CHAPTER III 



THE GRAY SNAPPER 



" First let your rod be light and very gentle. I take the best 

 to be two pieces." IZAAK WALTON. 



WHERE keys like emeralds in settings of silver 

 seem to float on seas of lapis lazuli, where chan- 

 nels of turquoise wind in and about the coral reef 

 and soft trade winds sough through palm, man- 

 grove, and bay cedar, there is the home of the 

 gray snapper of the outer reef, the most cun- 

 ning and gallant fish in its mature condition, that 

 swims in any sea, the most difficult to catch, and 

 one of the most beautiful. 



I first became a victim to the wiles and snares 

 of the gray snapper far out on the Florida reef 

 where the last key looks into the west. Here a 

 maze of coral reefs once reached the surface. A 

 mangrove seed came drifting in the stream, 

 lodged in the shallows, took root and grew. To 

 the angler coming from the east, following the 

 sun, this resultant isolated grove forming Bush 



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