"These flies, I am sure, would kill fish."-Charles Cotton. "I would advise all experts to keep a well-filled fly-kook. It is a pleasure to experiment, and the educated eye takes delight in looking at the varieties of colors, shapes and forms which the skilled workman in fly-art has provided as lures for the speckled beauties."-George Dawson. "Fly-fishing and bait-fishing are co-ordinate branches of the same study, and each must be thoroughly learned to qualify the aspirant to honors for the sublime degree of Master of the Art." -Charles Hallock. "Americans have reason to be proud of the black bass, for its game qualities endear it to the fisherman, and its nutty, sweet flavor to the gourmand.”—Parker Gilmore. 20. Black Maria. 22. Premier. 24. Ferguson. 2d. 21. Tipperlinn. "What flies do you most affect here?' Any, at times, and almost all. In some weather I have killed well with middlesized gaudy lake-flies; but my favorites, on the whole, are all the red, brown, orange and yellow hackles, and the blue and yellow duns.'"-Henry Wm. Herbert. "The real enjoyment of camping and tramping in the woods lies in a return to primitive conditions of lodging, dress and food, in as total an escape as may be from the requirements of civilization. And it remains to be explained why this is enjoyed most by those whose are most highly civilized."-Charles Dudley Warner. "Fish will frequently, although breaking freely, refuse the fly, but generally a few will be misled, and occasionally one will be caught.”—R. B. Roosevelt. "The natural and acquired skill actually necessary before any man can throw a neat fly,' is only known to those who have made this method of angling their study and amusement."— "Frank Forester." "Luck has little to do with the size of an angling score; for skill in handling, a knowledge of the haunts of the fish, of the conditions of wind, weather and water, character of baits to be used, of the changes and drift of tideways, sun-rays and shadows, and a familiar acquaintance with the natural history of the family pisces, their habits, habitat, and idiosyncrasies (for no other animal is so erratic as these scaly fins), all go to make up the complete angler, known as such from the days and writings of Izaak Walton, in the seventeenth, up to this great nineteenth century."-Wm. C. Harris. "What is the use of my telling you what manoeuvres that trout will perform before he comes to the landing-net, gently as a lamb? I don't know what he will do; never saw two of them act alike."-Oliver Gibbs, Jr. "Probably the secret of the infatuation of this amusement to most or many of the brothers of the angle, is to be found in the close and quiet communion and sympathy with nature essential to the pursuit of the spoil of the water."-John Lyle King. "The principle of the rod is in reality only this, that it is the home end of the line, stiffened and made springy, so that you can guide and manage it-cast and draw it, keep a gentle pressure with it on the hook, so that the fish shall not rid himself of it, and finally lift him to the landing net."-W. C. Prime. "The Palmer hackle is never totally out of season."-Alfred Ronalds. "Hold him tight, O'Shaughnessy; you are the greatest hook ever invented."-Thaddeus Norris. FLY-FISHING IN FLORIDA. BY DR. J. C. KENWORTHY. THE votaries of the rod and reel have overlooked an important field for sport, for, in my opinion, no portion of the United States offers such advantages for fly-fishing as portions of Florida during the winter months. The health of the State is beyond cavil or dispute; the climate is all the most fastidious can ask; there is an almost total absence of insect pests, and last though not least, a greater variety of fish that will take the fly than in any other section of the Union. My own experience is mainly based on opportunities for observation on the south-west coast, and it is possible that points on the eastern coast, as the Indian River inlet and the outlet of Lake Worth, may offer advantages over the section referred to. As far as my knowledge extends, fly-fishers are indebted to my friend, Geo. C. Johnson, of Bridgeport, Conn., for the development of fly-fishing in Florida. Some years since I met Mr. Johnson on his arrival in this city en route to Homosassa. He remarked that he had brought his fly-rod with him, and I suggested that a heavy bass rod would prove more serviceable. On the evening of his arrival at Homosassa he visited the dock in front of Jones' house, and noticed fish breaking water near the shore. He proceeded to the house, rigged his rod, and was followed to the dock by a number of laughing sceptics, who ridiculed the "spindly rod and feather baits." In compliance with Mr. Johnson's request, Dr. Ferber rowed him a short distance from the dock, and the fun commenced with large-mouthed bass and red trout; and from that evening fly-fishing became an established institution on the south-west coast of Florida. For a number of years Dr. Ferber has devoted his winters to fly-fishing on the south-west coast, and it is to be regretted that he was not requested to give his ripe and ample experience, instead of one who is far beneath him in experience and ability to wield the split bamboo or pen. The next season after Mr. Johnson's visit to Homosassa Mr. Francis Endicott, of New York, visited the locality and indulged in fly-fishing. He informed me that he had captured with the fly eight distinct species of fish on the Homosassa River; and I will ask where else in the United States can the devotee of the gentle art capture eight distinct species of fish with the fly on a river but ten miles in length? My friend, Dr. Ferber, on his return from the southwest coast in April last, visited me, and stated that he had caught on that coast, with artificial flies, eleven distinct species of fish. Among the number I may mention large-mouthed bass (trout of the South), |