The Yellowstone journal., 1894-11-24
UAA.iiiNG yLWTISH.
AepcAlNc FOR MARINE MONSTERS IN
SAN DIEGO BAY.
- Process Is of the Progressive Kind.
Yhs Part Toothpicks Piay-rhe Run with
. Keg-Members of the Bass Family That
Wesrl, Hupare.is of Poun,ls


1hs Part Tootlapicks Piay-rhe Run with
Ksg-Members Of the Bass Family That
weigh Bundreds of Pounds.
Don't talk to a man from southern
california about black bass fishing, or
- will make your best bass story fee
he. pitiful thing He will tell you of
lllnck bass that could swallow the big
0Bet days catch you ever made and
IKE in your creel for dessert without
= much as gulping. Voice doubt, and
- man from San Diego Will pull from
his fishing traps something that looks
IKE one fiuked ships archor. That is
what he fishes with for the strange.
monstrous black bass in the bays and
shout the islands of the southern Cali
1pgnia coast. They don't call them black
bAs down there, though the fish COM
nissioners say they are, and the natu-
ralists have identified them by fins and
homes and form with the gamy two and
three Founders that make mon tickle
even to trout.
The men who catch these fish that
sometimes weigh 900 pounds call them
jswfsh--a corruption of junetish. The
last is translation of one of their Mex
loan names. Probably they were called
junefish from the fact that they are
plentiful along tine shores in the late
spring and early summer. No matter
how he got his name, the Jewish is a
wonder. lie iooAs like "a bass fisherman's
nightmare when they get him out of
the water. Every f:n and mark is there
magniiied out of all proportion. His
scales are as big as half dollars. his
mouth is gaping chasm, and the spike.
of his ,iorsal lin are bigger tnan tenpen-
ny nails.
The process of catching Jewish is a
prog ressive ana interesting one. The
fishers begin at the beginning. With
bent pins or dip nets the lo0!: for min
nows OF sardelles. The Iuarry secured
il promptly becomes b; il, and the con-
course is treated to sns L fishing. Then
comes the smelt's tur in the success
sson He is impaled. I'D the fisherman
with heavier rod al Il a larger hook,
goes to the other side of the wharf for
halibut or sea bs.ss.
When the bait, de ID or alive, is ready,
the stoutest armed man ON the wharf
picks up the line He swings the two
or three pounds OF bait around his head
like an Indian does the bolas and hurls
4 seaward The great line, as thick as
lead pencil, coils out after the hook,
and that is nearly all until the fish
comes along
Incidentally toothpicks play quite a
part in the fishing Each fisherman
takes a handful with him when he leaves
the breakfast table. They stick one in
. crack at the top of pile and loosely
loop the line around it. The shore part
Of the line is coiled on tie wharf. and
the end is fast to an empty powder keg
or some such thing that will float we'll
On the toothpick is stuck a bit Of white
rag, and as half a dozen or dozen lines
are used at once there is a string of
these little signal flags all along the
dock. The fisherman has nothing more
to do for awhile than to watch the fags.
When one goes down, it means that
something has taken the bait. After
gathering in the barracuda heads or
the impaled halibut the Jewish starts
away like the locomotive on fast ex
press. Down goes the signal flag
Everybody around runs for the line.
They know they can't hold the fish, but
the resistance makes it harder for him
and helps them TO tire him out-the ul-
innate object. The great fish does not
struggle at first, but moves steadily sea-
ward, pulling the line through the
mems hands. Occasionally. when the
fish weighs less than 200 pounds, they
can tiro him cut without paying out all
of the line, but usually it all goes, and
presently the struggle is transferred to
the water. The empty powder keg
bounces over the water most erratical-
ly, the men chase il in boat, and
when they catch it hold on. Then the
real fun of jewfishing begins. 1t is just
sport for fish of any size to tow a
whitehall around the bay, and tits pret-
ty rough sailing in his wake. As soon
as he realizes that there is fight ON the
Jewish seems to forget that he is a staid
bottom fish. All the steam of his black
bass ancestors gets riley, and he plunges
and turns, twists and strikes. Some
where down in the cavern of his gullet
he has an arrangement of bone like a
couple OF millstones, a. when he dis
covers he cannot spit out the hook he
tries to swallow 1t and grind the line
apart, so the slack has to be carefully
attended to. There are some tremendous
fish in San Diego bay, and though the
hooks are made Of hand forged tool steel
they have snapped many of them.
II everything goes wei, if the hool,
holds and the fish does not grind the
line, if he steers away from submerged
buoy chains and docks, the fight must
End in the death of the fish. Sometimes
be tows the boat for three hours before
his strength is gone and he is hauled
to the surf@ce. Ine death struggle is
worst of all The fish is dragged to the
top and lies there, apparently all but
dead Then they drive a harpoon into
him, and the sting of the steel starts ali