Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-08-01
SPORT AT SANTA CATALINA.
The Barracuda a Bigger Fish and
Better Fighter than the Salmon.

Better Fighter than the Salmon.
According TO Santa Catalina CORE
spondent OF the San Francisco Chroni-
Gle, barracuda fishing off the coast OF
Southern California must be very eX.
| citing sport. "Look outl Shove her
| up IN the wind or 1t will haul me over. ,
This from a red-faced fisherman bend.
Ing over the stern of the flying boat
and clinging to the taunt line will
desperation.
Up shot the yacht in the wind, and,
| amid the thunder of the beating sail, a
big fish, the gamy barracuda, was
coaXed aboard. a salmon in the Res
tlgouche never made a better fight
| and our red-faceG friends face grew
| redder. Now the fish was high in the
| air, shooting several feet like an arrow.
gllstening and cleaning like molten
silver, while the crystal drops flew
| away, veritable gems in their Irides.
| cence- Now he was under, dashing
toward the boat; now away, bringing
the line up with sounding thud,
| diving deep into the blue sea. ugly,
vicious, desperate, cunning and mad
dened, all at once. But the hook is
good and the line strong, and finally
the long, 1.-the, animated arrow is lifted
| quickly and dances its last ''heel and
toe" upon the deck-a beauty over four
feet long, heavier and stouter than
many.
i've tackled barracuda" said the
fisherman, who was a lawyer when at
home, "in about every water where
| they live, but that chap gave me the
best fight 1 ever had. 1t wouldn't
have taken much more to have pulled
me over"
Barracuda fishing is to Southern
California what blue fishing is to the
East, and, as has been suggested, a
good, big stocky fish is capable of pro.
| ducing sport, and in its breaks, dives
and struggles reminds one of the sal
mon
The season for barracuda is fairly in,
and thousands of the beautiful crea.
lures, with their sharp fangs and bril-
| liant eyes, are taken to market and
! sold in all the towns in Los Angeles
county.
The barracuda is, to those who never
see it except on the bill of fare, fish
| somewhat resembling a pike or pick
erel. ranging from four to six feet in
length, with a pointed snout, wide
hideous mouth, armed with faDg-likt
teeth, long, tapering body, blue back,
with Iidiscent tints, grading off into
| cleaning silver below. The fish,
| known TO science as the SphyrGnG bar.
| rdculd, Is arrow shaped, powerful,
agile and savage, the tiger of its kind,
| and delicious when well cooked, which
means broiled over hot Goals 1t has d
| wide geographical range, but is met
| with In the greatest numbers on the
| edge of and in the tropics. The wri
ter first tished for it in the Gulf oI
Mexico, north OF Yucatan and along
the florida reef, near Havana, where II
is much larger than here. The South
ern California fish averages three or
! four feet In length, is slender, while
| that of the Gulf of Mexico ranges NJ
| to five and six feet and over, and 1.
| very heavy.
The boat has fallen away again and
| three lines are cut. The trade wind
has freshened, and gunwales under we
are taking everything as it comes,
| going SO fast that the cleaning bats.
| with their fringe-like tenticles, ever
and anon leap out of the water, so that
1t would be a very prosaic barracuda
who could resist it.
Last year." said another of the
| party, las L was just off the point OF
| the island yonder, had most curious
! experience with a fish. 1 had just
taken one in and baited, and was about
| to throw over, in fact, was swinging
my bait, when l saw something flash,
| and then l received a knock on the
| side of the head that about laid Inc
out. In fact, l did drop into the bot
| tom of the boat, and with me went a
| big, ive-foot barracuda. He had
| either seen my bait or accidentally
| jumped from the water and taken me
fairly on the side of the head.
That's nothing" began the man at
| the helm, but here vicious jerk came
on line, and a second later a gleam-
| ing, silvery arrow sprang into the air,
shook itself violently and fell back u
| rush this way and that. The fish was
( in sight, Its sides cleaning, when sud-
| denly the line slackened. He's gone.
| by the eternalI'' shouted the fisherman.
hauling IN the line. "No, he isn't vet, -
and here he held up his hook, and upon
| it was the head and about six inches
| of the late barracuda. Its eyes were
| still cleaning and 1t had hardly real
| lied that its body had disappeared.
"What does this meanP' asked the
! fisherman. Sharks replied the
| skipper. 1--WE had a school follow me
! for a whole day and take about half the
fish l caught. Sometimes one barra-
cuda will take hold of another, but
! that's rare.''
The barracuda is to our mind the
best edible fish in these waters, bat,
like the quail, it is often ruined In the
| cooking.
1t should be broiled over hot Goals,
and can be served in many WAYS, with
native white wine or condiments To
| the taste.
In many waters the barracuda is not
| fit to eat Around Havana, in the
immediate vicinity of the city, It is
often poisonous to many. Old fisher
men consider this due to copper in the
water, the flesh turning green when
cooked. but the reason is 10 be found
elsewhere. On American shores 1t il
always one of the finest game and foo,
| GShe5