The Groupers 213 
may sink into the branch coral or a grove of gor- 
gonias, while the hook or bait would in this way 
swing clear. Again, the strike, or bite, is felt 
much quicker when the hook is above the sinker. 
The bait most in vogue at this particular point 
is crayfish or conch, the latter being hard and 
almost indestructible; at other places fish bait is 
employed. 
If the right ground is found, excellent sport 
may be enjoyed, the red grouper being the chief 
attraction; but the pleasure is intensified by the 
remarkable variety of fishes taken, of which the 
big porcupine-fish, which fills itself with air when 
reaching the surface and sails along on the water 
like a balloon, is not least. The red grouper 
when at forty or fifty pounds is, so far as its 
game qualities are concerned, like the cod, there 
being more than a suspicion of laziness, though 
some big fellows will give fair play; but the fish 
should not be wholly condemned. Hauling the 
best of fishes from a great depth is not the most 
exciting of pastimes, but such fishes, given other 
conditions, often prove worthy the term “ game.” 
So with the red grouper; I found that while a 
deep-water fish, a companion of the red snapper 
and a bottom lover, it came inshore in June to 
