Popular Salt=Watcr Game Fish 



SHEEPSHEAD 



This powerful fish is common, and ranges all 



along the coast from Cape Cod to Mexico; at 



Old Point Comfort, Va., the sheepshead appears 



in April or March and leaves in October. On the 



Florida reef, at Garden Key, it can be caught all 



the year round, but more frequently in summer. 



All down the Florida coast, it is a 

 Distribution . , „ , ^, x j* 



common wmter tisn; trie Indian 



River region down to Biscayne Bay, is a favorite 

 locality. The oyster beds of the Chesapeake are 

 a favorite locality for sheepshead, and there are nu- 

 merous fishing grounds about New York Bay, well 

 known to boatmen, at Staten Island, Fort Ham- 

 ilton, on the New Jersey shore, Jamaica Bay, Fire 

 Island, South Bay, and various other localities. 

 The sheepshead reaches a length of thirty 

 inches and a weight of twenty pounds, though 

 the average is about ten. It is one of the most 



.,, . . valuable of our food fishes and some 

 Weight 



anglers prize it for its strength and game 



qualities. It is a slow-swimming fish, frequent- 

 ing rocky shores in shallow water, piers, and old 

 wrecks, the latter particularly being favorite 

 resorts; and wherever a wreck can be located on 

 the Atlanic Coast, good sheepshead fishing may be 

 assured. Its head is large and its body deep, and 

 it has a large powerful tail; the mouth is large, and 

 provided with a curious array of teeth, those in 

 front being conical or incisory for tearing or 

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