198 THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA. 



here, as with almost every other variety of game fish it is all 

 go, and that of the most vigorous quality. He ran constantly 

 for thirty minutes, before he showed any signs of weakening, 

 but finally was compelled from sheer exhaustion to give up the 

 fight, when I landed him on shore. He proved to be what 

 the natives call the " bony-fish," or " lady-fish," and what the 

 Bahama Islanders call the " ten-pounder." It is by far the 

 gamiest fish I have ever caught, and I have caught nearly 

 every variety of fresh-water fish on the continent. He has 

 greater strength and greater speed than any fish of his size I 

 ever saw. This one was eighteen inches long and weighed 

 five and a half pounds. In form it bears some resemblance 

 to the pike or muskalonge of the northern waters, but is 

 somewhat thicker in proportion to the length. The back is 

 of a pale-blue color, and the sides are of a bright silvery- 

 gray. The scales are as large as those of the mullet. It is 

 not considered eatable at all here, on account of being so full 

 of small bones, but I am inclined to think that it would be 

 very palatable if this difficulty could be gotten over. I caught 

 four of them during the day, and burned several little blisters 

 on my thumb, the marks of which I expect to wear for several 

 weeks, as relics of this, the finest day's fishing I ever enjoyed. 



We trolled through the entire length of the Pass, a dis- 

 tance of three miles, and caught fish as fast as we could 

 handle them. At the mouth of the Pass we pulled up to a 

 high bank, where the water was about six feet deep, and saw 

 large schools of mangrove snapper (a fish resembling in shape 

 our black bass) sporting along the bank, but we had no live 

 minnows with us, and no other bait would tempt them, so we 

 were compelled to pass them until another day. 



We then pulled across to the opposite side of the Pass, 

 where 'the surf was running; and fished an hour for redfish. 

 For these we used cut bait (mullet is best) with heavy leads, 



