5 oc \ 
Angling in Florida. 
Continued from page 460. 
The best tarpon bait is the silver or striped 
mullet of from two to five pounds weight, se¬ 
cured upon the hook by cutting a gash along one 
side of the backbone—from the gills to the tail— 
the snood or leader is inserted in this cut with 
the head of the mullet toward the hook, the tail 
being tied to the snood. For deep trolling a piece 
of mullet cut into strips; say one inch wide and 
seven inches long—the best pieces having a part 
of the tail on one end. 
The original method of tarpon angling is to 
cast a hundred feet or so from the boat, letting 
the whole mullet sink to the bottom, and prepare 
for the expected strike by coiling some thirty or 
forty feet of slack line on the seat, in readiness 
for the first rush of the fish. The tarpon is a 
light biter, its bite being hardly more than a 
gentle feeling of or turning over of the bait. As 
the tarpon moves slowly away with the baited 
hook, the slack coil is paid out and when all has 
run overboard, the fish is struck. This method 
is called bottom fishing and for many sportsmen 
of riper years as well as for ladies, it is no doubt 
good sport. But the finest tarpon fishing is out 
in the rough chop of the deep sea, for here the 
tarpon is seen at his best, and although deep sea 
trolling is much more severe upon the angler’s 
muscles and while it takes more endurance and 
skill to land the game, the pleasure is also greatly 
increased. The tarpon is essentially a game fish, 
putting up a fight to the last gasp, and while it is 
never disappointing in the deep clear water be¬ 
yond the breakers, he fights as my friend George 
expresses it, “like de very debil.” To the angler 
who is something of a sailor, deep sea trolling 
holds a charm that no amount of inshore fishing, 
however exciting, can compete with, and after 
once trying your hand at outside angling, only 
outside tarpon fishing will you have. 
The Spanish mackerel ( Scomberomorus macu- 
latus ) is a handsomely colored game fish and is 
well known to the down East and Cape Cod fish¬ 
ermen, as mackerel or bay mackerel. It is a mi¬ 
gratory fish of considerable range, being found 
in summer as far north as Cape Cod, and south¬ 
ward to the West Indies and the coast of Brazil. 
Although often caught up to thirty odd inches in 
length, the mackerel will probably average about 
two feet. In appearance this fish is well known, 
as it is one of our best food fishes as well as one 
of the most plentiful. Mackerel travel in schools 
and are surface feeders. They appear in im¬ 
mense numbers in the waters of Florida during 
February and March, and when caught upon a 
light rod, put up a plucky fight. 
As rod fishing for mackerel is mostly con¬ 
fined to the many inlets or passes—salt water 
lagoons—a heavy bass rod and tackle may be 
used; inside fish seldom exceeding three pounds 
in weight. Casting is the usual method; making 
a longish cast and reeling in the line as for min¬ 
now casting. Artificial flies are attractive lures, 
and bass or salmon flies (eyed flies preferred) 
tied upon No. x O’Shaughnessy hooks are cor¬ 
rect. A gray hackle fly seems to be a reliable 
killing pattern and a selection including grav 
hackle, gray drake, Rube Wood, shoemaker and 
great dun have always given me a rise. My ex¬ 
perience with salt-water fishes leads me to be¬ 
lieve that flies in which gray, yellow and red are 
combined, prove on the whole most effective. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
For outside fishing a long trolling line of 150 
feet or more is used with either a spoon or block 
tin, bone, or lead mackerel jig. Outside casting 
is more enjoyable than trolling, but long casts 
are necessary as mackerel are shy and wary fish 
and must be angled for with a bit of line. For 
casting inside and for outside fishing almost all 
of the small fishes make attractive baits; pil¬ 
chard, mullet, anchovy and shrimp being reliable. 
The spotted cero ( Scomberomorus regalis) is 
known in different localities as king cero, spotted 
cero, and pintado. It is a migratory fish, abound¬ 
ing in the West Indies, and oftentimes travels 
as far as the Massachusetts coast. The cero is 
often confused with the Spanish mackerel, hav¬ 
ing much the same general appearance, although 
the head is narrower and the second dorsal and 
abdominal fins are slightly more pointed. Its 
color, as well as its distribution, makes it an 
easy matter to distinguish the cero from the 
mackerel. The spots are much darker and it has 
narrow stripes of color along its sides; the mack¬ 
erel having only spots of a bronze-green color. 
Cero are caught up to 30 pounds or more, and 
being a slender fish—more so than even the 
mackerel—a thirty-pounder will measure some 
six feet in length. In the fish stalls at Key West, 
the cero is sold under the name of kingfish, 
where it is highly valued as a food fish. 
The cero can be caught by rod or still fishing, 
but a better way is by casting as for mackerel. 
Weakfish tackle should be used, a No. 1 
O'Shaughtiessy hook snelled to wire or gimp. 
Artificial flies as mentioned for mackerel are 
good or a large spoon, strip of pork rind or a 
bone, tin or pearl mackerel jig or squid may be 
used. For trolling, a handline and jig are used. 
The kingfish (Scomberomorus caballa ) is 
often called the silver cero, and around Key 
West the cero is known as kingfish, which it 
closely resembles. Like the mackerel and other 
surface feeding fishes, the kingfish is quite a 
wanderer, sometimes traveling as far north as 
Cape Cod. The largest kingfish I ever saw 
weighed a trifle over 18 pounds, although 
“smack men” tell me a 30-pounder is now and 
then taken in the net. The kingfish is very com¬ 
mon in Florida waters and a large number of 
fishing smacks are regularly manned for its cap¬ 
ture. It is a gamy fellow and unlike the cero, the 
kingfish repeatedly leaps into the air when 
hooked. It is generally caught by trolling a 
mackerel or bluefish squid. Rod fishing is, strange 
to say, but little practiced, although the kingfish 
is one of the very best of Florida game fishes. 
A light weakfish rod of 8 to 10 ounces, 9-thread 
line and a No. 1 O’Shaughnessy hook snelled to 
gimp is a good outfit. Artificial flies are also at¬ 
tractive—almost all surface feeding fishes taking 
a fly—and any of the patterns previously men¬ 
tioned are excellent kingfish lures. Small pil¬ 
chard, mullet and shrimp are good casting baits. 
The cavalli (Caranx hippos) is a more or less 
familiar fish near the Cape, where it is known to 
the Down East angler as yellow mackerel. These 
fish, travel in schools and feed upon the small 
fish which come into shoal water upon the flood 
tide. The cavalli is a stocky fish, a two-foot 
specimen weighing about 17 pounds. Up to 3 or 
4 pounds the flesh is good, but large fish have a 
tasteless, woody flavor. It is a bold fighter but 
is little noticed by anglers, who no doubt think 
the cavalli a far too common fish to furnish 
much sport for their rods. 
[March 28, 1908. 
A light weakfish rod, 9-thread line, No. 1/0 or 
2/0 O’Shaughnessy hook and a light pyramid 
sinker makes up the outfit. All small fish make 
good baits or one may use fiddler crabs and 
shrimps, which are always to be had. A trolling 
spoon is useful, but my preference favors bass or 
salmon flies tied upon No. 2/0 O’Shaughnessy 
hooks. All bright colored flies are attractive. 
The cobia ( Elacate Canada ) is a fish of many 
names, among them being coal fish, sergeant fish, 
ling, bonito, and snooks. A fish bearing the name 
of coal fish ( Merlangus carbonarius) is caught 
in (he English channel and upon the northern 
coast of France, but this European fish more near¬ 
ly resembles our pollock than the slender cobia 
of Florida. In its long, lean appearance the cobia 
bears a very striking resemblance to our fresh 
water pike, and like the northern “pirate,” the 
cobia is a plucky fighter. It attains a weight of 
20 to 30 pounds, and is found in the brackish 
water of inlets and streams. As a table fish the 
cobia hardly comes up to expectations, resemb¬ 
ling the coarse flavor of the red drum and chan¬ 
nel bass. 
A light weakfish rod, 9-thread line, and a No. 
2/0 O’Shaughnessy hook snelled to gimp are 
needed. Artificial flies tied upon 2/0 to 3/0 hooks 
in any red, yellow or gray pattern will usually 
secure a rise. Mullet, fiddler crabs, and shrimp 
are good casting baits. 
The spotted sea-trout (Cynoscion maculatum) 
is also known as the spotted weakfish, and I 
have frequently seen small specimens (two 
pounds and under) caught near Montauk Point, 
Long Island. It seldom grows larger than two 
feet; a fish of this length weighing some ten or 
twelve pounds. The sea-trout is a good fighter 
but is hard to land on account of its very tender 
mouth. It is quite plentiful on both the east and 
west coasts, and trout of three or four pounds 
weight furnish much sport for the Southern 
angler. As the trout is a surface feeding •fish, 
the artificial fly is often used with success, and 
the best fly-fishing will be found in the many 
bays and inlets. It often happens that sea-trout 
are taken on a fly in fresh water streams run¬ 
ning into the salt waters of the ocean and gulf. 
An 8-ounce bass rod, No. E casting line, and 
a No. 2/0 O’Shaughnessy hook, snelled to gimp 
are used. Flies of red, brown or yellow pattern 
tied to 2/0 hooks are preferred. Pilchard, an¬ 
chovy or mullet of 3 to 5 inches in length, and 
shrimp, are the best baits. 
The sea-bass (Centropristis striatus) is better 
known to Floridians as blackfish, and although 
caught upon both coasts seems to be more com¬ 
mon to the eastern and southern waters of Flor¬ 
ida. It is one of the best biters in the South, and 
many an angler out for other game has found 
fault with the persistent sea-bass which always 
seems to be ready to take any bait offered. Young 
blackfish are caught in the shoal water around 
the piles and landing wharves. In size the Flor¬ 
ida sea-bass is much smaller than our Northern 
sea-bass and is rarely caught above two pounds 
weight. It is not a very robust fighter and while 
but seldom sought after, the blackfish is often 
upon the hook. Large bass are caught in deeper 
water with a rocky bottom. 
A heavy bass rod and tackle and a No. 2 
O’Shaughnessy hook and a 2 or 3-oz. pyramid 
sinker is the usual equipment for outside fishing. 
Inside casting is better sport, however, and an 
ordinary 6-oz. bass rod and tackle are plenty heavy 
