194 Big Game Fishes 
powerful organ. The color of the fish is pro- 
nounced bronze above, silver and grayish below; 
over all a reddish iridescence, caught when the 
fish is seen at an angle, making it a resplendent 
creature immediately after the catch. At the 
base of the tail is a single black spot, about as 
large as the eye. On some fishes there were 
several of them, and I noticed that some of the 
negroes called the fish “two eye” for this reason. 
In the South the St. Johns is one of the best 
localities for channel-bass, though I have had 
excellent sport at Fernandina near Fort Marion. 
It is found in the deeper portions of the channel, 
and I took large specimens later from the beach 
on the Pilottown side, where the water is deep 
near shore. This locality was equally famous for 
large sharks, strikes from this game being about 
two to one of channel-bass. One hooked with a 
heavy shark line, which I had made fast to a 
heavy log, carried the latter down the beach and 
nearly dragged me into deep water, a lucky chance 
changing the programme. In a word, sharks 
are to be expected here. On the St. Johns the 
channel-bass appears with some regularity in 
June, and in this month, and in July, the angler 
may expect large specimens running up to fifty 
