The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-06-22
FISHON THE WING
NOVEL SPORT FOR GUNNERS IN THE
WATERS OF CALIFORNIA.
they Are Retrieved by a Water Span.
fel-Finny Game That Is Shot In
the Air AS Quail Are kf1led-Worth
SO Each as Bait for the Anglers
Who Seek to Catch Big Tunas.

inches in length; it's wings outspread and
locked. it's hind wings trembling, and it's
big black eyes staring.
1t singular sight, but one of the men
had no poetry in his soul, for the moment
the flyer fair distance away he raised
a shotgun and fired bringing it down whirl-
ing and struggling into the water. Imme-
diately water spaniel sprang over the rail
and swan toward the game.
"Ee won't get it, said the dogs master,
throwing the shell out of the gun. There's
but one trouble-the game Sinks And
such was the case. The flying fish went to
the bottom and disappeared before the dog
reached it. The animal swan around in
dazed fashion and finally was hauled aboard.
Flying fish shooting is peculiar to Santa
Catalina, where the big California flying fish
makes it's summer home in the San Glenn
ente channel.
Il have a patent on the sport" said the
man who had the gun, but, as l said, it has
but one drawback-you can't always get
the game. No, am not in it for my health
or pleasure. You see, the tuna season is
beginning here. The tuna is particular and
wants flying fish diet; but the trouble
is the flying fish don't come into the bays
until it gets little warmer; so we have to
go and get them. Last night they were
offering S. apiece for flying fish and every
body was out. Some had nets, some went
with two lights in the bow and tried to spear
the fish; that works in summer The flying
fish seems sort of dazed when it sees the
light and lies perfectly still in the water
and can be struck with a spear very easily
Another man rugged up a big sheet on his
boat SO that the flying fish would strike it
nd foil in h,,t -
for some on a new plan. You see, we just
steam ahead at full speed, and when a fish
rises, frightened, and tries to soar away,
why, l let him have it and the dog jumps
over and retrieves it if it doesn't sink Look
out! There they go.''
AS he spoke two large flyers started out
of the water and went bounding away They
did not fly, that was evident; they merely
locked their wings and scared One went
to the right and one to the left; about two
feet above the surface, and the sportsman
picked off one with shot as neatly as one
could wish.
Its queer SPORT he said, land they're
a queer fish. See this one. Ten to one it
will strike the boat with it's eyes wide
open"
Instead of darling away from the boat, a
flying fish that had dashed out of the water
headed directly for it and was coming on
about three feet above the surface. 1t tipped
slightly with the wind, but preserved it's
balance perfectly, and with a headlong
plunge, struck the cabin and fell into the
water, from which it was rescued by one
of the men. Presently the rushing boat
started two more fish, and the man with the
gun picked them off in a manner that elic-
tied applause from the lockers on; but, I'M
fortunately, both fishes were lost, the span
icl reaching one just as it went down.
Shooting flying fishes requires as much
skill as shooting quais," said the sports
man. They move just as fast and look so
much like the water that they are hard to
hit. They swim in coveys, just like quails,
too, and one of the prettest sights 1 ever
saw about the California islands was the
flight of a covey of flying fishes l was out
after them in a small launch, and as we
turned the corner of the island we sud-
denly struck heavy west wind. 1t hap
pened that at that moment a school of
tunas came rushing in and chased the fly
ers into the air. There must have been
thirty or forty of them, and as they cleared
the water, head to the wind, the gale struck
them and carried them high into the air.
where they drifted away like a flock of in
sects glstening in the sunlight gradually
falling away before the wind and disappear-
ing from view
''How can flying fish fly" asked one of
the listeners.
THE fish don't fly: l have watched hun
dreds Of them and spent weeks trying to
photograph them. There is portfolio in
the Hermosa, and leaned out of that and
held my kodak trying to catch enc, but it
was almost impossible. But saw how thew
fly You see, all sorts of fish prey on the
flying fish, and when the steamer comes
along they think it's big killer perhaps or
tuna, and being slow swimmers they leap
out of the water, and they do it in this way
they whirl the tail round and round and it
acts as a screw and sends them out of the
water The tail is dashed with great vigor
and that conveys to the body quiverng,
wriggIng motion that makes the side fms
or wings look as though they were being
tapped; but it is only for second The
moment the fish clears the water the wings
are seen to be rigid. and they are held that
way while the fish shoots away three feet
above the surface, like kite supported by
the rush through the air. and impelled by
the momentum received by the action of the
tail. They shoot along, say, for 500 feet,
then the force Of the rush begins to be ex-
hausted and the tail drops-not the head.
mind you; just the tip of the tail; and see -
and the speaker picked up the four-poun
11yer-'see the lower lobe of the tail 1t is
longer than the upper. This touches the
water first, and the moment it does the tail
is twisted furiously, and once more the fish
darts away, clearing, perhaps, 300 feet be-
fore it's tail drops again. This is repeated
three or four times, enabling the fish to
travel a great distance without returning to
the water. The only beating of the wings
is caused by the wriggling of the tail. In a
word. the flying fish has four parachites that
it fixes-two in front and two behind
AS the speaker finished a flying fish
crossed the bow of the boat followed by a
huge fish, cleaning like silver, that shot up
into the air like an arrow, struck the flyer,
and sent it whirling like a pinwheel into
the air.
There's the fish," exclaimed the man
with the gun, the big creature dropped
gracefully back; there's the fellow that re-
trieves the flying fish and rarely misses him.
The tuna is the only fish that can catch his
prey in the air. You see. he frightens the
flying fish into the air and follows it, Just
beneath the surface. and when the oppor-
tunity comes makes flying leap and some
times seizes it; again, as now, he hits and