Fish and Fishing 



often confounded with other species. In some 

 locaHties it is called plaice, summer flounder or 

 turbot flounder; whereas the flounder is known as 

 the flatfish, winter flounder, mud-dab and nigger 

 fish. The two can be easily distinguished by 

 the plaice having a large mouth, and the flounder 

 a very small one. Next to the halibut, the plaice 

 is the most important and valuable flatfish on the 

 Eastern coast. It averages in size from two to 

 eight pounds, though specimens have been caught 

 up to twenty-five pounds. It corresponds with 

 two highly prized, but somewhat rare fish caught 

 on the English coast, known as the turl)ot and 

 the brill. Like others of their species, the plaice 

 habitually lie upon the bottom, where their pe- 

 culiar shape and color protect them from obser- 

 vation, and also give them an excellent oj^portunity 

 to capture their prey. They are found mostly 

 in bays, where the bottom is muddy 

 and grassy, and in shoal water, along 

 sandy reaches of the coast and bays. Plaice 

 may be taken from the early part of June till 

 October. In Florida they are taken throughout 

 the year, most pentifully in the summer months. 

 They feed on small fish, shrimps, crabs, squid, 

 and are frequently seen at the surface of the water, 

 rapidly swimming and even jumping above the 

 surface in pursuit of sand eels and sand smelts. 

 Favorite fishing grounds are on sandy bottoms 

 at a depth of eight or ten fathoms, or in channels 

 near the sides, and they can be taken either from 

 a boat at anchor, or one that drifts slowly along 

 106 



