Casting the Minnow. 389 



A few days after Christmas, in the winter of 1881, my 

 wife and I were fishing in San Sebastian River a half mile 

 above its confluence with Indian Eiver. We had been up 

 one of the branches of the river fishing for black bass, and 

 I was using an eight-ounce, ash and lance wood Henshall 

 rod, and ordinary black bass tackle. 



On this occasion, and with this rod and tackle, I- killed a 

 redfish, or channel bass, in twenty minutes, that weighed 

 fully thirty-five pounds, though, as I did not weigh it, I 

 called it thirty. It was a heavier and gamer fish than the 

 mascalonge alluded to above ; and, as I have weighed a good 

 many redfish running from twenty to forty pounds, I can 

 certainly guess within five pounds of the weight of one 

 within these limits. 



I was casting the minnow for black bass, on another oc- 

 casion, up the St. Lucie Eiver, in southern Florida, and 

 with the same rod and tackle just mentioned I hooked, 

 killed and landed a tarpon of thirty-three pounds, in fifteen 

 minutes. 



I have, with the same, or similar rods and tackle, killed 

 many pike, mascalonge, tarpon, groupers, salt-water trout, 

 etc., between ten and twenty pounds, but merely mention 

 the above instances to prove the power of the minnow- 

 casting black bass rod of eight ounces in weight and eight 

 and a quarter feet in length, and this must be my excuse 

 for alluding to them here. 



The introduction of this rod has no doubt done more than 

 any thing else to popularize this style of fishing, and we 

 may now consider minnow-casting as not only firmly es- 

 tablished, but as an original and American method of ang- 

 ling that is peculiarly adapted to bait-fishing in our varied 

 and extensive waters. 



As an instance of its popularity I might add that, dur- 



