gulf of Mexico and Eastern 

 bnapper. piorida, and has been for many years now highly 

 esteemed as an article of food in the northern markets to which 

 it is transported. This fish is found with the sea bass, and its 

 range is as far north as Cape Cod ; but it is in the Gulf of 

 Mexico that the red snappers are most at home. They haunt 

 the reefs and rocks, and are very plentiful off Charlotte 

 Harbour. They give excellent sport, but are mostly taken 

 with the net for market. I have heard of some excellent 

 takes of red snapper, which are carnivorous fish, with spinning 

 bait, and they sometimes run to 40 lbs. weight. The specimens 

 which I saw, and occasionally caught, were, however, nothing 

 like so large ; the average is perhaps 8 lbs. and 9 lbs., and 

 a bit of dead fish is good bait. 



A more gracefully shaped variety which often comes in 

 the way of the small -fish angler is the mangrove snapper 

 {Mesoprion aurorubens). It is active and beautifully coloured 

 with russet and gold lines, and is seldom more than 1 8 inches 

 long. 



