The sun., 1900-12-30
RODS OUT FOR SWORDFISH.
rERi LIVELY ANGLING TRIED BY
CiiifORNi F!SHERHEN.
Discovery That the swordrsh WIN Take Halt
Followed BY Attempts to Catch One
--1rar,c That the Swcrdnsh Stay Ram the
Eua - TIE .M oIhGsh's Iarotity.

Followed by Attempts to Catch One
--trarec That the Swordnsh Stay Ram the
Sea TIE swordGshs T,rodty.
SANTA CATALINA, cal. Dee. :j,-The Sierra
Madrcs are capped with snow, and seen
from this island. sixty mile, AVA, the white
domcs stand out in rcmarkab BILE contrast
agains, the vivid blue of the say. The sea
l. smooth save where the swordhsh leaps
and fall heavily. creating n ripple. The
fact that many >Nordllsh are in these waters
now has occa~icncd interest among the
angler, csrcCiail, a. some of them have
been trN Ing To take one of these swOrdsmen
or the sea with the rod, an unheard of pro-
ccedinG. What has caused So unusual a run
Of these FISH / not known. but they are here
in large numbers. and that they will strike
or bite was discovered some time ago 4
fisherman had II strike, and like a fash OF
lightning something shot around the boat,
making the line hiss. then plunged down
deep into the channel, to come NJ again and
leap into the air Ike an arrow. Guivering in
the sunlight for a moment. then falling
A -%ordfsh!' shouted the boatman.
Cut the line"
Not on your llfc." rctorted the angler.
stand by your oars and keep the stern OF the
boat To the fish
The man obc, ed. but it was evident that
he fully expected to be run down by the fish
The latter. however, had other plans, and
with rush it ran of all the line and passed
on probably the first swordiish ever PLAYED
on the rod The incident created no little
interest among anglers devoted TO large and
unusual game. and the Tuna Club has under
who shall take a swordhsh; II is barely
possible that swordtsh will be taken b.
casting WIN i've 1mGI,' as % ,he GSh ia haye oeen
near that cast could easily have been made
among them.
ever bring a ~woriii-h to gan. which con-
slider j. possible" said an angler to an en-
thu>ast, when he sees the boat he VIII turn
and ram YOU YOU want an aTmored boat.
.Il take Iny chances, responded the
other.
thc fun at H., said boatnan in the, group
i was not here. but oI Long lsllni,,N y, Y;
] used to fish with man named Jack
Orrrshy, and one day he was pulling along
when suddcnl j.. without any warning. Mp
through the bottom of the boat came the
TEoEa Of it 2..gd been a2Hi faSt mSrc ST,TFSn or
ward It would have srittcd him like a rabbit.
] knew what II was in a moment. but JACK
and tho lCnt began 10 I'LL All the time
the i.h wa- ii struggling toGet AVA and almost
tipped u over tinallv managed to get
the sword Over the thwar, hen TOOK on
n; cGat ana lluEg"d NJ th" hole as well r as
reached tR % tncre T ha.f i ini Of Of water. don't
want any swordii,h IN mine.
NO ono has ever been hit by one in these
waters" said another boatman. but there
are no fighters in the world like swordfsh.
was rowing along by Church Rock some time
ago when ! saw splash throTlng ne water ,ter
the disturbance was made by pair OF sword
fsh dashine az each other could plainly
like swords eating the water. They were
swimming in a circle perhaps hundred feet
across aud would go around, perhaps twice,
patt inn nd fh.n
and fly at each other like a shot out Of n gun;
and when they struck could see the water
fly as though a torpedo had exploded. one OF
them always beine lifted OUT of the water
by the shock. They made these rushes three
times while lay there. and finally the sword
of one went through the ol her and they strug-
gled for five minutes trying TO break away.
Al At once they ssparated and saw the water
d9Ha dSHe fSr %i' he rned tail and swan o Ths
other swan little way. then turned and
headed for, him, his dorsal fin out of water.
though IL had been out Of water The sword
Went complet ely through the fish, and as the
ehamp9n jfrked himself sS AWAY y and sTam ram
UP with boat hook expecting every minute
insight get blow np through the keel. ! had
wei irh"d 200 pounds, but when ! did he was
sight ii- sword was broken off for about
eighteen inches, showing that he had been
Another blow had gone into his head In front
of the eve: but the quetus. which had seen.
Wis NITttllN lllIbugH III" DbuN, ltdNIHk u
gazing wound
That was the second fcht have seem"
continued the boatman. y he other was be-
tween swOrdnSh and "A whale. and the way
they cleaned the whale out was a caution. |
was ming home late one afternoon When
OF p"-caHsu Canon ] saw a big whale 60 out
Of water, falling with a crash that could have
been heard a mile away The whale had no
sooner struck the water than II rolled over and
over. striking the surface with terrific blows
! knew something was after II and pulled
nearer y Went the whale again, and dis
tinctlv saw hig ~Uearii-h hanging on II
had driven it, sword 20 far into the whale
that il couldn't get il out. and 80 was carried
into tho air Then | saw several killers-a
kind Of rrampus They rushed at the whale
and seized IL by the lips, evidently tearing of
great pieces Of flesh. a. they generally do,
while the -woTdfish rammed il from below.
! he fight kept up fifteen or twenty minutes.
Then the Whai" saik out of sight and un-
d"ubtedly went to the bottom dead. a. IL
Cain" ashore Il few dayS later all cut IN That
was = great fignt. and showed the uglness
Of the swordfi~h. a. they were fighting for fun,
for they don't eat whale. but mackerel and
-m"its The killer were after food. whale
meat. and they gOt IL, and the swOrdiish Just
IL, ...i l...ls. IL.