400 Big Game Fishes 
peculiarity about the island, it is exposed on almost 
every side to winds and as a result a heavy surf 
prevails at localities which under other circum- 
stances might afford excellent sport. The angler 
will find numbers of professional fishermen at 
San Juan, but no good small boats regularly 
adapted for sport, sail-boats being used. 
Among the fishes the robalo will interest the 
angler—a gamy creature three or four feet in 
length, very common here and referred to in a 
previous chapter. A good ground for it is the Rio 
Plato and the various lagoons, the fish affecting 
shallow and smooth water wherever it can be 
found. Near San Cristobal the jurel and cherna 
fishing is excellent. The former, Caranx, is a 
gamy fish though of small size, rarely exceeding 
two feet in length, but very gamy, as I can testify, 
having often taken it in Florida waters where 
the conditions are more favorable, so far as wind 
is concerned. The cherna next to the tarpon is 
perhaps the largest game fish found here and 
very common, large individuals weighing fifty or 
more pounds. Equally as large, if not larger, 
is the black grouper, common at many points 
and a fine fish, especially when it can be found 
in shallow water. Here is the familiar hogfish, 
