CHAPTER III 
THE GRAY SNAPPER 
“First let your rod be light and very gentle. I take the best 
to be two pieces.” — Izaak WaLTON. 
Wuere 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 
D 33 
