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Idle Days on Indian River. 
Beginning about 125 miles south of Jackson- 
rille is a broad lagoon-like expanse of water 
called Indian River. The water in this river 
is salt and is separated from the Atlantic by a 
peninsula varying in width from a few yards to 
several miles. This peninsula is covered with 
a dense tropical growth of saw and cabbage 
palmettos, live oaks, mangroves and occasionally 
a cocoanut palm. Here and there are small set¬ 
tlements and plantations, like little gems set in 
the vast wilderness, where great crops of win¬ 
ter vegetables are annually grown as well as 
some of the best, if not the very best, oranges 
in the world. To the westward pine woods 
stretch away for many miles, broken only here 
and there by small settlements and pineapple 
plantations. 
For the hunter, angler, yachtsman, motorist 
or nature lover this river and the country adja¬ 
cent is almost a paradise. Many varieties of 
wildfowl frequent these waters in winter and 
all kinds of salt water fish abound. Bait is 
plentiful and easy to procure. With a cast net 
one can soon catch enough minnows to last a 
day or he can gather fiddler crabs along Shore 
by the bushel. 
In fishing for sea trout live mullet is the best 
bait. I have also caught trout weighing seven 
and a half pounds with a dead minnow on a 
throw line. Sport can also be had in trolling 
for them with either troll or live bait from the 
stern of a boat. These trout are known by 
various names, among them sea trout, speckled 
trout, salt water trout and weakfish. It is a 
game fish and takes the bait with a rush. I 
have had them break the strongest lines I could 
procure. As I have already said, trolling for 
them is great sport, but unless you have a sail¬ 
boat you will find the game rather strenuous 
after pulling on the oars for several hours. I 
have had my best catches of trout off the dock 
at Orchid. 
An expert with a cast net can have profitable 
sport casting for mullet in the shallow waters. 
These fish demand a good price in the markets 
and inhabit this river in countless thousands. 
I have seen the water fairly alive with them; 
so thick, in fact, that their fins protruded from 
the water almost side by side and covering acres 
of space. At such times the water is churned 
into foam and a launch passing through the 
mass kills many with the propeller. They are 
great leapers and afford one much pleasure in 
watching them. Although valuable as a food 
fish they are not game and will not take any 
kind of bait or lure. 
Next to the mullet the fiddler crab is the best 
bait obtainable along most of the river, although 
shrimp are found in some places and make good 
bait. The fiddler flourishes on the mud flats 
and on the chain of mangrove-covered islands 
which extend from Sebastian to Vero. I have 
seen the beach so thickly covered with them that 
one could not step without tramping on two or 
more. They are usually shy of the angler and 
on his approach run into their little crawfish-like 
holes. 
Anchored near one of these small islands dur¬ 
ing a gale one day I fished with fiddlers and 
caught my first sheepshead. He was a big one 
and bored for the bottom of the river in a series 
of revolutions which puzzled me considerably 
and taxed the strength of both line and rod 
before he was landed safely in the boat. Since 
then I have caught lots of these fine fish and 
must say that as a table fish I am inclined to 
rank him with the best of salt water fishes, al¬ 
though many differ with me on that point. The 
sheepshead is a hard fighter and is very power¬ 
ful, but he makes few rushes and nearly always 
endeavors to twist your line about some root 
or pier and thus break it. I have caught as 
many as eighteen sheepshead from the Orchid 
dock in a very short space of time. This fish 
also bites very well at oysters, but one is much 
annoyed by the toadfish and sea catfish, both 
nuisances to the angler. 
The drumfish when young greatly resembles 
the sheepshead in appearance and habits and is 
good eating, but as they grow older they lose 
their convict stripes and become almost black 
and are no longer good to eat. 
Another good table fish and one easily caught 
with worms or cut bait is the sailor’s choice. 
They are very small and quite numerous near 
docks and pilings of any sort and are conse¬ 
quently much sought after by women and chil¬ 
dren who like to angle for fish which are easily 
taken. 
When I first began to fish in salt water I felt 
highly elated when, with a companion one day, 
I caught eighty-three big sea catfish in a few 
hours’ fishing. Having in mind the “yellow bel¬ 
lies” and channel cats we used to catch in the 
Great Miami River in Ohio, I thought we had 
a splendid catch, and we took good care to ex¬ 
hibit them on our way home, but after noting 
the smiles which were exchanged between the 
natives, both white and black, I grew suspicious. 
When I ate them I found there was a vast dif¬ 
ference between them and the fresh water 
variety. The fishermen cordially hate these fish, 
for they are numerous and often get in their 
gill nets in such numbers that it is almost im¬ 
possible to disentangle the mass. 
Large gill nets are used by the fishermen, but 
happily the law has put a stop to the legalized 
seining which was rapidly depleting the river of 
its denizens. I once made a trip out with a 
seining crew just to see how it was done and 
was thoroughly disgusted with the wasteful 
methods practiced. A net, five hundred yards 
long, was let out from the stern of a gasolene 
launch and a large half circle formed, with a 
boat at each end of the net. Then the net was 
slowly reeled in and the two boats worked to¬ 
ward each other and toward the shore. As the 
wings were brought together the fish were forced 
into the pocket in the center of the net and the 
pocket raised between the two boats and the 
fish sorted. Pitchforks were used to transfer 
the fish into the boat. Large bass and other fish 
which were too large to be saleable were thus 
cruelly speared and thrown into the' water to 
die. Those which were too small to use were 
thrown on the bank to likewise perish. This 
senseless policy has been carried on ever since 
I have been along the river. 
In fishing from the docks at Orchid I have 
lost several lines and the heaviest of hooks 
snapped in two by sturgeon. This fish grows 
quite large, and although a poor table fish, I 
have known a number of people to eat them. I 
tried them once—only once. They make a gal¬ 
lant struggle and my father and I had quite an 
exciting time with one last summer in bring¬ 
ing it to hand and after landing it on the dock. 
There are numerous enemies to the anglers’ 
peace of mind in this river, namely the sea cat¬ 
fish, crabs, stingrays and above all the hateful 
toadfish. These latter are ugly, ill-proportioned 
fish with large sharp teeth, and when caught and 
landed pump their bodies full of air until they 
are almost round as a ball, and when in this 
condition will float away on the water bottom 
side up until at a safe distance from you, when 
they will eject the air and disappear like a flash. 
They will bite at a hook in utter disregard to 
the number of hooks that may already be im¬ 
bedded in their mouths or stomachs. 
One day in company with my father and 
mother I visited the Orchid docks and enjoyed 
some fine sport. Mother fished with cut bait 
for sailor’s choice, while father and I fished for 
trout with live mullet. We angled for some 
time with very poor results and were just be¬ 
ginning to complain when away went father’s 
line ripping through the water, and in a twink¬ 
ling a fine big trout was flopping on the dock. 
Another was soon added and in a few minutes 
later when I was taking a sailor’s choice off of 
mother’s hook, my line gave a jerk and I soon 
had another trout struggling on the dock. Two 
more fine trout were added to our string and 
then they stopped biting, and after fishing for 
some time and catching nothing more except a 
small sawfish, we drew in our lines and rowed 
homeward. Mother in the meantime had caught 
thirty-eight sailor’s choice and one red snapper. 
It was a day very profitably and pleasantly spent. 
Some days after this I was fishing alone from 
this same dock when I hooked a shark and had 
a lively tussle in landing him. He was a vicious 
fellow and tried his best to get hold of me 
whenever I came near him. A few raps on the 
head with a hatchet, however, put an end to him 
and I removed the hook from his ugly mouth 
and threw him back into the river. Sharks are 
frequently caught at this point. 
The grouper is a fine fish and seems'to be 
quite scarce in this river. I only caught one 
during an entire summer’s fishing. 
Spearing mullet by torchlight used to be exten¬ 
sively practiced on this river and afforded much 
sport for those who enjoyed this method of 
fishing. 
Once, while the local fishermen were pulling 
in their seines, they were surprised to find two 
large manatee or sea cows inclosed in the wings 
