This family embraces the sheepshead, porgies, and sea-breams. It is characterized principally by a heavy, compressed body, strong jaws and teeth, the front ones incisor-like and broad, and flat, grinding teeth or molars in the back of the mouth, like a pavement of small, rounded pebbles, for crushing the shells of mollusks.

Archosargus probatocephalus. The Sheepshead. Body short, deep, and compressed, with large scales; head 3-1/2; depth 2 to 2-1/2; eye 4; D. XII, 10 or 12; A. III, 10 or 11; scales 8-48-15; mouth large, nearly horizontal, maxillary 2-2/3 in head; incisors 3/4, entire in adult; molars in 3 series above and 2 below; gill-rakers about 3 + 6; dorsal and anal spines notably heteracanthous; frontal bone between the eyes convex and honeycombed; occipital crest broad and honeycombed.

Stenotomus chrysops. The Scup. Body ovate-elliptical; head 3-1/2; depth 2; eye 4; D. XII, 12; A. III, 11; scales 8-50-16; profile steep; nape convex; a strong depression in front of the eye; snout short; temporal crest obsolete; incisor teeth narrow; molars in 2 rows above; gill-rakers small, about 6 + 10; caudal fin forked; top of head, snout, orbitals, and chin naked; a scaly sheath at base of soft dorsal and anal fins; scales on cheeks.

THE SHEEPSHEAD

(Archosargus probatocephalus)

In his account of the fishes in the vicinity of New York, in 1788, SchÖpf, a surgeon in the British army, placed the sheepshead in the European genus Sparus, but gave it no specific name. From his description the ichthyologist Walbaum, in 1792, named it probatocephalus, which being translated means "sheep head." This fish inhabits the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Cape Cod to Texas, where it is common during the summer months, but it is especially abundant in the bays of Florida during the entire year. Its body is nearly half as deep as long, is much compressed, and elevated and arched over the shoulder. The head is large, about a third of the length of the body, with a steep profile, rounded in front of the eyes, which with its incisor teeth bears a slight resemblance to the profile of a sheep. The mouth is large, with strong incisor teeth in front, and several series of molar teeth in both jaws. The general tint is dusky gray, with silvery lustre, paling to the belly; about half a dozen broad, black bars cross the body, from above downward, very distinct in the young, but becoming fainter with age.

As might be inferred from the character of its teeth, the sheepshead resorts to mussel shoals, oyster bars, bridge piers, and old wrecks, where mussels and barnacles abound, and on which it feeds, pinching them from their beds with its strong incisor teeth and crushing them with its molars. It is gregarious, feeding in schools, especially in southern waters, several hundred having been taken on a single tide at places in Florida. It appears in northern waters in June and disappears in the fall, probably wintering at great depths of the sea contiguous to the coast. Its usual maximum weight in northern waters is from three to six pounds, though occasionally reaching ten, fifteen, or even twenty pounds, though these heavy fish are exceedingly rare. Its average size in Florida is less than in the North.

It is highly esteemed on the East Coast as a dinner fish, baked or boiled, and owing to its fine flavor has been called the turbot of America, though it is really much superior, in northern waters, to that vaunted aldermanic delicacy. In Florida, however, it is very lightly esteemed as a food-fish, and is seldom eaten where other and better fishes are available. Perhaps its abundance has something to do with its depreciation, though I am convinced, from numerous trials and tests, that it is not so good a fish in southern waters as in the North, having a sharp, saline taste that is not agreeable to most palates. While confined to salt and brackish waters in the North, it often ascends the rivers of Florida to fresh water. I have seen it in the large springs, the head waters of several rivers on the Gulf coast, its barred sides being plainly discernible on the bottom at a depth of fifty or seventy-five feet, in the clear and crystal-like water.

The difference in flavor between the sheepshead of the North and South may perhaps be due to the character of their food. It is especially noticeable that fishes of the salt water that pass the winter season in the deep sea, as the salmon, shad, etc., possess a more superior flavor than those that feed constantly and during the entire year along the shores. While nothing is really known concerning the spawning habits of the sheepshead in northern waters, it probably spawns in early summer. From my own knowledge I can say that it spawns in Florida, on the Gulf coast, during March and April. Its eggs are very small, about thirty to the inch, are buoyant or floating, and hatch in two days.

A good rod for sheepshead fishing is the natural bamboo rod, known as the striped-bass chum rod. It is light, and strong enough to withstand the vicious tugs, spurts, and especially the propensity of boring toward the bottom, that is characteristic of this fish. A rod of steel, or lancewood, or ash and greenheart, or bethabara, though heavier, is better and stronger. It should be about eight feet in length, with double guides. A multiplying reel carrying sixty yards of braided linen line, size E or F, Sproat hooks, Nos. 1-0 to 3-0 on gimp snells, with sinkers, and a wide-mouthed landing-net, make up the rest of the tackle. The short barb, with cutting edges, of the Sproat hook renders it superior to the Virginia. Chestertown, or blackfish hooks formerly so much in vogue for the sheepshead. A brass box-swivel is necessary for connecting the line with the snell of the hook.

While the sheepshead often bites at all stages of the tide, the most favorable time is about slack water; from that stage, to half flood or half ebb, good success may usually be expected. The largest fish are taken from a boat anchored over or near mussel shoals or oyster beds. Smaller ones can be caught from old wharves or bridges whose piling is studded with barnacles and mussels, and about which shrimp abound. During slack water a light sinker is sufficient; but when the tide runs strongly, heavier ones must be used, as it is imperative to keep the bait near the bottom, especially if fishing from a boat. If fishing from a wharf, it does not matter so much, provided the bait is deep enough to prevent the fish from seeing the angler. While this is a precaution that must be observed with all fishes, I do not think the sheepshead is so shy a fish as some maintain; at least I have never found it so.

The best bait is shedder-crab, fiddlers, or hermit crabs. Clam bait, though, is cheaper and more universally used in the North. In Florida the fiddlers can be scooped up by the peck on the inside beaches of the bays, and contiguous to good sheepshead fishing. If the clam is large, the meat should be cut up for bait; but if quite small, or if mussels are used, the shells may be merely cracked or smashed, and put on the hook entire. The latter is the mode where the fish are scarce or shy, but I prefer to use the meat only, discarding the shells; in the case of fiddlers, when very small, they should be used au naturel, or whole.

The bait should be cast and allowed to sink, and the line reeled enough to keep the bait off the bottom, but close to it. A taut line should be maintained always, so as to feel the slightest nibble. If crab bait, or cut clam, is used, the fish should be hooked, if possible, at the first bite, however slight, by a quick and somewhat vigorous upward jerk of the tip, otherwise the sheepshead is apt to nip off the bait; or if sufficient force is not used, the hook fails to enter the well-armed mouth. One or other of these contingencies is almost sure to follow, if the fish be not hooked. A small sheepshead is a more adroit stealer of bait than the cunner. It has a way of deftly pinching the bait from the hook without much, if any, disturbance. When small clams or mussels are used in the cracked shells, it is thought best by some anglers to give the fish a little time to "shuck" the bait before jerking on the rod. But my advice is to yank him just as quickly as if crab bait were employed. To hesitate is to be defrauded of either the fish or the bait.

When the fish is hooked he should be kept from the bottom by the spring of the rod, and brought as near the surface as possible. When line is given during his frantic rushes, the spring and resistance of the rod should never be lessened. Once on the surface he is easily kept there until conquered; but if allowed to descend to the bottom, he is pretty hard to manage, as his resistance then is very much greater, and he endeavors to tear out the hook by forcing his jaws among the rocks and dÉbris or weeds. He should always be taken into the landing-net, and care must be observed to avoid his strong and sharp fins when removing the hook.

In Florida the sheepshead is almost gregarious, congregating about oyster bars, old wharves, and near inlets in great numbers. At Colonel Summerlin's wharf, at Punta Rassa, I knew of a man, fishing for market, I presume, who took several hundred on a single tide. The wharf just across the bay at Sanibel Island is also a famous locality for sheepshead. The largest I ever caught in that state was just inside of Little Gasparilla inlet, near a steep bank on the north side. The settlers of Florida take them in cast-nets, and the commercial fishermen in haul seines; the latter either ship them on ice, or salt them along with mullet, as they take salt well. With the exception of the mullet, the sheepshead is the most abundant fish of both the east and west coasts of Florida, but it is seldom found in the dense salt water along the keys at the southern end of the peninsula, as it is essentially a brackish-water fish. The angler need never repine for a lack of sport in the "flowery state" if he is fond of "sheepsheading," and he will have no difficulty in securing bait, for the fiddlers are to be found in myriads convenient to good fishing grounds.

THE SCUP

(Stenotomus chrysops)

Another fish of the SparidÆ family is the scup, or porgy, which was first described by LinnÆus, in 1766, from specimens sent to him from South Carolina by Dr. Garden. He named it chrysops, or "golden eye." The names scup and porgy are derived from the Indian name scuppaug. The porgy is mentioned, like the cunner, in deference to the ladies and the rising generation of anglers, to whom it is fair game on the summer excursions to the seashore. It is confined to the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to South Carolina, being especially abundant in northern waters. A kindred species, the fair maid (Stenotomus aculeatus), is common from Cape Hatteras southward, there taking the place of the northern scup.

The porgy is a short, deep, and compressed fish, rather elliptical in outline, its depth being nearly half of its length, and with the back elevated over the nape. Its head is of moderate size, with a steep profile, depressed in front of the small eye. The mouth is rather small and the snout short. Its incisor teeth are very narrow and rather conical or pointed, resembling canines; there are two rows of molar teeth in the upper jaw. The color is brownish on the top of the head and back with greenish and golden reflections, and bright and silvery below; the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are dusky or mottled, and the pectoral fin yellowish.

The scup appears along the shores of the East Coast about the first of May, sometimes earlier, and continues until late in the fall, when it retires to its winter quarters in the depths of the sea. It is a bottom fish, feeding on crustaceans and small mollusks, and is found wherever they abound on the outer shoals. It usually spawns in June; the eggs are quite small, measuring about twenty-five to the inch; they are buoyant or floating, and hatch in four or five days. When perfectly fresh it is an excellent pan-fish, its flesh being firm, white, flaky, and of a fine, sweet flavor, but owing to its abundance is not properly appreciated. It grows to a foot or more in length, weighing a pound or two, though its usual maximum length is ten inches, and weight half a pound. Very rarely the oldest fish sometimes reach a length of fifteen to eighteen inches, weighing from two to four pounds.

The scup is usually taken by hand-line and clam bait on the fishing banks from the excursion steamers; but fishing from small boats anchored over the shoals, with suitable tackle, is more sportsmanlike. It is a very free-biting fish, but is not possessed of much gameness, though the pleasure of angling for it is much enhanced by the employment of light tackle.

A trout bait-rod is quite in order for the scup, though a light natural cane rod about ten feet long, fitted with reel seat and guides, will answer a good purpose. A small multiplying reel is not essential, though it is an advantage in accommodating the line to different depths; and then a larger fish than the scup may be hooked. The line should be of small size, Sproat hooks Nos. 6 to 8 on gut snells, with leader three feet long, connected to the line by a swivel-sinker, and of a weight adapted to the strength of the tide. A float may be used in shallow water to keep the bait from the bottom when clam or shrimp is used. In localities where tautog, sea-bass, or weakfish are likely to be met with, a heavier rod, like the Little Giant, or a light striped-bass rod, may be of an advantage to one not accustomed to lighter rods, and the hook may be a trifle larger.