ON THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA. 73 



fringes, X -f- 7 or 8, besides rudiments. Dorsal fin very deeply 

 notched, its fifth spine 3% in head. Coloration dark green above ; 

 sides and below greenish silvery ; young with a blackish stripe along 

 the sides from opercle to the middle of the caudal fin ; three dark 

 oblique stripes across the cheeks and opercles ; below and above the 

 lateral band some dark spots ; caudal fin pale at base, then blackish, 

 whitish at tip ; belly white. As the fish grows older the black lateral 

 band breaks up and grows fainter, and the color becomes more and 

 more of a uniform pale dull green, the back being darker, a dark 

 opercular blotch usually present. Length 18 inches or more." 



This name corrupted in the South to "Trout." Weight in the 

 North to 8 pounds, in Florida to 17 pounds. Caught : In fresh-water 

 rivers and creeks. Rod and reel, No. 6 or a smaller silk line, No. 

 4$ hook, gut snood, or without snood. Bait : Live Minnow, or 

 small Bream, or cut bait. Small worms can be found in the decayed 

 stems of the flags or saw grass, with which small Bream can be taken 

 with Minnow hooks. Troll with spoon, phantom or bait. They will 

 also take the fly. Red Ibis, Montreal, Parmachene Belle, Seth Green 

 and Brown Hackle are good as any. Edible, C. 



While on the " Micropterus Salmoides " subject I wish to make a 

 confession, which may read like a too late repentance for past errors 

 or iniquities. 



" Befo de wah," and for several years after, very many St. Louis 

 families spent their summers at the lake resorts of Minnesota and 

 Wisconsin, Lake Minnetonka and White Bear Lake in the former State, 

 and the Oconomowoc lakes and Green Lake in the latter, being quite 

 prominent fishing and family resorts, as they are at the present day. 



My first visit to White Bear Lake was in 1857, and I spent the 

 summer of 1861, and part of 1862 and 1863, there. 



I was at Lake Minnetonka through the summers of 1865 and 1866, 

 at which time the only route to the lakes was from Minneapolis by 

 private conveyance, or stage three times a week to Excelsior, the only 

 place of resort on the lakes, and only one small hotel, or boarding 

 house, there. As there were only one or two small farms on the two 

 lakes, called Upper and Lower Minnetonka, and possibly 100 resi- 

 dents in Excelsior, with the Bass, Pickerel, Rock Bass, Crappies, 

 Sunfish, and Perch plenty in the lakes, it can be readily seen the visit- 

 ing anglers had fine sport. 



