The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-04-18

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! Calda channel, WITH depth of
! five feet and through which
small yachts often pass. At the
mouths of any of these channels
on good fishing bars the bottom
! fish of this area, including group
er, mutton fish, snapper and
scores of others may be caught.
Always look for a hard bottom
with light brown moss over the
rock and sea plumes and nearby
white sand spots. In all channels
/ of the Keys this stands true In
the deeper channels one must
feel the bottom with the sinker
on ones line to determine the
, worth of the fishing drop.
Through all channels of the Keys
may be found the sporting silver
tarpon, which often go to 100
pounds in weight. Best time to
fish for them is at low tide when
they leave the flats for the chan
nels., Around the 'big rocks !,
shoals and reefs, one may troll
during the day for a multitude of
: fish, including groupers going up
! to so pounds, yellowtail, the
s1ashing barracuda. On the ten
fathom bar, which is the bar be-
tween the reef and the continent
al shelf, trolling deep one can get
, large amberjack going up to go
and 30 pounds, kingfish, mack
erel and large barracuda. In the
blue Gulf Stream proper the
regal sailfish, occasional marlin
swordfish, dolphin are caught.
Any of these fish may also be
! caught in the Reef area. Around
, the reefs also bottom fishing will
bring up plenty of grouper, scores
of yellowtail, big muttonfish, and
100000 pound Jewish.
If one is to get comprehensive
idea of Keys topography it must
be remembered that the culture
usually consists of mangrove
trees with thousands of tough
roots sent out into the mud or
rock and anchored so securely
that few hurricanes can disturb
them. On these Keys may be
found mud, swamps. hanmocks
and beach sand with some high
land. Far away near most of
/ these islets stretch miles and
miles of flats. The tides of the
Gulf of Mexico on the north and
the Straits OF Florida on the
south, pushing across these flats,
have cut deep blue channels
penetrating far in between the
Keys.
Channels Through Islands
Through the middle of most of
the Keys may be found three or
four channels with as much as 20
feet of water in them. Some may
be approached by boat of three
foot draft, others have to be
reached by going over flats on
either side of the island in a
dinghey. The channels in the
Keys are secured out by strong
tidal flow over the large areas
of flats over which there is usual
ly three feet of water at high tide
moving against the rooted islets.
Many of the deep channels run
ming through the Keys themselves
are not indicated well on the
ordinary chart not brought to
fine scale. The channels usually
extend to the mangroye line. The
labyrinth Of mangrove root on
either side of the blue channel is
wild and beautiful.
Through the roots and in the
higher branches among the green
leaves, scores of herons may be
found on each Key, with an occa-
sional great white heron a splotch
of color against the green. King
fishers race out of bushes and fly
palpitating away. Awkward
looking pelicans are at many
bends floating in the channels
and OCCASIONALLY spreading their
wide wings and sailing against
the wind a moment before plung-
ing into the channel with their
large beaks and gulping a
Routhful of small fish. Over
head throughout the day, in the
winter, may be seen V-shaped
flocks of ducks and many ride
floating in the channels. In the
Keys too are marsh hens and
galding hawks. On sandy beach
es are found sandpiper, snipes
and other colorful gray and white
small beach birds.
/ On many of the Keys on the
Atlantic and Gulf sides may be
). found pretty white beaches. The
sand on beaches of the Keys is
Of much finer grain than is found
on the long coastal beaches Be-
fore most of the beaches are low
areas of mud flats on the Gull
side and rocky bottoms on the At,
lantic side. Just off many OF
these beaches are deep channels
/ Lavish Marine Colors
The marine hoa,fv fhro,,oho,,-