314 FISHING WITH THE FLY. 



are fair fighters, and as the piscator can fish from a sandy 

 beach, much enjoyment can be secured. 



In Florida cat fish will take a fly, and I may also 

 add a spinner. In this State we have a number of 

 species of this fish, and one is a surface feeder. In 

 the evening, when they are feeding on the surface, they 

 will not reject a large and gaudy fly. To those who 

 have been accustomed to capture with a stout rod 

 diminutive specimens of catties, I will say, hook on to 

 a catty weighing from six to twelve pounds and there 

 will be " music in the air," and unless skill is exercised 

 on the part of the fisherman the leader will go to where 

 the "woodbine twineth." 



In Florida, as everywhere else, the best fishing is near 

 where A., B. or C. run a hotel or keep a boarding house, 

 or where certain steamboats make a terminal landing. 

 But in my experience the best places to fish, as a rule, 

 are where there are no hotels or specimens of the col- 

 ored persuasion with their cast nets. When "I go a- 

 fishing " I leave civilization, hotels, and boarding-houses 

 in the rear. 



The best points for fly-fishing for large-mouthed bass 

 are on the upper St. Johns, the tributaries of Indian 

 river, the Kessimmee and the streams and lagoons on 

 the south-west coast. For pickerel and bream the best 

 points are the tributaries of the St. Johns between 

 Mandarin and Lake Monroe. For war-mouthed perch, 

 the best streams will be found in Alachua County. 



From all that I can glean from gentlemen who have 



