The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-27
WONDERFUL SEA FISHING,
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA A SALT
WATER ANGLERS PhRADLsB.

Hunibers Taken In the Bays ana Cove
OF santa Catalina Isisua-Biack Sea Bass
That weigh Moro Than Two Hundred
Pounds-A Great RED ana Reel Record.
POMONA, Cal, Juno 2l.-The first amateur
fishermen to arrive from the Eastern States at
the Southern California coast angling resorts
this season arc coming In, and from this timo TO
August there will probably DO arrivals Of gentle
mon from across the continent, solely to angle
for q season In the waters that lap the coast OF
this region. A large number Of s~portsmanlike
fishermen como annually from cities as far
away as New York, Brooklyn. Hartford, and
even Boston to participate in the remark
able sea fishing to be had in half a dozen differ
emit spots along the Pacific shore in this part
Of California. Several years ago DR.. W, Sew
ard Webb and n party OF relatives and friends
came from New York to Los Angeles in
q special train, and spent several weeks
in fishing for the score Of varieties OF gamy sea
fish to DO had in this region. The late Mayor
Carter Harrison Of Chicago led several par
| tics Of gentlemen of piscatorial tastes across the
continent for n few weeks Of angling and hunt
ing in midsummer along the coast Of Southern
California. Senator Don Cameron and his
friends spent two summer In fishing and hunt
ing from San Diego to Santa barbara. Last
year q party Of young millionaires OF Now York
and Boston spont three months Mt Santa Cata-
lima I~sland-thirty miles of the coast Of Los
Angeles county-and did nothing but fish
day after day. Whom the Marquis of Lorne
and his suite wero in this State he said that
his ambition was to come back here some sum-
mer and spend q few weeks In going after the
game fish OF the shore waters. The Duke Of
Sutherland, who was out here a dozen years ago,
on his way around the world, had q glorious time
hunting and fishing for nearly q month in tho
mountains and Off the coast of Southern Cali
/ forNta He ta a,,Ntn1 m h artpn aatA thara vvara
no salt waters more abundant with varieties
of gamy fish than those that wash up and
down the California shore from Monterey to
Mexico. The greatest record ever made at ono
time with rod and reel that Of landing . geo
pound black sea bass, was made by DR.. Stuart
M. Beard. n young man from Canandaigua, N.
Y, who came to Santa Catalina Island last year
for q summer Of fishing.
The conditions which produce the wide diver
sity Of fish along the ocean shore Of this region
are not to be found elsewhere. They are caused
by what may DO termed the opposite Of the Gulf
Stream Of tho Atlantic coast. Instead Of q Gulf
Stream flowing north along the coast OF North
America, We have the Japanese current. 1t
sweeps up along the east shore Of Asia and.
turning north Of Japan. sweeps down the Pacific
shores of this continent, modifying the entire
climate Of the west coast OF North America and
producing conditions under which the coast
waters are acceptable to many fishes Of many
zones. Thus the California shore waters have
the barracuda yellow tail. mullet. and pompano,
besides other varieties. whose Atlantic coast
counterparts are not known north of Bermuda or
the Gulf of Mexico. In the sea waters of South
ern California the sea bass and sheepshead OF
the temperate zone are caught side by side with
the tuna and bonita of tho tropics. In a word.
the waters of the coast of this region are the
meeting place for an extraordinarily wide va
riety Of fishes.
The abundance Of these fish is astonishing.
Where catches with rod and reel of q half dozen
barracuda would be marvelled at by fishermen
Of Bermuda, catches OF q score OF the same fish
of this coast in one day are common. Hundreds
OF people have caught with rod and seei or With
common hand lines at n half dozen OF the more
favorable fishing spots in this region from 400
to 600 pounds of game fish in one day. A San
Francisco fishing club gave a prize a few years
ago for the greatest individual catch Of edible
fish by line and hook In a single day that season.
A young man at Redondo Beach won. He
caught with q hand line in seven hours lao
pounds Of barracuda, 73 pounds of mullet. ITO
pounds of sea bass. $50 pounds of mackerel and
over 265 pounds Of yellow tails and bonita
making a total capture OF 725 pounds Of fish.
Then, too, there is the pleasant certainty OF
finding fish at almost any hour during the sum
mer months. at the resorts for anglers along this
coast. From May to October there is n train Of
cloudless. rainicss d~ays-no squalls and no tenn
pests. The sportsman may plan his fishing and
hunting excursions weeks in advance with abso
lutte knowledge Of what the weather will be
The never-failing sea breeze Is 30 sure not 10 ex
coed q certain velocity; the smooth water is &C
sure not to he rufied by II sudden storm. that q
days fishing In the coves and bays OF the South
ern California shore Is more like a sail on q big
mill pond than on the mightiest Of oceans.
The most remarkable catches OF gamy. sea
no less an authority than the Marquis OF
tS.niDS once fsloI ssidT ThIs ,s made i, daily tEys q Msc Santa "a
southwest. y is thirty miles long and average,
four miles wide: It lies about twenty.nine mile,
the path of tho schools Of fish as they move uI
and down the coast with the changing seasons
who sailed up the California coast IN 1899, wrote
that he found thousands OF seyages on whe'
and that they caught a marvellous abundance
Of edible fishes with hooks Of bone and shell
the country and through woods and stubble
end fishes from dawn until night, and who Is DC
lighted beyond measure II he axes hSme or bach
would Be worry likely to put little credence in Tho
reports Of what the anglers about Santa Gaia
!, July. August. and early in September. Within
n quErter OF a mile from the little village O
Spanish mackcrel, yellow tail. mullet, grouper
!: and bonita In n few hours are common. Occa
sionally u monster black sea bass. weighing SOC
pounds, Is hooked. and less often a tuna ,suct
as 10 caught In the Mediterranean 10 brough
to shore to tip the beam at 100 or 200 pounds
j The veriest tyro at angling can hook n dozen
two or three pound mackerel or a Twenty-Five
> morning. Can he land themi We'll. that is an
. other story.
The writer has seen girls of IA or Is year
z land six and seven puHnaciOus and lively 30
! pound yellow tails in three hours. besides a few
barracuda, One day last week our export nsh
600 pounds Of bonita. mnckerel. albicore. an.
i yellow tails in Avalon Bay between z and II
barracuda or bass como to the island to feed tn
catches run to almost incredible figures. Thu
writer saw a gentleman and his wife and tw'
young daughters. all in a boat together, land b!
, rods and reels and by hand lines. twenty-fou
r in the course OF a few hours one morning
D Charles Dudley Warner and a party Of Ave gen
? tlemen from New York got, with hand-line1
4 over 600 pounds of fish at Redondo ono afteI
noon four years ago. but In the catch was q zoo
= -a,OA hlnal N haaa