190 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 
