The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-27
THE NOBLE STRIPED BASS.
Fine Fish Persistent in It's Indifference to
to the hnglersl Lures.


to the Anglers Lures.
The bold Sir Galahad's quest of the Holy
Grail was hardly less earnest and per-
sistent than the efforts of the flower OF the
angling chivalry to take striped bass with
rod and line. There are enthusiasts who
have devoted days to wandering along the
bay shore casting for this game fish until
their arms were weary and the sun had
built upon their honest faces the semblance
OF strong drink, but not fin has come
to reward their industry. There are bass
In the bay for the nets of the commercial
fishermen, but that imported migrate will
have none of our lines, and declines to die
the death of game fish, preferrlng to
have his vertebre cracked by foreigner
and his soul pass through his guls to the
largon of foreign requiem.
The striped bass is an aristocrat OF the
sea. He has furnished forth the tables of
the Roman emperors. He has magnlh-
Gently sailed up the Yellow Tiber and en-
tered the Acherusian marshes. He is the
lupus OF classical history bigger and
more voracious gourmand than the purple
clad gluttons that devoured him.
When Nittelius Cesar astonlshed Rome
by the splendor of his feasts before Yespa-
sian prompted the gladiatOrs to end that
worthless life the striped bass had the
place of honor on the imperial table.
When the legions of Titus camped outside
the walls of Jerusalem that great and mag
unanimous general had his bass sent from
Rome, and tribune and centurion enjoyed
this delicious fish on the burning sands OF
Syria.
Like the shad, this fish was a stranger to
these waters until introduced here some
fifteen years ago. In 1880 few were
taken, but it is only within the last few
years that they have been captured IN any
number. When they first appeared In the
fish stalls they rated as high as the much
lauded pompano, and were offered as
rare and expensive delicacy. Now they
have come down to the level of the ordl-
nary good fish and are almost as plentiful
as the shad. They are large: but none
have yet attained the weight which is re-
corded of their Eastern brethren.
The outfit which angling for the striped
bass demands comprises rod about nine
feet long, strong but light, not to exceed
pound; linen or hemp line from two to
three hundred yards long, and reel which
should be the most perfect OF its kind, a
double or even triple multiplier preferred.
The squid is considered the best bait,
though clam or shrimp may be used. At
the Little and Great Falls of the Potomac
the anglers take the striped bass with the
artificial fly. An enthusiast dwelling on
and bold bitter, and the angler whether
he trolls with shrimp or clam bait in
brackish creeks still bats or heaves and
hauls in the wild surf of the outer shores,
carefully sways the rod until its squid de-
scribes its slowly moving circle around the
head and then by a swift, inexplicable
movement causes it to dart like an arrow
straight out far over the sea, and the reel
whiZzes and whirls until it seems to flash
nd Taati tlH-f for
the cessation of the hum which indicates
that the squid has dropped full 100 feet
away"
To all these things did the California
angler seriously incline, and he has sailed
forth full of expectancy. The swift tides
and rocky shores of Marin County seem
specially adapted for this fishing They
water bounding the weedy pool, where
small fry and shrimps seek refuge from the
impetuosity of the current. Off Lime
Point, in a dozen places along the eastern
shore of the peninsula, there are striped
bass, but they will not take the baited
hook. From the Tiburon ferry, among
the jutting rocks that break the furious
flow through Raccoon Straits, these exas-
perating fish have been seen feeding, and
hardy and experienced anglers have spent
days and days in an attempt to take Just
one on the rod; but the record is still
blank. From Fort Point to the Seal rocks,
from the fog-whistle to Point Bonita every
likely spot has been exploited, but no
striped bass has rewarded these heroic
labors.
There is small creek or estuary of
braekish water commonly known as Sal
mon Creek, emptying into Tomales Bay,
and here those undaunted and sanguine
fishermen have cast their lines, but only
one small bass has blest their endeavors
The search for the philosophers stone
does not seem more hopeless, the probing
of mechanics to the innermost depths for
the discovery of perpetual motion more
futile, the mental concentration on chem
istry for the production of the elixir of life
more distracting and fruitless than tue in
cessant endeavor of the distracted angler
to wrench this striped bass mystery from
its concealment.
The community of thought engendered
by general calamity has brought these dis
appointed fishermen together to compare
notes, and organize a grand campaign
against this most obstinate of fish. The
Eastern men, yersed in ali the science Of
angling for striped bass, have been led
around the harbor and have gone through
the motions, but proved as unsuccessful as
the theorists They have ceased to sheer
and have joined the others in wondering
what is the matter, and why this grand
sport. not a whit inferior to salmon or
trout fishing, should continue to be denied
the anglers of the West.
DAN O'CoNNELL.