Bass, Pike, Perch, and OthersHenshall, James A. (James Alexander)
Science
Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others
Henshall, James A. (James Alexander)
Fishes; Fishing
The jolt-head resorts to the rocks and reefs, as well as to hard, sandy
shoals, feeding on small fishes, crustaceans, and soft-shelled mollusks.
It grows usually to eight or ten inches, but often to two feet in
length, and six or eight pounds in weight. It is a good food-fish, much
in favor with the people of Key West, and is always one of the
commonest fishes in the markets. It spawns in the summer. It is very
voracious, taking almost any kind of bait greedily. It is caught in
company with the grunts and snappers, and on the same tackle, which
should be light. Hooks Nos. 1 to 2 are large enough, Sproat-bend
preferred on account of its short barb with cutting edges and strong
wire. Sinkers adapted to the tide and depth of water must be used.
While catching porgies at a lively rate one day I asked my boatman, a
Bahama negro, why the big porgy was called "jolt-head." He answered in
the cockney dialect peculiar to Bahama fishermen: "Vell, you see, sir,
'e 'as a big 'ed and an 'ump back, and 'e butts the rocks like a
billy-goat, a-joltin' off the snail-shells and shrimps, and 'e goes
a-blunderin' along like a wessel that 'as a bluff bow and a small 'elm.
'E 'as more happetite than gumption, and swallers anythink that comes
'andy, like the jolt-'ed or numbskull that 'e is. 'E is werry heasy to
ketch and werry good to heat."
THE SAUCER-EYE PORGY
(_Calamus calamus_)
This porgy is called "saucer-eye," owing to its having a larger eye than
the other porgies. It was first described by Cuvier and Valenciennes,
in 1830, from the West Indies. They named it _calamus_, meaning
"quill" or "reed," from the quill-like bones (interhæmal) that articulate
with the spines of the anal fin. It is abundant in the West Indies, and
is common about the Florida Keys, but not so plentiful as the
jolt-head or little-head porgies.
[Illustration TAKING BONITO BY TROLLING OFF BLOCK ISLAND]
It is very similar in conformation to the jolt-head, but is more
humpbacked, being quite elevated above the shoulder. The body is short,
its depth about half its length. Its head is short and deep, with a thin
and gibbous profile, and small mouth. Its color is silvery with bluish
reflections; the scales golden, forming longitudinal stripes, with
pearly-bluish interspaces; the cheeks and snout are purplish, with round
brassy spots; the fins are pale, blotched with orange; the iris of the
eye is golden.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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