Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-06-27

through the netting before being landed.
The FISH is said 20 be palatable and well
favored. Only recently one OF the species
was captured In a seine near the Beach
Hotel. which measured six feet In length
and weighed 40 pounds. In an article in
the Cosmopolitan, entitled ''The Silver
King at Home" John Lawrence Wood,
describing a days fishing at Corpus
Christi Pass. says:
I'm all your previous experience with
rod and line In rivers. lakes. and trout
streams, you never have seen the equal
OF the silver king-the grande ecaiile. the
tsrrtn-for by al; these names he IL nova
to the fishermen Of the gulf To the
agility OF the mountain-trout ne adds
the wisdom OF a serpent. the courage OF
tiger. and the weight OF n fun grown man.
Yet with your little rod and reel and
800 feet OF good line you may capture
him: perhaps not az the first effort-yes.
not perhaps In many trials-but II can be
done"
Live mullet are used IA bait. and when
hooked the fish will leap five or six feet
out Of the water for the purpose OF throw
ing the hook out of its mouth. an
effort which is generally successful In
stances have been known OF the silver
fish leaping into sail-boats at night when
Is pursuit OF their prey. and more than
one person has been injured by them In
this manner In Galveston bay. II Is the
gamest Of gulf fishes BY long odds.
THE JEW FISH.
This fish, which Is also called Warsaw
and June fish, is abundant in the gulf and
in the bays on the Texas coast speci-
mems having been taken near Galveston
weighing as high as CO pounds. The fish
Is also called the black grouper a name
which Goode In his work on American
fishes. thinks evidently corruption OF the
Spanish name "Guasa" The fishing
smacks from Galveston have caught
large numbers OF these fish on the snap
per banks in the gulf. which were so
vorscious that 1t became necessary 10 tie
up their mouths with copper wire before
placing them in the we'll with the lesser
fish in order to prevent them from de-
vouring their brothers Of smaller size
Numbers of Jew hsh are taken every
summer in Galveston harbor along the
wharves. where they resort for the pur-
pose OF feeding on the barnacles and
small oysters which adhere 10 the piles.
The bait commonly used is live catfish
hooked through the back, which VIII live
for two hours In this condition. The
flesh Of the Jew fish Is palatable. and
"Jew-hsh steaks" are considered one OF
the summer delcacies. one writer on
the subject thinks 1t "a fair question
whether this great fish be not the adult
OF the common black grouper, or some
closely allied species. the appearance OF
which has become somewhat changed with
age"
SNAPPERS AND GROUPERS.
The red snapper is abundant in the
Gulf of Mexico. but does not enter the
bays on the Texas coast. Their feeding
grounds or banks" are thus described:
Along the coast from Temple bay 10
Texas the bottom OF the gulf declines
very gradually to the hundred-tathom
curve. forming vast, almost level. plains
OF sand. In these barren wastes are gull
lies OF variable size. having rocky bot
toms and teeming with animal and vege-
table life. These gullies occur at depth
OF from twelve 10 foTty-iye fathoms. the
water I'm them being several iathoms
deeper than the surrounding bottom, ana
more rocky. and In the deepest parts
richer In animal life. Red snappers are
exceedingly abundant In these places
which are the so-called snapper banks
West OF the Mississippi and on the Texas
coast there are q few which are In twelve
fathoms. These grounds are found py
the use OF the sounding lead, which shows
every position by the sudden Increase OF
the depth OF water. Red snappers i've
in such places all the year except per-
haps In some OF the five and ten-fathom
ones. which are nearly deserted in win
ter
one of the most famous fishing grounds
in the gulf is the Campeche banks OH
the coast of Yucatan. 40 miles from Cal
weston, but its great distance renders IL
impossible to utilize II with profit IN con-
sequence of the time required TO make
a round-trip, sometimes as much as
twenty days or more being required. IL
is stated that an abundance of nsh can
always be found there. The neare,; bank
to Galveston is some fifty or sixty miles
to the southeast. but fEh can not be
found on il at all times. The red snap
per is strictly n carnivorous fish, feeding
upon mullet. crabs. and shrimp. Nothing
seems to be known relative 10 their rate
of growth, but they attain the weight OF
forty pounds. and IN large lot VIII be
found individuals weighing from two and
a half TO twenty pounds. The average Is
seven or eight pounds. The grouper
(black and red) is found In the gulf in
company with the red snapper. II Is
more Of a bottom Ash than the former.
swims more slowly, and seldom rises to
the surface. IL is very voracious ana
consumes great quantities of crustaceans
and small fish. II atta'ns a weight Of
forty pounds.
MACKEREL AND POMPANO.
THE Spanish mackerel." says Goode, rs
surely one OF the most graceful Of fishes.
1t appeals as scarcely any other can TO
our love OF beauty when We look upon It.
as shown In Kilbourn's well-known paint
ing. darling like an arrow just shot from
"a bow, its FURNISHED sides. silver-fecked
with gold, thrown into bold relief by the
cool background OF the rippled sea: the
transparent grays, opalescent whites. and
glossy blacks Of its trembling fms. en-
nance the splendor of It's body, until IL
seems to rival the most brilliant Of tropi-
cal birds" The true Spanish mackerel
has seventeen dorsal spines. the teeth are
somewhat conical and very pointed: the
first dorsal has black blOtch and the
spots on the sides are golden brown,
nearly circular, and not arranged In band,
like series The fish ranges in length
from ten 10 twenty inches, and OCCASION
ally larger specimens are taken. II Is
plentiful In the waters adjacent TO Gal
weston, and on one occasion 200 were
taken In one cast Of a seine. The spot
ted cero, or king fish, closely resembles
Il
OF five or six feet, and when young many
Of them are sold as the latter under pres
tige Of It's name. The pompano Is some
what rare in these waters, although ct
times they are taken TO some extent.
There are several varieties, the commOnest
OF which is called the Carolina POM
pano.
OTHER FISH
This article having already grown too
lengthy 1t viii be concluded by briefly
enumerating the principal other fishes fire.
quenting the coast and bays of Texas:
The RobaldO. or Rovallie. IS a perch
like fish, occurs at sea. and in brackish
estuaries. 1t attains the length Of three
feet. and is exceedingly strong. active,
and voracious. feeding upon all kinds OF
small fishes. Ii ranges from Florida 20
Rio Janeiro, and may be considered the
pike-perch of the seacoast. IL is a yigo-
rous, gamy fish. Is occasionally taken on
Galveston, becomes more abundant south
ward along the Texas coast, and is nu-