1 90 Big Game Fishes 



The question what to term this fish may be 

 argued elsewhere. I am going to call it the 

 channel-bass, first, because this name appears not 

 to be applied to other fish, and secondly, I have 

 noticed that the majority of anglers and sports- 

 men prefer and use the term, which is the very 

 best of reasons. In casting over in my mind the 

 best channel-bass fishing I have enjoyed, the St. 

 Marys and the mouth of the St. Johns rivers 

 and the beach out from Pilottown, Florida, crowd 

 and elbow to the front. The mouth of the river 

 is an interesting place, especially at Mayport, 

 where the sand-dunes at the time of my last visit 

 were migrating, and one fisherman's house was 

 almost completely covered. In the morning the 

 housewives would be seen sweeping out the sand 

 from the walk as they would snow. Some of the 

 buildings were on stilts, and it was almost neces- 

 sary to take a running jump to reach the door of 

 one hostlery. The boatmen, Americans and 

 some Minorcans, and their descendants, were 

 nearly all in the shad business, and many fished 

 the mouth of the river habitually. The water 

 over the bar was often very shallow, so that 

 schooners laden with lumber were sometimes 

 obliged to wait for a combination of high tides 



