Favorite Fish and Fishing 



most of the other fishes mentioned may be 

 easily handled with a good ash and lance- 

 wood black bass rod of seven or eight 

 ounces, multiplying reel and corresponding 

 tackle. Sproat hooks of various and suit- 

 able sizes cannot be excelled for any kind 

 of Florida fishing, if of the best quality. 

 Almost any kind of bait, natural or arti- 

 ficial comes in play mullet, pilchard or 

 anchovy for surface- feeding fishes; crabs, 

 fiddlers, beach fleas and cut bait for bottom 

 feeders. Trolling or casting-spoons or spin- 

 ners can often be substituted for other baits, 

 with the During the winter of 1889-90 I had 



Commission charge of a scientific expedition to the Gulf 

 of Mexico with the schooner Grampus, of 

 the U. S. Fish Commission. I did the 

 shore work of collecting fishes and fish food 

 along the west coast of Florida, from Bis- 

 cayne Bay around Cape Sable and north- 

 ward to Tampa Bay, and secured nearly 

 three hundred species of fishes and many 

 crustaceans. For this work I had a mack- 

 erel seine boat, thirty-four feet long, 

 rigged with foresail and mainsail. At 

 170 



