The fishes of the Pacific coast; a handbook for sportsmen and tourists

THE FISHES

THE PACIFIC COAST

A Handbook for Sportsmen and Tourists

CHARLES FREDERICK HOLDER

Founder and President of the Tuna Club of

Santa Catalina, Member of the French

Academic des Sports, Honorary

Member of the Fly Fishing

Club of London, etc.

NEW YORK

DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY
220 East 23rd Street

COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY
DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY

[The Fishes of the Pacific Coast]

SHH13

The Fishes of the Pacific Coast

PREFACE

THE object of this little volume is to present to stu-
dents, schools, colleges, anglers, fishermen, tour-
ists and seekers after piscatorial information in gen-
eral a series of pictures of Pacific Coast game fish,
mainly photographed alive and in their natural habitat.
In a word, the attempt is to have the pictures tell their
own story. To this is added a brief account of the
fish, its food, habits, companions, season, value, how it
is caught, when, where and how; a little book which
will slip into the pocket, yet tell all that it is desirable
to know, offhand, enabling the angler or student to
recognize at once the fish he has caught or sees in the
market, and find its name.

Several pictures are included, showing the fishing
grounds on various parts of the Pacific Coast, from San
Francisco, Monterey, or Del Monte, to the Coronados.

This entire region has made the reputation of Cali-
fornia by the extraordinary size and number of its
game fish. The remarkable photographs of living fish
were taken for the author by Mr. Peter V. Reyes of
Avalon, in a specially devised tank, by the courtesy
of the local zoological station, showing them in their
natural environment. Some of the fishes of this
region are too large to keep in confinement, and these

259881

jft\ H'l FISHES .OF-THE PACIFIC COAST

are shown either mounted or on the gaff, so that they
may tell their own story as far as possible. Many of
the fishes are confined to a very restricted region of a
few hundred miles, and many to Southern California
only.

LOCALITIES

The Pacific Coast is particularly rich in its fishes.
The sea abounds in them; the rivers and lakes are
the home of that extraordinary trout, the indigenous
rainbow, while others have been introduced, so that
the Pacific Slope of North America, and particularly
California, has become the most remarkable angling-
and fishing-ground in the world. This is particularly
true of Southern California, where a fishing-ground
has been located about the islands of Santa Catalina
and San Clemente (a government island), that has at-
tracted world-wide attention and is visited by over one
hundred and seventy-five thousand persons annually.

The fishing regions of the Pacific Slope may be di-
vided into several districts:

First — That of the Sierra Nevada, including the
lakes, such as Tahoe, Klamath, Pend d'Orelle, Lake
Chelan and others, numbering many hundreds; and
the rivers, such as the Kern, Truckee, Sacramento,
Russian, Merced and others.

Second — The Bay region of San Francisco, with its
salmon, black bass, striped bass, steelhead and trout.

Third — The salmon and trout regions of Washing-
ton and Oregon.

Fourth — The region about Monterey Bay, including
the salmon trout in the Sequel, Carmel and other
rivers.

One of the Coronado Islands off Coronado Beach, California

Fig. 2

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST n

Fifth — The lakes and streams of the Sierra Madre,
and the streams of Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los
Angeles counties, in Southern California.

Sixth — The Santa Catalina Islands, off Los Angeles,
eighteen miles from the city.

Seventh — San Diego Bay, Coronado, the Coronado
Islands, offshore.

Eighth — The long sandy beaches of Redondo, Long
Beach, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, Del Mar,
Newport and other places, affording excellent surf
fish for angling, — the angler casting from the beach
or pier for the various fishes which affect the surf.

SANTA CATALINA

This region embraces several thousand square miles,
including the islands of Santa Catalina, San Clemente,
San Nicholas and Santa Barbara. Santa Catalina
is about eighteen miles from Los Angeles at its nearest
point, but the Port of Avalon, on the east end, is about
thirty-two miles distant. The island is twenty-two
miles long. It runs northwest and southeast, prac-
tically parallel to Los Angeles County, off Long Beach,
San Pedro, Newport, Bolsa Chica, Alamitos and other
places, and gives a lee for anglers of nearly twenty
miles. The island is a mountain range, and the bays
are the mouths of attractive canyons /vhich wind up
into the interior.

The island has an area of about fifty-five thousand
acres, a fine coach road running almost its entire
length, with trails over its mountains half a mile
above the sea. It is a park, a garden at sea, winter
and summer, as so remarkable is the climate that the

12 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

islands bloom and blossom during the Eastern winter,
and are delightful in the summer.

None of the islands, except Santa Catalina, are open
to the public without a permit, and none, except Santa
Catalina, have a regular boat service. The latter is a
port of Los Angeles County, and has a regular town of
eight or nine thousand inhabitants in summer, and
daily ocean steamers, one in winter and three in sum-
mer. There are hotels, boarding-houses, camps, cot-
tages, in fact, every facility for the visiting angler to
live either luxuriously or economically. The town
abounds in shops, and at a long boatman's pier lie
scores of fine craft which add to the pleasure of the
angler, and from ten to thirty can be counted any day
in season trolling along shore thirty miles out at sea,
yet in water perfectly smooth.

ANGLING BOATS

The entire life of the islands of Santa Catalina is
based upon sport. The local shipyard builds boats
adapted for the special purpose, eighteen feet long,
launches of from ten to forty horsepower, with en-
gines amidship and seats for the anglers facing the
stern, with rods out to the right and left. There is
also a fleet of glass-bottom boats for viewing the fish,
and the famous beauties of the seaweed. Some of
these hold several hundred people, and are valued at
from ten thousand to thirty thousand dollars. The
angling launches range in value from eight hundred
to thirty-five hundred dollars. There are also many
small row-boats, yachts, racing-boats, etc.

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 13
TUNA CLUB

This club, on the bay of Avalon, is an institution
well known all over the country for its distinguished
membership and the remarkable catches its members
have made. The clubhouse stands on the water, and
is an attractive building with davits for small boats,
private dock and hoist. On its inner walls are many
fishes, the catches of its members. This club has sev-
eral branches, as the " Light Tackle," the " 3-6," and
it has established a standard of sport on the coast
that has been felt everywhere. Hand-lines are tabooed,
and the large fish are all taken on lines and rods so
light that the story reads like a traditional fish story.

Nine-ounce rods, six-ounce rods, six- and nine-thread
lines are the ones most in vogue, as to enter the sum-
mer and winter tournament of the clubs one must use
this tackle. The tournament begins May ist and ends
November ist, and at the club may be seen gold
badges and silver cups to the amount of several
thousand dollars, which are contested for with the
greatest zest. This results in reducing the merciless
catch of fishes, and, as all are eaten, it is evident that
the club has done good service along the line of pisca-
torial philanthropy.

SANTA BARBARA ISLANDS

These islands lie east and west opposite Santa
Barbara, on the Santa Barbara channel, just as the
Santa Catalina group lies on the Santa Catalina chan-
nel. There are four in the group, — San Miguel, Santa

i4 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

Rosa, Santa Cruz and Ana Capa, while south and
west lies San Nicholas.

The fishing about all these islands is excellent, and
can be reached from Santa Barbara. No regular boats
run, as all are private property, and permission must
be had to land on them. Launches to visit the islands
may be obtained from professional fishermen at Santa
Barbara, Ventura, San Pedro, Avalon or Santa Cata-
lina. All these islands are mountainous, and have no
good harbors. They are sparsely covered with brush
and low trees, but are extremely interesting to visit.

CORONADO ISLANDS

An excellent fishing region is at San Diego, off
Coronado Beach, at the Coronado Islands, which are
barren rocks, and the visitor must live on his boat. By
going out to sea from Coronado along the kelp beds
large fishes are to be had, such as black sea bass and
others.

MONTEREY BAY

Monterey Bay fishing is but a few hours from San
Francisco, and Del Monte, Capitola, or Santa Cruz
afford good points of departure.

SIERRA NEVADA

Lake Tahoe is the central point for all this region.
South, one reaches the Kern river, and north one
comes to the fine fishing of the Feather river, reached
from Chico or Klamath Lake, the Rogue river and
others.

THE FISHES

THE LEAPING TUNA

(Thunnus thynnus)

THE leaping tuna is a giant mackerel that roams
the temperate seas of the world in vast schools.
It appears at Santa Catalina, its spawning- and feed-
ing-ground, soon after the coming of the flying fishes
in spring, and remains in normal years until Septem-
ber 1 5th, but being a migratory fish, it is very uncer-
tain. The fish attains a weight of fourteen hundred
pounds, but the average size of the Santa Catalina fish
is one hundred and fifty pounds, and the record, two
hundred and fifty-one pounds, is held by Colonel C. P.
Morehous. The sixty or seventy members of the
Tuna Club who have taken a fish of over one hundred
pounds could tell extraordinary stories of the battle
to the finish with this remarkable game fish. The
author's record fish weighed one hundred and eighty-
five pounds, towed his heavy boat about twelve miles
in four hours, the boatman fighting against it all the
time, with no let-up to make it possible to gain an
advantage. Other contests have lasted from five to
fourteen hours. The bait is the flying fish, and a six-
teen-ounce rod, with twenty-four or twenty-one thread
standard line, are required by the regulations of the
Tuna Club, as devised for its annual tournament.

IS

i6 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

GAME QUALITIES OF TUNA

Some idea of the qualities of the leaping tuna as a
game fish can be had from my experience in taking the
first large tuna with a rod. I had taken a number of
tunas in this way when, one morning, I had a strike
which took nearly all the six hundred feet of line. I
think it was stopped at five hundred and fifty feet. It
then began to tow the heavy yawl to the northeast,
directly up the island, having been hooked off Avalon.
During an hour, in which we were towed four miles,
I made a desperate effort to stop the fish, but its fierce
rushes, its downward plunges, gave me the fight of
my life, and, at the end of an hour, I appreciated the
fact that I was weaker, and the fish seemingly grow^
ing stronger. I thought of the remark of an old boat-
man when I was playing a ten-foot shark in Florida.
" Massa Fred, if yo' had to wuk like dat yo'd sho'
think yo'self in hard luck, yo' sho' would, das a fac."

If you call it work, it was work, but, looking at it
from the standpoint of sport, to overcome a big fish
that had all the chances on its side was a different
matter.

When we came near Long Point I brought it in
within one hundred feet of the boat, when it suddenly
made a rush and, despite my boatman's oars used
gently, it towed us a mile out to sea, stern-first, then
out of the calm lee into rough water. When it
hauled the stern down low, dangerously low, I had to
give line or swamp; in fact, one big sea nearly
swamped us and " Jim " had to drop the oars and
take the bailer, while I held the rod in my left hand
and bailed with the other, watching the sea and the

I

Leaping Tuna, taken by Col. John E. Stearns of the Tuna Club. Captain

Farnsworth, gaffer
Fig. 7

Showing the author's Tuna rod in action, and the position in playing a Tuna,

the launch, gaffer, etc.
Fig. 8

1

*

O

=

13 bi

^ £

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 25

tip. I never did so many things at once in my life.
We were headed out to sea, but suddenly the tuna
turned and swam directly inshore, swimming stead-
ily for a mile; then, worried by persistent pumping,
which consists in lifting the fish with thumb on the
drag as high as possible, getting it in a foot, then
dropping the point and reeling for your life, it rose
to the surface with a vibrant thrill on the line, hit the
surface with a swirl, as though to get its bearings, then
came at the boat along the surface like a shot out of
a gun. It was a magnificent play. Jim and I sprang
to our feet and watched it, I reeling desperately, totally
unable to get in the slack, reeling, perhaps, from habit.
The tuna came within ten feet of the boat, then turned
in a cloud of spume that drenched us, and dashed off.
I can only compare it to a flip across the face with a
glove — a challenge to mortal combat, which we had
accepted an hour and a half before.

I stopped the fish before it took all the line, then
commenced again the heart-breaking task of reeling it
in. At times I could not turn the handle of the reel,
could not make an inch, could only press my half-
paralyzed thumb on the leather brake and hold on to
the rod. Now the tuna was thrashing about on the
surface, turning the blue sea into silver filigree; now
it plunged into the depths, making the reel cry out;
then it would come up to one side and whirl around
the boat as though chased by a shark.

There was no trick known to fishes this splendid
game did not play in its effort to beat us, to wear us
down; but of all them, I think the rush in of two or
three hundred feet was the most sensational, as, every
time it came, I wanted to swing my hat and cheer the

26 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

fish. I was positive it would escape. But a mysteri-
ous dispensation from St. Zeno must have been given
us, as, after three hours, I had it nearly on the quarter
and called for the gaff. But I was too sanguine. I
had it within twenty feet circling, when suddenly it
sprang away and dashed to the bottom, only to come
whirling to the surface again, and dash about the
boat at a rate that was ominous; then it turned in
the direction of Avalon and swam steadily on and on.
To give the details of this contest, with its exciting
moments, its astonishing plays, its stupendous activ-
ities, would be impossible, but in the third hour —
after not a moment's rest — the tuna started down the
coast and towed us back to Avalon. Here, after
nearly four hours, and after a ten- or twelve-mile tow,
I again brought it to the quarter and held it, a glorious
moment. Jim pushed the gaff over, hooked the fish
and, for a second or two, held the monster that beat
the water and tossed the foam in air. Then the gaff
handle was shivered, and the fish, which we now saw
well for the first time, and that it was a giant, rushed
off, taking fifty feet. Again I rounded it up with
fingers that had no feeling, bracing for a last effort.
Slowly it came in, circling the boat ; now it was on the
quarter, and Jim, with a quick movement, slipped a
larger gaff under it, jerked the big head out of water
and held it at the rail, while it almost swamped us.
Then he slipped it in, and the biggest tuna up to that
time ever taken with rod and reel lay thrashing the
boat with menacing blows.

I have taken a number of tunas, but none so thor-
oughly proved themselves in the game-fish class as
did this splendid one hundred and eighty-three

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 27

pounder of 1897; tne fish that suggested to me the
founding of a Tuna Club, that has since become fa-
mous the world over. Sixty-nine members of the
Tuna Club have taken these fishes of over one hun-
dred pounds, and could the stories of all of them be
secured, the struggles, the master plays, the real bat-
tles between man and fish, it would make a story of
great interest, as such a battle has worn out many a
well-conditioned man.

Largest Leaping Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) — Over 100
pounds — Pounds

Dr. C. F. Holder, Pasadena, Cal., season 1898 . . . 183
Col. C. P. Morehous, Pasadena, season 1899.... 251
Gen. A. W. Barrett, Los Angeles, season 1900.. 164
Mrs. E. N. Dickerson, N. Y. City, season 1901.. 216

Ernest E. Ford, Alhambra, Cal., season 1902 174

John E. Stearns, Los Angeles, year 1902 197

Gen. A. W. Barrett, Los Angeles, season 1904.. 131

P. S. O'Mara, Salt Lake City, season 1909 153

L. G. Murphy, Converse, Ind., season 1910 175%

THE YELLOW-FIN TUNA
(Thunnus macropterus)

This fish is called the haranaga in Japan, where it
has long been well known, also at Honolulu, but in
1907 it appeared in Southern California for the first
time, so far as known, in twenty or more years, and af-
forded great sport with the nine-ounce tackle de-
scribed. At first glance it resembles the leaping tuna,
but it averages about sixty pounds and is more sym-
metrical. Its tail and fins are of a beautiful lemon
tint; the upper portion is greenish, the belly a vivid
silver ; altogether it is one of the most beautiful fishes

28 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

of the sea. It appeared in large schools coming up
from the south and took sardine bait vigorously, and
afforded anglers much sport. The peculiarity of the
sport was that this tuna played and fought on the
surface, and towed boats about for hours. It appeared
in company with long-finned tunas and bonitos, and
was very tame. I had my boatman toss over bait and
a swarm of fishes would rise out of the depths to seize
it, and among them this beautiful tuna from Japan,
as clever as a trout ; the others would seize the baited
hook at once, but not the yellow-fin; he swam about
picking up the bits of sardine, but always avoiding
the one which concealed the hook. The year before
these fishes bit with avidity and afforded splendid
sport to the rod and reel fishermen.

THE YELLOW-FIN AS A GAME FISH

The sudden appearance of the yellow-fin tuna in
Catalina waters created a sensation, and it at once
assumed a position as one of the finest of game fishes,
and, so far as actual sport is concerned, may be com-
pared to its gigantic cousin, the leaping tuna.

The yellow-fin is common in the waters of Japan
and the Hawaiian Islands ; in fact, Japanese waters are
supposed to be its home, and a Japanese specific name
has been given it by Jordan; so that its appearance
on American shores may be considered more or less
accidental, the schools doubtless following the Black
Current of Japan.

To see a yellow-fin tuna in the water, swimming
about, is worth a pilgrimage to California alone, as it
is a beautiful fish. It combines a cleverness of its

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 29

own with the strength of the tuna. Its distinctive
feature as a game fish is its method of playing, which
is almost entirely on the surface.

The tackle used is the nine-ounce rod and line,
though a more certain method is to use a regular tuna
outfit, baiting with a large smelt or sardine. My own
unsuccessful methods were casting from a standing
boat into a school. While the fish would take the bait
I threw over, I never could lure one into taking my
hook. Mr. L. P. Streeter of the Tuna Club tells me
that nearly all the fish he took in the first year of
their appearance made a splendid straight-away rush
on the surface, the ideal thing to do from an angler's
standpoint, as the pumping or lifting (see p. 25) of
these big fish in deep waters is one of the melancholy
features of rod fishing in blue water with possibly
half a mile beneath one.

To save the fish there was but one thing to do ; that
was, to follow. So Mr. Streeter had his boatman,
Captain Fisher, put on full speed as soon as they
could turn, and they chased the tuna for several miles.
In the course of an hour or more they succeeded in
bringing the fish alongside and gaffing it, but not until
it had made a most gallant fight for liberty. Com-
paratively few of these big fishes have been taken.
The records are as follows :

Largest Yellow-fin Tuna (Thunnus macropterus) —
Over 50 pounds- —

* Arthur J. Eddy, Chicago, 111., season 1906... 60

* E. J. Polkinhorn, Torreon, Mex., season 1907. . 50^

The yellow-fin is very uncertain in its movements;
some seasons not coming at all, again being found in

30 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

numbers, but not biting. In point of fact, the entire
tuna tribe, if we except the albacore, is whimsical —
" uncertain, coy and hard to please."

THE OCEANIC BONITO

(Gymnosarda pelamys)

In the spring, and often in summer, a mackerel-like
fish about two feet in length, richly striped with dark
longitudinal waving lines, comes in to the Southern
California coast and affords excellent sport. I have
never seen one over twelve pounds, but this oceanic
bonito has the fighting power of a fish of twice the size,
and, as it often plays on the surface, it gives the
angler a fine test of skill and endurance. The bait and
tackle is the same as in the case of the long-fin, a nine-
ounce rod, though I have often taken them with the
six-ounce rod, known as the 3-6, which is really the
tackle best adapted to it.

This bonito is found at sea and is a wide rover. Its
eggs are deposited at sea and little is known of its
habits, owing to its wandering nature. It doubtless
goes south in winter, ranging north in summer.

OCEANIC BONITO AS A GAME FISH

The bonito, with its silver body and decided black
stripes, is a splendid catch, as it can always be counted
on for a hard, strenuous, stubborn fight. The method
of taking it is by trolling alongshore a little farther out
than for a yellowtail, or on the grounds of the albacore,
with sardine or smelt bait or a Wilson spoon. The

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 31

latter is effective, but rather expensive, the spoon cost-
ing from fifty cents to one dollar, and a large fish is
more than likely to carry it off. The little bonito, com-
pared to the tuna, its second cousin, is a voracious
fish. It generally strikes on the run, and never stops,
its rush being so impetuous that, like the tuna, it
hooks itself if the rod is held firmly, as it should be,
the thumb pressed on the brake or leather with just
sufficient force to prevent overrunning of the line.

The splendid play of this twelve-pound fish is amaz-
ing to the tyro, as, when it is finally stopped, it surges
downward, then around in long reaches, nearly always
on the surface, so that the angler stands, and, with
the butt of the light rod in the leather socket of the
belt, plays it with all the accumulated delights of the
sport. Rarely will this fish sulk, more often being
seen on the surface, fin out, dashing this way and
that with the rapid movements of all of the bonitos,
often falling a victim to the small but savage bonito-
sharks, which, scenting the blood, follow and drive it
to even fiercer efforts to escape. The bonito is sup-
posed to run in schools, but I have seen them in
great masses. They are widely distributed, generally
running in pairs, though possibly they assemble at
times in compact schools, like the barracuda and tuna.
Like others of the kind, they spawn on the high seas,
the eggs floating; the young, with others, find their
first protection beneath masses of floating kelp and
weed.

That the bonitos go south or out to sea in winter is
well known, as it is the exception to catch them at that
season. They evidently follow the food supply to
some offshore bank, or, like the birds, go to the south,

32 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

to return in spring and summer to contribute to the
admirable food fishes of the region.

LONG-FIN TUNA
(Thunnus alalunga)

The long-fin tuna appears in Southern California
in early spring and, in mild seasons, remains the year
round. It is as thick-set a fish as can be found, and
while they have been seen as heavy as one hundred
pounds, the average weight is thirty pounds. It is a
deep-water fish, that is, is found offshore about two
miles, but is caught at or near the surface, taking a
bone, jig or sardine bait. By drifting and chumming,
this tuna can be lured to the surface, where it will bite
as fast as the bait is tossed over. I have placed a sar-
dine on the end of a gaff and lifted in a thirty-pound
albacore (as it is also called), and, I think, under some
circumstances they would almost take bait from my
hand. The Tuna Club recommends a nine-ounce rod
and a nine-thread line for them, six hundred feet of
the latter being used with a long wire leader and a
number seven hook. These fishes have an extraor-
dinary long side fin, and are very active in their mo-
tions. They run in well-distributed schools, covering
large areas. They prey upon sardines, smelt and all
small fry, and their greatest value is in angling, the
fish making a wonderfully game play with the rod, it
often requiring half an hour to land one.

TAKING A LONG-FIN TUNA

This tuna rarely, if ever, comes in near shore. In
California it is never taken off beaches ; it is essentially
a deep-water fish, keeping to the main channels and

ffl

2.5
c -o

Record Bonito, Sarda chiliensis, of the Tuna Club. Taken by Miss Edith

Holder. Los Angeles, California.
Fig. 15

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 41

the high seas. The most famous place for it is off
Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, about two miles, in
water as smooth as a lake, owing to the situation of
the island. Here often ten or twenty launches of the
type described on page 12 will be seen moving slowly
about, the two anglers, with rods to right and left,
trolling for the game. The moment a strike comes the
gaffer stops the engine and tosses some bait overboard
to keep the school about the boat, and the sport is on,
as now both anglers have bending rods. The long-fin
runs up to one hundred pounds, but the fish usually
caught are between twenty-five and thirty pounds.
The long-fin tuna soon shows his game qualities with
a desperate and rod-racking rush into the depths.
There is but one thing to do, and that is to let him
have his way and gently check him. The amount of
line a twenty-pound fish will take depends upon the
tackle; usually the nine-ounce rod is employed, but
the fish is also taken on the six-ounce and the
thread of a line that goes with it, and then the time is
almost doubled. In any event, twenty or thirty min-
utes of play are devoted to the fish, making a hard
game fight before he is brought to the surface and
seen coursing along, a thing of beauty, with big star-
ing hypnotic eyes, and long side fins, like poniards.

At last he comes in and is gaffed, and so plentiful are
these fishes that an endless number could be caught if
desired.

The long-fin tuna moves in great well-distributed
schools, not in a compact mass, and is generally as-
sociated with the various bonitos and often with the
tuna and the yellow-fin tuna. All these fishes are often
seen trying for the bait. They feed on small fishes —

42 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

sardines, mackerel and squid ; the larger ones prey on
the flying-fish, driving them into the air.

The long-fin tuna is known in many seas, but
there is but one species, though it has many names.
The name albacore is given to the leaping tuna in
some waters. It is always a pelagic, deep-sea fish;
that is, it lives on or near the surface, in deep water,
following ships, and in many ways showing its so-
ciability. In California it is now used as a food fish.

The Tuna Club rod records are as follows :

Largest Albacore—

Chas. W. Miller, Denver, Colo., season 1901 ... 30

Ernest Fallen, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1902 ... 38

John Van Liew, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1903. 38

Stewart Ingram, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1904. 46

I. C. Pillster, Denver, Colo., season 1905 48

* Gustave J. Frickman, N. Y. City, season 1906. 38^4
*A. B. Cass, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1907 41^4

* C. R. Sturdevant, Pasadena, Cal., season 1908. 4334
SJ. W. Mclntyre, Catlin, 111., year 1908 6554

* S. A. Guy, Shreveport, La., season 1909 43^4

*W. N. McMillan, Nairobi, E. Africa, winter

season 1909-10 50

* H. A. Omson, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1910.. 375^

* C. R. Guertler, New York, winter season 1910-11.51^4

THE CALIFORNIA BONITO
(Sarda chilensis)

This article was written in 1910. Since then this
fish is followed by large steamers and canned as
tunny.

The ordinary bonito or skipjack is very common
off the California coast, and is one of the most highly

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 43

esteemed game fishes. I have never seen one over
twenty pounds in weight, and the average fish is
about eight pounds. It is the humming-bird of the
fishes, quick as a flash, dashing here and there, and
with its coat of many colors, a thing of incomparable
beauty. It is short and very thick-set, the upper
portion a vivid blue, the lower silver, with dark lines
lengthwise; the tail is always in motion, wriggling
violently and sending the little fish along at a pro-
digious rate of speed. When taken from the water
it is seen to be enveloped in a marvelous investment
of color, so that it gleams and scintillates like a hum-
ming-bird. It is very tame, approaches the boat, and
is taken with the 3-6 tackle described, or a heavy eight-
ounce trout rod for small ones, though the twenty-
pounder referred to was played for one hour on a nine-
ounce rod and made a most extraordinary fight. The
charm of the bonito as a game fish lies in the fact that
it plays on the surface almost entirely and rarely sulks.
The best fishing-ground for the bonito is two miles off
Avalon Bay, California, where it is found in Company
with the long-fin tuna and the " yellow-fin." It
rarely, if ever, approaches the islands and is never
found near the mainland beaches or surf.

It is caught in deep blue water, but on the surface,
either by trolling or by casting when the fish are lo-
cated, and it can be kept around the boat by chumming.
Its habits are not definitely known, but it comes north
in spring, leaves in winter, and doubtless deposits its
spawn on the surface of the Santa Catalina channel.

44 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

THE YELLOWTAIL
(Seriola dorsalis)

Those who have taken the Amber Jack of Florida
will recognize the yellowtail as a second cousin, longer
and more slender, but with a green vestment above,
silver below, a single stripe of yellow, with finlets the
same, which, with its large lustrous eyes, makes it one
of the most attractive of fishes. It is a desperate
fighter. I have seen a twenty-pounder give a man the
buck fever so that he dropped the rod. The yellow-
tail is par excellence a Southern California fish, though
it is found down and up the coast and in the Gulf of
California, but to be seen at its best and in the great-
est numbers one should go to San Clemente or Santa
Catalina Island. The fish attains a weight of one hun-
dred pounds and a length of nearly five feet, but the
average fish weighs about twenty pounds, heavy
enough for either " duffer " or expert. The yellow-
tail arrives in Southern California about March and
remains until December, and ranges as far north as
Santa Barbara, rarely to Monterey, and some years it
is taken at Avalon every week in the year, when the
winters are mild and dry. In winter it goes south and
off into deep water, being occasionally taken on the
outer banks at that time. The tackle for the yellow-
tail should be the nine-ounce rod described, but the
Tuna Club has a branch, the 3-6, devised especially
for yellowtail, which gives this splendid fish the ad-
vantage. The rod weighs six ounces, the line is a six-
thread, and with this fish up to forty pounds have been
taken. The record rod catch of yellowtail is a sixty-
one pounder. The hook for yellowtail is a 7° or 10°,

PHOTO. BY REYES

Sword Fish weighing over 300 pounds taken with rod and

reel by Col. John E. Stearns at Santa Catalina Islands,
Fig. 21

PHOTO. BY REYES

Tuna Club Rod Record Sword Fish, 339 Pounds, caught by Hon. C. G. Conn.

Captain Fainsworth, gaffer.
Fig, 22

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 49

according to occasion. If fish of ordinary size are
desired, sardine bait is used. If large fish, forty or
fifty pounds, are running, then a flying-fish is used,
weighing a pound or so. The delicate line has a wire
leader with several swivels. Trolling with eighty feet
of line is the usual plan, but if the fish are in abun-
dance the angler can allow the boat to drift, and cast.
When hooked, the yellowtail makes a series of vicious
runs that are irresistible, taking line and often break-
ing it. If there is any obstacle near, kelp or a pile,
the clever yellowtail will rush at it and break the line
at once. When it has exhausted all its tricks it sulks
and sulks until the angler raises it by " pumping " on
the rod, when it will repeat indefinitely its rushes or
plays. It can be said that the yellowtail depicts the
" Ultima Thule " of gaminess. It may be worn out and
gaffed, but it is never conquered, it never surrenders.

Largest Yellowtail (Seriola dorsalis) —

F. V. Rider, Avalon, Cal., season 1898 41

F. S. Gerrish, Jacksonville, Fla., season 1899 37

R. F. Stocking, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1899.. 48

T. S. Mannirig, Avalon, Cal., season 1901 33

Dr. Trowbridge, Fresno, Cal., season 1902 47^2

F. P. Newport, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1903. . 46

H. Meyst, Chicago, 111., season 1904 44

J. E. Pflueger, Akron, Ohio, season 1905 43

*A. A. Carraher, Avalon, Cal., season 1906... 385^3

* Edward C. Sacks, Butte, Mont., season 1907.. 41^4
*W. W. Simpson, England, season 1908 6054

* C. E. Ellis, Spokane, Wash., season 1909

t C. G. Conn, Avalon, Cal., winter season 1909-

10

*Dr. B. F. Alden, San Francisco, season 1910.. 45%

* Mrs. Evelyne Garrett, Los Angeles, winter

season 1910-11 45

50 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

THE BLACK SEA BASS
(Stereolepis gigas)

Probably no catch ever made with rod and reel has
so taxed the credulity of the layman and general public
of the Atlantic coast as that of the black sea bass of
Santa Catalina waters. On the face of it it appears
preposterous to ask any one to believe that a three
hundred-pound fish can be taken with a line so small
that it will lift but forty- two pounds, or two pounds
to the thread or strand; yet this is a very common
catch here from June to October. Imagine an
ordinary five-pound black bass by magic lengthened
out in good and comely proportions to six or seven
feet, and given an avoirdupois of several hundred
pounds, and you have the black sea bass, jewfish or
June fish, the gigantic sea bass of California, peculiar
to the region and the gulf. It is not to be confused
with the jewfish of Florida; it is an entirely different
fish, a free swimmer, taking to deep water or outer
banks in winter, coming inshore in summer to make
its home on the submarine slopes of the great mountain
islands of California, where their spawn is deposited,
but the young rarely, if ever, seen. The black sea
bass frequents the vast kelp beds, which shelter the
regions near shore, in water about forty feet deep,
though they are often seen in shallow water.

It is a most interesting sight, this giant of the kelp
groves. I was with Dr. Gifford Pinchot, anchored on
a submarine mountain spur of San Clemente a few
years ago, in September, lying on deck looking down
into the marvelous blue of the water, when suddenly
I saw a black sea bass swim up the side of the

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 51

mountain. It must have been five or six feet long,
ordinarily a most conspicuous object, yet so marvelous
was its adaptation to the blue of the sea and the mystic
aurelian tint of the rock, that it was with great diffi-
culty that I could follow it, although the water was
not over fifteen feet deep. Its movements were ex-
tremely graceful, slow and dignified. Another time
I watched a large black sea bass swimming through
the kelp ; saw it take my bait and observed the riotous
rush when it was hooked.

These giant bass, which attain a weight of one
thousand pounds, vary much in appearance. Some
are long and rangy, well-proportioned; others are
short and stout. But they average well, and all, in
the main, when alive, are attractive fishes and most
graceful in their movements. That so enormous a
creature is a powerful foe goes without saying, and
that it is now taken with tuna tackle (p. 15) is more
than astounding. But the Tuna Club has many
medals, cups and trophies which have been won by
anglers from all over the world for taking them with
sixteen-ounce rods and a twenty-one-thread line.

There are various ways of fishing for the big bass.
It can be taken by trolling a whitefish slowly along,
ten feet from the bottom. This is rarely attempted,
as it is uncertain, but that it is plausible is shown
by the fact that many anglers, when pulling in a line,
have seen the big bass come up with a stupendous
rush for it, exactly as a black bass will charge a min-
now. Another way, and that most followed, is to
anchor a launch, Fig. 19, near shore and a kelp bed,
in water forty or fifty feet deep. The cable should be
made ready to cast off and buoy. The line, exactly

52 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

like that used in tuna fishing, is baited with a
six- or eight-pound live whitefish or a big piece of al-
bacore; provided with a heavy sinker, it is lowered
to within six or eight feet of the bottom; the wait
then begins. Sometimes the lure is taken at once. I
have had strikes as soon as it reached the bottom and
have taken three fish in rapid succession. Again the
wait may be a long one.

The strike of this fish is a nibble, then a gentle
running out of the line, exactly the reverse of that
of the tuna. The angler slacks away ten or twenty
feet, then allows the line to come taut and, in the
technical terms of angling, gives the fish " the butt."
It is then that the boatman tosses the buoy overboard,
and the boat, if a small one, is towed away after the
fish, which makes a desperate rush out to sea. At
first all that can be done is to press on the brake and
try to stop the line from running out, without break-
ing it. I have hooked fishes of this kind that I could
not move, nor could any one in the boat. Generally
the bass will endeavor to reach a kelp bed and wind
itself among the trunks of these submarine trees; so
the boatman's endeavor is to induce the fish to swim
out to sea, pulling it away from danger; once in fairly
deep water beyond the kelp zone, an opportunity is
afforded to play it to a finish. I have brought an
eighty-pounder to gaff with a nine-ounce rod in less
than twenty minutes, and have played another, an un-
seen fish, for hours with a sixteen-ounce rod and
never could land him.

There is a great difference in these fishes. Some are
active and hard to land; others are merely heavy;
but the average is a hard-fighting desperate load to

PHOTO. BY REYES

The Remora of the Swordfish, Echenels remora. Santa Catalina.

Fig. 24

The Bonito Shark. A rod catch by Mr. Sharp. Jim Gardner, boatman.
Fig. 29

L 4 1

Hammerhead Shark, Sfhyrna xygaena. Taken on rod.

Fig. 30

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 61

lift, making the game one of excitement to the finish.
For hours boats have been towed by these big fishes;
the angler who lands one certainly earns his sport.
At the end of the struggle the big fish will appear
near the surface, and when the gaff reaches his under
jaw and he is held, he tosses water over the boat and
makes a brave display of his power and strength. The
fish is then taken in tow, if very large, or hauled up
on the stern by block and tackle and taken inshore to
be weighed by the weighing committee of the Tuna
Club, as there are records, cups, medals and trophies
which go to the breaker of existing records.
The rod records of the Tuna Club are as follows:

Largest Black Sea Bass (Stereolepis gigas) —

F. V. Rider, Avalon, Cal., season 1898 327

T. S. Manning, Avalon, Cal., season 1899 372

F. S. Schenck, Brooklyn, N. Y., season 1900 384

C. A. Thomas, Pomona, Cal., season 1901 384

H. T. Kendall, Pasadena, Cal., season 1902 419

Edward Llewellyn, Los Angeles, season 1903 . . . 425

H. L. Smith, New York City, season 1904 402

L. G. Murphy, Converse, Ind., season 1905 436

C. H. Earle, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1906 372

C. J. Tripp, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1907 427

Lloyd B. Newell, Los Angeles, Cal., season 1908. 380

R. C. Baird, San Francisco, Cal., season 1909 394

Jesse Roberts, Philadelphia, Pa., season 1910 385

THE SANTA CATALINA SWORDFISH

There are two swordfishes found on the California
coast — the common Eastern swordfish, Xiphias, and
the Santa Catalina swordfish, Tetrapturus. The
former is taken with the harpoon and is not consid-
ered a game fish, attaining a weight of from six hun-

62 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

dred to eight hundred or more pounds. The latter
rarely runs over three hundred pounds, the average
being about one hundred and fifty pounds, this medium
weight making it available as a rod and reel catch.
The Catalina swordfish is long and slender ; one of the
most beautiful fishes in the world, being garbed in a
purple coat of extraordinary brilliancy. Its sword is
much shorter than in the larger fish, more of a poniard
than a sword, and the fish has virtually two, as the
lower jaw is sharp and dangerous. Its eye is large
and black, its belly silver, its back royal-purple. Its
top fin is tall and set into a scabbard ; its tail is large
and crescent-like. In fact, no more debonair swash-
buckler ever swam the seas than this fish, which at-
tains an extraordinary size.

At times it runs in vast schools, but when it ap-
pears at San Clemente and Santa Catalina in July,
August and September, it is generally in pairs, and is
seen either leaping or swimming slowly along, its tall
dorsal and the upper lobe of its tail high above the
water, a conspicuous object.

As might be expected, the tackle for such game
must be of the strongest, and that already described
for leaping tuna is used. To make the capture
more satisfactory the angler generally sits in a rowboat
or skiff and is towed behind a launch, with about one
hundred and fifty feet of line out, and flying fish bait.
The moment a strike comes the skiff casts off and the
boatman takes the oars, while the launch lies off and
follows the game at a safe and reasonable distance.
The swordfish, like a tarpon, has a very hard mouth,
hence when the strike comes the angler pays out line,
often twenty or more feet, to give the swordfish an

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 63

opportunity to fully take it. Then the "butt" is
given, and if the fish is hooked it will often go into
the air in a wild and clumsy leap, falling back on its
side with a crash — a totally different leap from that
of the tarpon or tuna. Now, if well hooked, the fight
is on and the swordfish will make a run calculated to
give any man's nerves a test. A big fish has been
known to walk off with six hundred feet of line and
leave the angler nothing for his pains. But the aver-
age fish is stopped before this catastrophe occurs, and
then it is that the swordfish of the sea will demon-
strate that he is the king of all big game fishes, so far
as spectacular play is concerned, which is saying a
good deal, having the tarpon in view. A lively tar-
pon will jump ten or twelve times; a swordfish has
been known to leap fifty times before it was caught.
I once followed Dr. Gifford Pinchot when playing a
swordfish. Before I caught up with the skiff the fish
had jumped twenty times, and how many it jumped in
the two-hour night chase I do not know; but Dr.
Pinchot brought it to gaff fourteen times before he
at last got it. This fish swam away with the skiff
at a five-mile per hour rate with great ease, and
afforded a wonderful illustration of all the qualities
known as game — leaping, slashing, charging, this way
and that — in all, a most exhilarating fish to have on a
cobweb of a line.

Some years ago, having taken swordfish in Florida
on line and with the grains, I offered a swordfish cup
to the Tuna Club, which has now several names on it.
Through the adventures of Messrs. Stearns, Conn,
Pinchot and others the Santa Catalina swordfish has
taken its place as the great game fish of the world, re-

64 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

garding it from the standpoint of sensational play.
The swordfish is taken from launches with tuna tackle,
but it lends excitement and interest to take it from
a small skiff, towed astern, that can be cast off at
the strike and towed away by the fish. The angler
should insist on the launch, and a sea-going one, lying
by, as in the case of Mr. Pinchot and myself, off San
Clemente, a catastrophe might well have happened in
a heavy sea and fog in a two-hundred-pound skiff.

The visitor to the Tuna Club will see two mag-
nificent specimens — the swordfish of Colonel John E.
Stearns, the other that of Mr. Conn — not only splendid
trophies, but fishes which suggest literal battles of
the sea where sportsmen met the big and dangerous
game with line so light that the layman will not be-
lieve that a fish of its size could be taken with it, as it
appears to be manifestly absurd. Yet it is true to
the letter, as the Tuna Club is most careful of its
records.

The swordfish preys on fishes of all kinds ; dashing
into schools of mackerel and sardines, cutting them
down, then picking up the pieces. It is very pug-
nacious, and some extraordinary battles have been wit-
nessed between the fishes.

The swordfishes spawn in the open sea and the
young are at first very different from the adults. Very
little is known as to their habits.

The rod records of the Tuna Club are as follows, and
it should be remembered that the records were won
on rods weighing not over sixteen ounces and lines
not over twenty-one- or twenty-four-thread. In a
word, these splendid trophies have been won in open
dangerous fights at sea where swordfish had every

ll

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 69

possible advantage. If the reader desires data relating
to the vicious nature of swordfishes, he will find a list
of scores of boats and ships that were rammed, sunk
or damaged by them, compiled by Professor G. Brown
Goode, of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington.

Largest Swordfish (Tetrapturus mitsukurii) —
Edward Llewellyn, Los Angeles, season 1903.... 125

Ernest Fallon, Los Angeles, season 1905 128

Geo. E. Pillsbury, Jr., Los Angeles, season 1908. . 138

C. G. Conn, Elkhart, Ind., season 1909... 339

John E. Stearns, Los Angeles, season 1910 392

THE HALIBUT

One flat fish, a cousin of the little sanddab, found in
California waters, is the halibut, which may be found
up to sixty or seventy pounds and is considered a game
fish. On the walls of the Tuna Club hangs a halibut
which weighs sixty pounds, taken by Mr. Rotherham
with what was literally a trout rod, after a fight of over
an hour. The halibut can be found on sandy bottoms
at the entrance to the mouths of the various canyons,
and is often taken when trolling, coming up after the
bait with a strange undulatory motion. The young
of these fishes, when born, have an eye on each side,
but as the fish grows and falls on its side, one eye
travels over, until, in the adult fish, we have the
two eyes on the top side. In some of the flat fishes
(flounders) of Japan the eye is said to pass through
instead of going around — a remarkable fish story.

It is impossible in the scope of this little book,
intended as the briefest possible handbook of the fishes
of the Pacific coast, of value to the angler, to do more

70 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

than mention all the fishes which may be caught, as the
interesting convict fish with its stripes, Fig. 23, the
remora with sucking disc, Fig. 24, which rides about
on sharks, turtles and swordfish ; the beautiful kelp fish,
which builds a nest and mimics the kelp and hangs in
it in strange positions. The great red grouper or
rockfish, found in deep water, and a valuable food
fish; the strange lance-like lizard fish, Fig. 25, with
fierce teeth; the little parrot fish, Fig. 26; the little
kelp fishes and many more found everywhere.

In deep water we find the ghostfish, Fig. 27, or
king of the salmon : the marvelous ribbon fish, Fig. 28,
like a beautiful satin ribbon, fifteen or twenty feet
long, with brilliant vermilion fins or plumes. This
fish attains a length of thirty or more feet and is
probably the foundation of many of the sea-serpent
stories. In deeper water, occasionally coming in, is
the Indian-head fish, with beautiful colors ; the savage
walking fish, and many others, rarely seen by any
one, but all adding to the interest in the sea which
abounds in the most bizarre and interesting forms.

SHARKS

Sharks are hardly included among game fishes, yet
the bonito-shark, found in California waters, of about
thirty pounds, leaps into the air when hooked and
affords a very good imitation of a game fish. So
with the oil-shark, beautifully marked. I have taken
it up to sixty pounds on a nine-ounce rod from the
beach; had it been a salmon instead of a shark, the
play it made would have been considered remarkable.

The sharks captured off the islands of San Clemente

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 71

and Santa Catalina in summer with rod and reel tax
the credulity of those who read, but the accounts are
reliable. It is not considered remarkable to kill sharks
ten feet long with tuna tackle. Mr. Gilmour Sharp
has taken such a bonito-shark — a monster big enough
to dine on a man. It was played for several hours on
a twenty-one line, and killed after a long and deter-
mined fight. The great sharks follow the tunas,
bonito and other schools of fish, occasionally dash-
ing into them like tigers and carrying off their prey.
A large so-called grouper or land shark is also taken
here, but the really game shark is the long lithe

HAMMERHEAD

It is ten or more feet in length, and weighs from one
hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds. This shark
is a most forbidding creature. To show its strength, I
hooked one about ten feet in length, which towed me
a mile out to sea and was never stopped until five
skiffs tied on, .the men all rowing as hard as they
could. Not until I had its big ugly hammer-like head
triced up to the skiff did it give in, and it then more
than once almost tipped over the light craft. If one
wishes a battle with a spice of danger, a hammerhead*
with rod and reel from a skiff can be commended.

THE BARRACUDA

The Florida barracuda is a solitary game fish, with
the courage of its convictions and the staying qualities
of a bull terrier. Its California cousin is a totally dif-
ferent fish. It is smaller, rarely exceeding fifteen

72 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

pounds, goes in close schools, though sometimes break-
ing up, and is to be compared to the fresh-water
pickerel as a game fish; it is, in fact, a failure com-
pared to the rest of the finny tribe found in these
waters. It appears in early spring in vast schools
coming from the south, and is followed with net and
line, sardine or bone, by the professional fisher-
men, who consider it one of the most valuable sum-
mer food fishes. I have taken it with an eight-ounce
split bamboo, and some individuals afford some sport
on such tackle; but the average fish comes in very
readily and shortly gives up the fight.

THE MACKEREL

In early spring vast schools of mackerel come up
the coast and afford good sport for anglers with light
rods. The fish is not the same as the famous Eastern
mackerel, nor is it so good a food fish ; but as game on
a light split bamboo no one would criticise it. When
the fish are biting they are exceedingly voracious, and
the angler can cast at them with an exaggerated fly
made of a piece of white or red cloth and take them
in unlimited quantities. These fishes are migratory;
now in one place, the next day in another, disappear-
ing in the fall for some unknown resort.

ROCK BASS

Another small fish to be caught in unlimited quan-
tities is the rock bass. It is shaped like the black bass,
and altogether an attractive fish, with brilliant blue

GO

1

O

PHOTO. BY REYES

Tuna Club Record White Sea-bass, 60 Pounds, caught by Mr. C. H. Harding,

Philadelphia, Pa.

Fig. 42

PHOTO. BY C. G CONN

White Sea-bass, Cynoscion nobiln. Taken by Hon. C. G.

Conn.
Fie. 43

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 81

eyes, and garnished with many beautiful tints, shades
and colors.

It attains a weight of eight or more pounds, and
with very light tackle affords some sport, though to
the yellowtail or white sea bass angler it is considered
a nuisance, as it is an inveterate bait stealer, and in
places can with difficulty be avoided. It spawns in
August, when fishes of the largest size are taken close
inshore.

This fish is of the type of a number of so-called
rock fishes, groupers and others, among the most im-
portant fishes of the coast.

SHEEPSHEAD

Another bottom fish, found in comparatively shallow
water, is the sheepshead, totally different from the
sheepshead of the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico; a large
fish, with a prominent domed head and perpendicular
stripes, black and red. The male, Fig. 32, is a most
striking creature; the dome, jet black, the lower jaw
pure white. The fish has a peculiar habit, like the
Southern parrot fishes, of rolling its eyes about.

The female, Fig. 33, is very different in appearance,
being gray or white or all red, without the dome. The
young are beautiful and graceful little creatures. The
sheepshead feeds on shellfish, crabs and various ani-
mals, and, in the shallow water of San Clemente, can
be seen in great numbers moving slowly about, using
its side fins in a peculiar manner.

The large males often attain a weight of twelve
pounds, and are hard fighters on 3-6 tackle. The bait
most effective for them is crayfish or abalone, though

82 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

they will take sardine at times. Any rocky bottom
in fairly shallow water abounds in these highly col-
ored fishes.

BLUE-EYE PERCH

With the sheepshead are found a number of small
fishes which, when approached with proper tackle, af-
ford excellent sport. One is the blue-eye perch, Figs.
34, 35, of five or six pounds; a very attractive little
fish adapted to an eighteen-ounce split bamboo with
abalone bait.

THE BLACKSMITH

Another small fish, but a hard fighter on the same
tackle, is the bluefish of two or three pounds, known
as the blacksmith.

The boatman who knows the game will anchor at
White Rock or some point near shore, and, after judi-
cious chumming to collect them, can provide his
patron with a delightful change from the big and hard
fighting game with which all the islands abound.

These and many of the fishes described are of espe-
cial interest, as they are peculiar or indigenous to this
region. With them is seen the brilliant orange-colored
angel-fish, or golden perch, which sometimes takes
a small hook. Its young are called electric fish
by the amateur savants of the glass-bottom boat, as
they are a vivid blue, almost iridescent, color, seeming
to flash and sparkle like gems. When very young they
are entirely blue, but gradually change to yellow as
they grow older, until, in the adult stage, they are
entirely yellow or a reddish-yellow.

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 83

THE MEDIALUNA

This is a little fish, Fig. 36, rarely caught by the
angler because it has a small mouth and does not care
for the invariable sardine or smelt bait. It is found
about rocky points, as White Rock, and at four or
five pounds is as game a fish as one could wish, if a
very light resilient rod is used. It must be baited up
by chumming, and the lure must be crayfish or
abalone.

THE OPAH

(Lampris luna)

The angler on these summer seas catches many
strange or weird fishes, which, while not game in the
strict sense of the word, add piquancy to the sport.
One of the rarest fishes of all seas, the opah, is occa-
sionally taken here. It is so rare that almost every
individual taken anywhere is on record. I recall four
or five caught near Santa Catalina, and one, it is said,
was taken off San Clemente with rod and reel by a
Long Beach angler.

The fish attains a weight of seventy pounds. It
somewhat resembles a sunfish, with large eyes and
very small mouth ; its colors defy description. Its gen-
eral tint is pearl or silver, and over it a vestment of
old rose seems to be drawn ; its fins and tail are a most
brilliant red or scarlet. As to its habits nothing is
known. It is seen floating on the surface in summer,
and doubtless feeds on the small animals of the sea.

84 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

SUNFISH
(Mola mola)

Another strange fish, very common here, is the sun-
fish, Fig. 39. It is shaped like a great head or face,
oval or round. Its tail is a rim of muscle, and its
dorsal and ventral fins are great spikes, making it a
conspicuous figure in summer as«it swims along, fin
out of water, or lies prone on its side in the sun. Its
mouth is very small, with massive ivory-like teeth,
seemingly useless. Its skin is like sandpaper, and
covered with mucus, which is often phosphorescent at
night. These fishes grow to an enormous size. Once
when fishing with Colonel C. P. Morehous, with the
aid of his boatman, Charles Hammond, I took a sun-
fish which must have weighed fifteen hundred pounds.
We ran alongside, and, seizing the tall fin, bent it over
the rail, gaffing the monster before it woke up, though
a terrific struggle ensued which almost wrecked our
launch. So huge was this fish that our launch could
not tow it, and only by the aid of another launch did
we manage to tow it into port. I had an excellent op-
portunity to observe the fish's methods of swimming,
and later released it uninjured.

The young of the sunfish are very singular creatures
not resembling the adult. I have had my boat sur-
rounded by scores of six- or eight-pounders, and their
continual leaping was a source of much interest. Cap-
tain Farnsworth caught one which was estimated at
half a ton. Mr. McMillan took one almost equally
large. I have gaffed them in the Atlantic, and had a
hand in the capture of one at the mouth of the St.
Johns River, Florida, which must have weighed three-

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 85

quarters of a ton, all of which shows that the fish has
a wide range. As to the economic value of the sunfish
little is known. I should imagine its rough skin was
of some value; its flesh is used by farmers in Maine
as a fertilizer. I have seen boys use the white
muscular tissue as India rubber for balls. The flesh is
insipid and uneatable.

MORAY

There is a large snake-like fish, the moray, Fig. 40,
in these waters, that occasionally fouls the hook of the
bottom angler and makes a prodigious fight ; a savage,
dangerous creature with teeth like a snake, and a
habit of coiling like a rattlesnake and striking out
when hauled in.

With the morays, in rocky places, the angler will
find the puff shark, coiled up in the rocks, the Port
Jackson shark, Fig. 41, with ivory spines in front of
each ray, and various sculpins, big and little, of value
to the marketman, but not to the angler.

FLAT FISHES

A variety of flat fishes or rays are found on the
sandy bottoms of California waters. The sting ray,
with a sharp, rat-like tail, and others more
or less dangerous to the bather, all with remarkable
strength on a light rod. One of the largest is the
angel fish, a seeming cross between a ray and a shark ;
a fish six or eight feet long, which will swallow a bait
and evidently go to sleep.

The most interesting of all these fishes is the elec-

86 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

trie ray or torpedo. It may be recognized by its round
or oval shape. Men have been knocked down by the
shocks they give out. I once took a small one from
the tank in the Naples aquarium and, by placing one
hand beneath it, the other on its back, received a shock
which jerked my arm back violently. Needless to say,
the torpedo is not a quest of anglers.

THE WHITE SEA BASS
(Cynoscion nobilis)

Sometimes in May, earlier or later according to the
season and the weather, the voyager in the glass-bot-
tom boat at Avalon, in peering down into the beauti-
ful kelp beds, will see, poising in the arches and cav-
erns of the submarine forests, scores of big fishes re-
sembling the salmon. They may be three or four
feet long and weigh forty or fifty pounds. In appear-
ance they are attractive, well shaped; a gray color
above, iridescent in the sunlight, silvery below, ideal
fishes for the rod and reel. This is a giant weakfish,
a cousin of the Eastern weakfish, known in Southern
California, particularly at Santa Catalina and San
Clemente Islands, as the white sea bass, one of the
finest game fishes of the region. It comes from some-
where in April, and remains late into the summer. It
is seen in well-distributed schools up the coast for
miles at times; in Avalon Bay I have taken five or
six in a forenoon, none of which were under fifty
pounds in weight. This bass will take a spoon, a
sardine in trolling, and is often taken still-fishing
near shore with live bait.

The tackle to use is a nine-ounce rod, and a number

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 87

nine, or even smaller, line, as the bass is not so
powerful as a yellowtail and can be taken on the 3-6
tackle described; its play with this tackle is most in-
teresting. If an eighty-pounder should happen to take
it, it is needless to say that the angler might lose the
game.

I have hooked the white sea bass within five feet of
the boat; at once the fight was on, the fish making
splendid rushes away, not seeking the depths (which
are the despair of the angler) as much as most of the
fishes described, due to the vast depths about the
islands and the fact that they are the tops of moun-
tains rising from the sea. The fish will rush away,
circle the boat, if in shallow water, and put up a most
clever fight. As the fish swims in schools, and is
slow and dignified in its movements, it is an interest-
ing creature to attempt to catch. One can often move
upon a school and cast a sardine into it, or, when the
bass is in a bay, one can lower a bare hook down into
the often present school of sardines and snag one,
which will often be taken by a big bass which would
ignore the countless thousands swimming about it.

When feeding, the white sea bass becomes greatly
excited. A school of several hundred will dash into a
bay or indentation, driving sardines, flying-fish or
squid out upon the beach. At such times they will
take bait or a spoon very readily. I have seen thirty
boats in Avalon Bay, nearly all the occupants of which
were playing a fish not less than forty pounds in
weight. One lady was repeatedly towed across the
bay by an eighty-pounder on the end of a hand-line.
This day, with a companion in a light skiff, with light
rods, we took ten white sea bass, five each. At one

88 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

stage of the game, it was a tug of war, my com-
panion's fish going astern, while my own dashed ahead ;
we saved them both. All the fish were over fifty
pounds in weight. Over one hundred such bass were
taken this day, May first, not one hundred feet from
the beach, where scores of people watched the extraor-
dinary scene of breaking rods and lines, as ten times
as many fish were hooked as were landed.

The so-called sea trout of Southern California is a
small species of this fish, ranging up to twelve or fif-
teen pounds; it is beautifully spotted. This is
Cynoscion parvipinnis. In the Gulf of California an-
other species is found, C. macdonaldi. This fish I have
taken in Tobari Bay, Gulf of California, with a spoon ;
they run up to one hundred and fifty pounds in weight.
These magnificent game fish test the strongest tackle
and are shown in Fig. 42.

The white sea bass is a good food fish. In Mon-
terey Bay it is taken by the ton in nets, and I have
seen them brought in at Capitola by the boatload for
shipment to San Francisco ; all were over fifty pounds,
and ran up to eighty. When fishing for salmon here
I have found the sea bass a nuisance, hooking them
continually when trying for the Chinooks; under
ordinary circumstances one would hardly consider
such a fish a nuisance. The Tuna Club has special
prizes and trophies — cups, medallions and medals for
the angler who breaks the club records. Some of the
club's catches with rod and reel are as follows:

Largest White Sea Bass (Cynoscion nobilis) —
Edward M. Boggs, Oakland, Cal., season 1899.. 58

Wm. P. Adams, Chicago, 111., season 1903 52

C. H. Harding, Philadelphia, Pa., season 1904.. 60

PHOTO BY REYES

Bottled-nose Dolphin (mammal). Taken by Col. John E. Stearns.

Fig. 45

Santa Catalina Flying Fish, Cypselurus californicus. Bait for Tuna.

Fig. 46

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 97

E. C. Wilson, Denver, Colo., season 1905 36

* A. L. Beebe, Portland, Ore., season 1906 34

* Arthur J. Eddy, Chicago, 111., season 1906 34

* Mrs. E. H. Brewster, Avalon, season 1907 53

* S. A. Barron, San Dimas, Cal., season 1908... 40

* A. L. Beebe, Portland, Ore., season 1908 40

f A. L. Beebe, Portland, Ore., season 1909 46^4

* J. W. Frey, Los Angeles, Cal., winter season

1909-10

* Benjamin Thaw, Pittsburg, Pa., season 1910.. 44
*A. E. Eaton, Avalon, winter season 1910-11... 38

THE DOLPHIN

(Coryphaena hippurus)

The dolphin is one of the most beautiful of all
fishes, its colors, ranging from yellow to green and
gold, making a glorious show as the fish rises to the
surface. It is a long, round- or dome-headed fish
with a splendid dorsal fin from head to tail, which can
be elevated like a crest or depressed. It is swift of
movement, brilliant in color, and almost as hard a
fighter as a yellowtail. It appears at the channel
islands of California in spring and remains until Oc-
tober. It is taken with a nine-ounce rod, trolling as
for yellowtail, or I have seen several lying beneath the
islands of kelp which float off these islands in sum-
mer, and, by casting with sardine bait, they could be
taken with ease, though the fish is among the very
rare catches and, so far as known, taken with the rod
nowhere else. It is a world-wide fish, found out at
sea in all oceans, swimming by ships at the cutwater.

I have taken the fish in the sargasso beds of the
Florida Strait, out at sea. The dolphin attains a
length of five or six feet. There is a smaller species

g8 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

of about two feet. The rod record of the Tuna Club
is held by Dr. Mattison in a thirty-pound fish. He
has offered a loving-cup for any one who shall beat his
record.

THE RONCADOR

Along the mainland shores of California, specially
south of Santa Barbara, there are a number of fishes
which are found either in the surf or near it, and af-
ford excellent sport to anglers. Such is the yellow-fin
roncador (Umbrina sinaloe). Roncador stearnsi is
another fine fish ; a round-nosed silver and yellow fish,
delicious for the table, when freshly caught, and a good
fighter on light tackle. One can often see them in
small schools from the Redondo, Long Beach and
other piers, and on the west or south side of Santa
Catalina, where there is surf. They feed on shellfish
and the crabs of the sand, and are fished for with
clams. They go by several names — the yellowfin, surf
and roncador — and rarely exceed seven pounds in
weight. The little surf fishes of the coast are inter-
esting from the fact that the young are born alive.

FISHING PIERS

All along the coast of California, but especially from
Santa Cruz south, every town, as Monterey, Santa
Cruz, Capitola, Avalon, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica,
Long Beach, Ocean Park, Venice, Naples, Del Mar,
Sun Set, Coronado and others, all have remarkable
piers built out into the ocean at great expense, and
all, or most of them, for the benefit of the angler,
though many contain shops and many amusements.

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 99

Here, winter and summer, an eighth of a mile out to
sea, one will find scores of anglers with long bamboo
poles fishing, at places like Redondo and Newport,
where deep water runs inshore, and taking fishes of
large size.

BAIT ANIMALS

There are many animals found in these waters which
have a distinct relation to the fisheries. The flying-
fish, Fig. 46, is one. It has four wing-like fins and
weighs about a pound. It is one of the most im-
portant bait fishes of the region, employed for tuna,
yellowtail and white sea bass. This is the fish that
is supposed to fly, but it is merely a living aeroplane.
Its tail is the screw which, violently whirled about,
forces it into the air when the large gauze-like wings
are spread and the fish soars from one-eighth to one-
quarter of a mile if the wind is favorable. When the
inertia fails, its tail drops until it touches the water,
when the whirling is recommenced, forcing the fish into
the air again. I have seen the wind take these fishes
like butterflies thirty feet in air. They are the natural
food of the tuna and, living on the surface, or near it,
are ever ready to spring into the air in an effort to
escape.

SARDINES
(Clupanodon cceruleus)

Countless schools of sardines are found about the
islands. They spawn in the bay of Avalon and in the
early spring are followed by birds and fishes and also
by professional fishermen working for the canners.

ioo FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

The sardine is very important to the angler, as it is
the bait par excellence for the great game fishes of
the region, though a spoon or bone " jig " is often suc-
cessful.

SMELT
(Osmerus)

Smelt are common on the Pacific coast, attaining a
length of eight inches. They are also valuable as
food and bait, but do not rank with sardines.

ABALONE

This shellfish, Fig. 47, known as the earshell or
haliotis, is found on almost every rock about the
islands not already looted by the Chinese and Japanese.
They are valuable as food and particularly as bait for
certain fishes, as sheepshead, whitefish and others.

The crayfish, Fig. 48, is also a bait and food for
certain fishes, or was until it became scarce, due to
the lack of laws in the State of California. There are
a variety of crabs found in the kelp and on the bot-
tom; spider crabs of large size, food for various pred-
atory fishes and of much interest; huge starfishes,
which clamber over the rocks, Fig. 49 ; sea cucumbers,
anemones, Fig. 50, and sea urchins; all are eaten by
certain sharks or rays. In the open water float many
beautiful animals; giant jelly fishes, twenty or thirty
feet long, their discs, of lavender or maroon, presenting
a remarkable appearance as they drift in the blue cur-
rent, meteors of the sea. Here are myriads of small
jellies of many shapes, one almost black ; also swarms
of ascidians, as the chain-like salpa, the fire-body, or

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 101

pyrosoma, all of which blaze at night in mystic lights.
Even the most insignificant animals, as the peridinium
— an infusorian — often colors the waters near the
mainland shores red, which at night turns the ocean
into a seething caldron of vivid flame, so that the en-
tire Santa Catalina channel appeared to have ignited,
all caused by a vast congregation of animals invisible
to the naked eye. Every drop of water is alive, con-
tributing to the story of the sea and its inhabitants.

SALMON
(Oncorhynchus tschawytscha)

The remarkable diversity of sports in California and
the Pacific Coast is seen in the fact that in Monterey
Bay there is fine salmon fishing. The Chinook salmon
is the one which affords the best sport, although there
are many kinds found up to Alaska affording fine
sport about Vancouver Island.

The big schools of salmon which lie off the mouths
of the Sacramento in the winter ascend in summer
and spawn; the majority die in the rivers after the
spawning. In July and August, with the regularity
of clockwork, a big school of Chinooks, Fig. 52, is
found between Monterey and Santa Cruz, and followed
by scores of professional fishermen and anglers. The
latter go out from Santa Cruz, Capitola, Carmel and
Monterey in small launches or boats, and, when the
school is found, have sport that has made this region
famous all over the country, and several clubs have
been organized to prosecute it.

The fish generally lie thirty or forty feet down, so
that the line, baited with sardine, anchovy or smelt,

102 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST

is lowered by means of a sinker, and trolled slowly
along. In rod fishing the sinker is made detachable
and comes off as soon as the salmon is hooked. The
fish do not jump to any great extent, but are very
game and afford fascinating and attractive sport. The
salmon range up to forty or fifty pounds, but the
average catch of the writer has been about thirty.

STRIPED BASS
(Roccus lineatus)

Some years ago striped bass were introduced into
Sacramento River from the East, and have taken their
place as the game fish par excellence of what may be
called the San Francisco region. They are trolled for
with spoons on the flats and fished for with bait suc-
cessfully in various parts of the great bay. That the
fish are migrating is shown by the fact that several
have been taken in the Southern California waters,
five hundred miles away.

TROUT

A large volume could be written on the fresh-water
game fishes of the Pacific coast alone, as they range
from the Alaska grayling to the rainbow trout and
steelhead; but as this volume is merely intended as
a picture book of fishes, with minimum description,
the reader is referred to the large works of Jordan and
others, referred to in the appendix.

The rainbow trout is the native fish. It is found in
all the streams of California that amount to anything
down into Mexico, and has been carried all over the

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 103

world. Twenty-pounders are taken in Klamath Lake,
Oregon, and the author has a nine-pounder, Fig. 53,
from the same region. It is a hard-fighting, good
eating fish and, in swift water, like the San Gabriel,
Feather and other rivers, is a joy to the man or
woman with the rod.

Famous trout rivers are the Sequel, San Gabriel,
Truckee, Kern, Sacramento, Santa Ynez, Merced, Ven-
tura, Rogue, Carmel, Russian, Williamson and many
more, in which are found the Dolly Varden, cutthroat,
rainbow, golden, lake, silver, Tahoe, brook, brown,
in fact, almost every trout known, nearly all intro-
duced. The lakes are Bear Valley, Klamath, Tahoe
group, Weber, Blue Lakes and hundreds of others in
California, Oregon and Washington, affording a vari-
ety of scenery and sport unparalleled in the world, for
a complete list of which apply to the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company of San Francisco.

STEELHEAD

(Salmo gairdneri)

The steelhead is a notable fish peculiar to the Pacific
coast and found in or at the little lagunas of every
notable stream as far south as the San Gabriel. They
are supposed by some to be rainbows gone to sea, but
they appear to be a different fish, making two up-the-
river runs in the year, affording fine sport. Twenty-
pounders have been taken in the Santa Ynez, and the
Rogue of Oregon affords fine sport for them.

104 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST
GRAYLING

In some of the Alaskan streams the grayling is
found.

BLACK BASS

Black bass has been introduced into a number of
streams, lakes and private waters of California, as
the dam at San Diego, while the Blue Lakes, north of
San Francisco, abound in them.

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF ANGLING

The average reader has little conception of the
value of sport as an asset to a community.

The State of Maine values its fishing and hunting at
five million dollars per annum ; in other words, sports-
men bring that amount to spend in the State every
year. In California the actual amount expended in
sport annually is much more than this, as hundreds of
anglers come from all over the world.

In Avalon, the town of Santa Catalina, the boatmen
who guide and gaff for visiting anglers have nearly
two hundred thousand dollars invested in sport and its
appliances.

FISHING AUTHORITIES

If the angler desires more explicit data regarding the
fish of the Pacific coast he will find them in the follow-
ing works :

The Southern Pacific Company publishes an angling
pamphlet.

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PHOTO. BY PARKER

The Lake Tahoe Trout, Sa/mo henshaivi tahoensis. A thirty pounder.

Fig. 54

2

FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST in

An exhaustive work on fishes is that of Dr. David
Starr Jordan, President of Stanford University.

Works on angling and the sport are : " The Big
Game Fishes," published by Macmillan and Co., New
York ; " The Log of a Sea Angler," Houghton Mifflin
Company; "The Channel Islands of California," Mc-
Clurg & Co., Chicago, 111.; "Big Game at Sea,"
The Outing Publishing Company, New York ; " Recre-
ations of a Sportsman," G. P. Putnam's Sons ; " Fish
Stories," Henry Holt and Company ; " Guide to Study
of Fishes," Henry Holt and Company, New York;
United States Fish Commission Reports, etc.

"2 MEMORANDA

MEMORANDA 113

U4 MEMORANDA

MEMORANDA

"6 MEMORANDA

MEMORANDA 117

"8 MEMORANDA

MEMORANDA 119

120 MEMORANDA

MEMORANDA 121

122 MEMORANDA

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