THE GAME FISHES OP THE WORLD 



TV^eighed thirty pounds at Bush Key where the channel came in 

 near shore and dead coral was piled up by the sea. 



AU these snappers came into the sandy lagoons to feed at 

 night, when we often caught them in seines in localities that 

 knew them not during the day. One night with mullet bait I 

 hooked a fish here which towed my light dinghy about for nearly 

 «,n hour before I could land it. I hooked it hardly three feet 

 irom the shore, where the fish was doubtless hunting for crabs ; 

 but its fine rush, and my flying leap into the boat to save my 

 line, wiU long be remembered. 



The vi-vid red-tailed Lane snapper, L. synagris, is an attrac- 

 tive feUow. The average fish of the markets weigh two or 

 three pounds, but specimens weighing ten or twelve pounds 

 are known to anglers. Auy one who knew Key West in the 

 seventies will recall ' Paublo,' who sold snappers, and his cry, 

 * Snappers an' Eabirubia, yallertail an' snappers ! ' To eat 

 "* yallertaU,' is one thing, to remember, and to catch it another. 

 The Florida yellowtail is a beautiful little snapper-like fish with 

 a big yeUow tail, a yellow stripe, a blaze of silver and yellow ; an 

 alluring fish about ten or twelve inches long, often two feet, and 

 Tanging up to five or six pounds. It deserves very light tackle. 

 I could always find it on the reef, just beyond the surf in a grove 

 of briUiant gorgonias and corals, in company with angel-fishes 

 <of various kinds. It has none of the shyness or clever qualities 

 of its cousins the snappers, but wiU take conch or fish bait, and 

 <;an be caught at any time, being a very democratic and innocent 

 little fish ; hence it will not surprise one to learn that it is a 

 fine table fish and one most in evidence. S'o fish of its size makes 

 a better play on an eight-ounce split bamboo or cane. To see a 

 yellowtail flash through a coral grove on one's Hne and bending 

 rod is a revelation. Nearly all these fishes are taken in traps 

 or on heavy hand-lines, hence their game qualities are never 

 suspected except by the few well-equipped anglers who go down 

 the Florida Eeef. 



For yellowtail we often rowed out from Garden Key, across 



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