558 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



By the first of September these have entirely disappeared, and their places have been taken by 

 the "fat mullet," which are said to weigh about a pound and a half. These are very abundant for 

 several weeks, the roe mullet arriving about the middle of October, before they have entirely dis- 

 appeared. The last-named are by far the largest fish that visit the coast, many individuals, accord- 

 ing to the statement of the fishermen, attaining a length of 28 to 30 inches, some of the largest 

 weighing from 3 to 5 pounds. These schools are made lip of mature fish of both sexes, with the 

 roe bags well advanced ; and it is reported that many are taken with eggs and milt running freely. 

 "Frost" or "inch" mullet, as they are sometimes called, follow in large, compact schools, the last 

 disappearing about the middle of December. Smaller fish, called " winter mullet," are abundant 

 till spring, and are taken by means of seines and gill-nets in the inner sounds. 



At Charleston the run is somewhat similar to that at Wilmington, though, for various reasons, 

 the fishermen engage exclusively in their capture for only a few weeks, beginning about the last 

 of August; most of them stopping before' the roe mullet put in an appearance. The Charleston 

 seine fishermen secure considerable quantities of small mullet while fishing for "trout" ami other 

 species in the tide-channels and creeks of the locality during the winter months. Fully one-third 

 of the seine-catch between December and March is composed of this species. 



In Eastern Florida, especially in the Saint John's River, fish of all sizes may be seen at any 

 time. They ascend the Saint John's to Lake Monroe, a distance of 240 miles from the sea, 

 and small specimens are taken even beyond this point. At Lake Monroe the fishing interests are 

 limited, as the resident population is small and the demand for fish is proportionately light. This 

 demand is supplied during the winter months by three or four Northern fishermen, who haul a 

 seine for shad at one end of the lake, selling their catch to the hotels that are for several months 

 filled with Northern visitors. Two gill-nets are owned by residents of Melonville for the capture 

 of mullet, the catch, in these being suflncient to meet the demand. Lake George, situated 150 miles 

 above the sea, is the prettiest and clearest expansion of the Saint John's River. It is 12 miles 

 wide by 16 to 20 long, and abounds in fish of various kinds, being seemingly the summer home of 

 immense quantities of mullet. Several salt springs open into the lake, and the local fishermen 

 think that many of the mullet enter them to deposit their eggs instead of taking the long trip to 

 the sea. It is known, however, that many of the fish make yearly trips to the ocean, thus affording 

 excellent mullet fishing along the entire course of the stream. The first fish arrive at Jacksonville 

 from the upper waters early in June, the number gradually increasing till the middle of August, 

 when the fishing becomes extensive, continuing till December, the size of the individuals increasing 

 until the close of the season. The fishermen of Mayport, at the mouth of the river, claim that the 

 spawning fish pass out into the ocean and proceed southward along the shore to Matanzas and 

 Indian rivers and Mosquito Lagoon (which are said to be the spawning grounds for these 

 fish), and there deposit their eggs. The same theory is held by the fishermen of Saint Augustine, 

 one of whom assigns as the cause of a supposed decrease in the catch at Saint Augustine the exten- 

 sive gill-net fishing of the Saint John's. 



In the Gulf of Mexico it is claimed that the mullet are even more abundant than along our 

 Atlantic coast, though the statistics of the catch for North Carolina would indicate that they are 

 nearly as plenty in that region. Mr. Stearns writes that these fish are more abundant in the shore 

 waters of West Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi than any other species, and that they are about 

 the only fish taken by the fishermen during several mouths of the year. They are never entirely 

 absent; though, as on the Atlantic coast, they are much more abundant in the fall than at any 

 other season. In referring to the Pensacola region, Mr. Stearns mentions a run of mullet in the 

 spring, saying, "There is a spring run of mullet composed of various sizes of young, which are, 



