Evening star., 1898-12-16
CAUGHT A SEA LION.
California Man Lands a Bie oae With
Hook and Line.

From the Chicago Inter-ocean.
For rare good luck in fishing Coronado
seems 10 have taken the PAIN during the
past summer. The banks off this place
bave fairly swarmcd with good game fish
Some of the catches have been remark
able, both for the number OF fish and their
size. Fishermen. whe her protest. sea
harvesters. like the Portuguese Of the little
fishing hamlet of La Playa. across the
hay, or expert amateurs like the eastern
people making their headquarters here
have had abundant sport. On some davs
the sea, with a royal munificence has
yielded immense returns OF fish in pounds
enough to fill all the smacks out and act
ually firing the anglers to the point of ex-
haustion.
The most exciting catch of the summer
was not a fish at all. II was sea lion.
ana Charley Davis Of San Diego was the
man who caught him. Davis is one of
those born fishermen" who viii steal a
day off whenever he can TO follow his be-
loved pastime. He knows al about fish, Of
course, and IS better aCquaip ed with the
bay and ocean in this region than most cf
the pilots. He knows where the blue smelt
has his haUnts. what bait TO use for rcd
snappers, and what for sculpin. Sea trout
are his speciality, but he has done his iUrn
at hauling in croakers off the Coron ido
pier.
The day he caught the sea lion he was
out for sharks at the Zuininga jetty. The
jetty is at the mouth of the harbGr. ex-
tending southward parallel with Point
Iona 1t is sheltered by the big shoulder
of the point There Is good fishing there.
consequently, the year around. ReDorls
had been brought I'm of big sharks seen in
the shoals about the jetty. So Davis got
his friends Major Simpson, Ben. RoderiCk
land DAD Taber, all expert fishermen and
men of Veracity. Each took along y shark
line NJ a Of rln
splcsd to the heaviest fish line and a six
inch hook attached 10 the end.
They baited their lines with live smelt.
These are found anywhere and everywhere
from five in hes to more than twelve long.
The smels Davis and his partners used
were about eight inches long. They We're
lively and made conrmotion. even at thu
end of such a heavy line. Davis told his
friends, therefore, that they need not worry
about getting bite. II was not long be-
fore lean and hungry leopard shark nos
ing around for lunch, ran across the
smelt. He proceeded 10 swallow the bait
and hook. and then tried TO withdraw.
Finding himself caught. he made a terrific
commotion, thrashing about and leaping
out of the water. Davis had the end OF
his line tied to the timber Of the jetty. and
merely held IL when II was loose watching
the efforts of the leopard.
Just then small herd of seals bore down
on the scene. They had apparently been
basking of Point Iona and caught sight
of the lively episode I'm the water. Among
them was sea Iona great. hairy-faced
fellow, with voice like a foghorn He
swan up, and. finding the shark swimming
about aimlessly. took him in at a gulp
The shark was a good-siZed one, too prob
ably three feet long. The sea lion must
have swallowed the shark at the first gulp.
for the line suddenly snapped out of Davis
hand and tipped il came taut Then il
spun around on a tangent, and away ont
at the end could be seen the lion, raising
his hairy head and giving devilish grin an
the man on the jetty. His huge tusks gave
MIN the appearance of grinning AT least.
though he was pretty mad, judging by his
hoarse cries and grunting. He dived down
again, and there came a tug at the line like
steamer trying to yank over a wharf n
was a tremendous strain Davis and his
friends We're afraid the line would part. but
1t held, ana brought the old Hon in
hair hour of furious work wore the old
feiioW out He was plainly exhausted Yet
whenever an attempt was made to haul him
IN he resented 1t by making another series
OF tugs. puffings and gruntings. The COM
oined efforts OF all four men were required
10 draw him alongside the jetty, where he
was held close and gradually drawn ashore
Ihen one OF the men got big timber and
struck him over the head and killed him.
He was skinned and his carcass thrown
back into the sea The hide was nailed ON
IaVis' ha rn door.