GULF STREAM FISHING 



out on the reef. When there has been no wind for 

 several days, which is a rare thing for Long Key, 

 the water becomes crystal clear and the fish and 

 marine creatures are an endless source of interest 

 to the fisherman. Of course a large boat, in going 

 out on the reef, must use the channel between the 

 keys, but a small boat or canoe can go anywhere. 

 It is remarkable how the great game fish come in 

 from the Stream across the reef into shoal water. 

 Barracuda come right up to the shore, and likewise 

 the big sharks. The bottom is a clean, white, finely 

 ribbed coral sand, with patches of brown seaweed 

 here and there and golden spots, and in the shallower 

 water different kinds of sponges. Out on the reef the 

 water is a light green. The Gulf Stream runs along 

 the outer edge of the reef, and here between Ten- 

 nessee Buoy and Alligator Light, eighteen miles, is 

 a feeding-ground for sailfish, kingfish, amberjack, 

 barracuda, and other fishes. The ballyhoo is the 

 main feed of these fishes, and it is indeed a queer 

 little fish. He was made by nature, like the sar- 

 dine and mullet and flying-fish, to serve as food for 

 the larger fishes. The ballyhoo is about a foot 

 long, slim and flat, shiny and white on the sides 

 and dark green on the back, with a sharp-pointed, 

 bright-yellow tail, the lower lobe of which is de- 

 veloped to twice the length of the upper. He has 

 a very strange feature in the fact that his lower jaw 

 resembles the bill of a snipe, being several inches 

 long, sharp and pointed and hard; but he has no 

 upper lip or beak at all. This half-bill must be used 

 in relation to his food, but I do not have any idea 

 how this is done. 



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