632 
FOREST AND STREAM 
November, 191 
“It’s an ideal place for them,” observed 
John, as his gaze danced upon the sparkling 
blue waters of the Bay. 
“Biscayne is thirty-six miles long,” re¬ 
sumed Mr. King, “and varies in width from 
three to eight miles. Key West is just 143 
miles from here—nautical miles, of course, 
and by the Hawkes Channel route. 
The ‘Great Florida Reefs’ extend from 
Cape Florida yonder, to the southern 
Keys. Some reef, too, son; from its 
eastern 'edge to the line is two to six 
miles.” 
“How do you account for the vari¬ 
ety of fish and their abundance?” in¬ 
quired John. 
“The Gulf Stream. It is very near 
us. And the waters of the Gulf are 
warm. To-morrow we will begin to 
see highly colored varieties—gorgeous¬ 
ly beautiful ones, with fanciful, tinted 
fins. The passages to the open ocean 
permit free entry in many places and 
we shall be able to catch even the big 
fellows from very deep water. The 
fishing season is—all the year 'round.” 
“I think I have read somewhere—* 
perhaps in Mr. Gregg’s fine book on 
Florida fishing,” said John, “that there 
are certain migratory fellows—bluefish and 
Spanish mackerel, for example.” 
“Yes, there are exceptions, of course. 
The queer sailfish is popularly supposed to 
venture far afield from his native waters 
—South America. The U. S. Fish Com¬ 
mission Report, as far back as 1899, listed 
576 different species in this territory. 
Think of that for a programme! It is 
truly Fisherman’s Delight.” 
W HF.N the Mae reached Sands Key, 
after pretty steady engine work, 
Argyle readily consented to drop 
anchor in the shallow channel, near shore. 
John had been watching the numerous fish 
in the clear water and was anxious to 
catch his first “aquarium specimen” as he 
put it, referring, of course, to multitudi¬ 
nous angelfish. The transparency of the 
bay made it possible to see clearly the sea 
fans, masses of coral, live sponges and 
quaint, fluttering clusters of ribbon-like 
grass, which carpeted the ocean floor. 
Argyle attended to the preliminaries, 
that John’s first attempt prove successful. 
Luckily, it was a warm, fair day, with 
scarcely a ripple. A No. 6 line, with No 3 
hook was employed for this wary game; 
strong, untwisted double gut. small long 
sinker, float and snood. The bait was 
crawfish and Hendry gave an efficient ex¬ 
hibition of nabbing the latter. 
He used a “grain” for the purpose. It 
is a two-prong fish spear, formed of Num¬ 
ber 1 cast steel. Hendry always went to a 
certain Cocoanut Grove blacksmith for 
these, whose reputation is known all down 
the coast. The professional dealer variety 
is not equal to its job. There were two 
grains aboard, as part of the equipment, 
running from a twelve-footer to fourteen. 
Hendry and John pulled up the power 
boat and boarded her, allowing the small 
craft to drift out farther into the channel. 
Now the Guide’s “water glass” came into 
play. It was a peculiar contraption of his 
own manufacture, and consisted of an old 
wooden bucket, into the bottom of which 
a piece of glass has been fitted. _With this 
invention, Hendry made certain of his fish, 
for a clearer view of the bottom was thus 
obtainable. John thrilled at his first view. 
The guide pressed the water glass on the 
surface and leaning far over the side of 
the boat, held the grain in his right hand. 
He speared a prime young grouper at the 
first strike, which astonished John, and 
whetted his appetite for a try. 
They were near enough to the ragged 
edge of the key and its coral and rock, to 
have no trouble in locating crawfish, al¬ 
though, as a rule, they prefer the seclusion, 
of the land bank mangroves. In rapid suc¬ 
cession, Argyle brought up one after an¬ 
other, until there was enough bait to sat¬ 
isfy a host of fishermen. 
John watched proceedings through the 
water glass, as soon as his line was 
dropped over. Several beautiful angelfish 
hovered suspiciously about the crawfish, as 
if undecided. There were flashes of red, 
yellow, gold and scintillant olive greens. 
A two-and-a-half pound specimen finally 
yielded to temptation and John lost no time 
in pulling him up. 
“Prettiest fish I ever saw!” was his im¬ 
mediate exclamation. But Hendry, with 
the longer grain, was too impatient to 
bother with a line, and was spearing them. 
He had landed six fine ones the first half 
hour, as he was most expert at this sport. 
T HE trip was resumed,, with Mr. King 
trolling for amber jacks. As they 
proceeded, John was told facts con¬ 
cerning the channels and bay floor. The 
rock formations and coral provide a nat¬ 
ural aquarium for the fish. Jagged, lumpy, 
irregular masses protrude upward, in water 
ranging from four to thirty feet in depth. 
There are myriads of shadowy grottoes 
and caverns for members of the finny tribe. 
“There can be no seine fishing in these 
grounds,” observed Mr. King, “the bot¬ 
toms have almost the character of volcanic 
eruption. We are passing over holes that 
seem to have no bottom, yet a boat’s length 
beyond the depth is not over a few feet.” 
At Caesar’s Creek, they came upon many 
cruisers and small boats, just finishing a 
day of tarpon fishing. The pass between 
Elliot’s Key and Rhodes has always been 
noted as a splendid spot for this fighting 
game. A craft that had been outside the 
channel was bearing in now, with thr 
large kegs of hogfish. They had be< 
caught with rod and reel still fishing, ( 
the bottom. 
“Sharks by the thousand!” was the sho 
across to the Mae, “they get your catch 
a jiffy if you do not land them quickly 
“There is the one aggravation 1 
these waters,” declared Mr. King, 
notice that they have been followii 
us for a half mile or more. Argy 
has suspended his crawfish over tl 
side and the savages have discovert 
it. Moreover, they seem to know th 
I want an amber jack. Trolling 
their favorite sport. I have seen 
day’s catch in these waters so bad 
mutilated that a whole fish was 
rarity. It is very annoying. 
“Before a catch can be lifted frx> 
the water, sharks make a hungry di 
for it. Off goes all but the hea 
They mangle and hack away at ever 
thing with their sharp teeth. But oi 
time in ten they take fish, hook ai 
line at one gulp.” 
“Much big Grouper in here,” call 
Argyle, sweeping his hand out aero 
the fine body of water, “me get mai 
sixty pounds. Jewfish, him come fo 
hundred pounds—shark—him five hundr 
pounds. Tow boat. Snapper ground- 
mutton fish. But we keep going. Anch 
off Angel Fish Key before long for nigl 
Me hungry.” 
T HE weather remained perfect, ai 
they were off their stopping place ! 
six, ready to get supper and tidy 1 
for their eight-hour rest. Angel Fish K 
lies between Palo Alto and Pumpkin, wi 
Card Sound to the westward and Gary 
fort Reef light glimmering and dancing 0 
to .sea. They had followed the inside cha 
nel down thus far, and found it up 
piscatorial and scenic expectations. 
Argyle busied himself on the Mae. ai 
that they would have fried fish for ti 
evening meal was quickly evidenced by t! 
delicious odors that soon wafted out fro 
the improvised galley forward, where t! 
guide’s oil stove was going full tilt. He 
dry could make better coffee than tl 
French chefs of the Royal Palm. 
“I just must have another try with 
line out there,” John exclaimed, pointii 
to the creek, “I want to go to sleep t 
night with a better record.” 
“It’s rather late,” cautioned Mr. King. 
“Please come with me, father,” Jol 
pleaded, “Hendry will not be ready wii 
the chow for a half hour at least, and yc 
know what trying to hurry him means.” 
They returned to the Mae a half ho 
afterward, having employed the power bo 
for their excursion, and Hendry’s tee 
clicked with pleasure, as he noted the r 
suit of their little spurt. Three snappef 
a plump grouper and five porgies had bet 
rescued from the' sharks, without a toot; 
mark, and John had caught angelfish un 1 
he was weary from hauling them in. The 
was no opportunity to do any trolling, for tl 
tide was swift in the creeks and channe 
After supper-—and it was delicious—A 
gyle had a surprise in store. All thr 
took the power boat and sped across 
the mouth of a small creek that was 
