The Gray Snapper 49 
Of all the game fishes of Florida the snappers 
afforded me the most sport, as they were essen- 
tially gamy at all ages and sizes. The small 
specimens, weighing from two to six pounds, 
often found in the shallow waters of the lagoon, 
were the trout of the reef. In one locality, where 
a key had been battling with the hurricanes for 
centuries, the great gales had swept the key 
away from the roots of the mangroves, leaving 
many stumps isolated and completely submerged. 
Anchoring the dinghy near these shelters, and 
casting with a heavy trout rod, using crayfish 
bait, rare sport was always had. The snappers 
lived among roots with a horde of other fishes, 
and would rise as soon as the lure sank a few 
feet, not having the discretion and coyness which 
marked or characterized the adult snapper of this 
region. 
The snapper family is very large, including 
twenty genera and about two hundred and fifty 
species, nearly all of which have a high economic 
value; and wherever they can be taken in water 
about twenty feet in depth, typify all that com- 
mends itself in a true game fish. In American 
waters alone, according to Dr. Jordan, there are 
about fourteen genera and thirty-five species; but 
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