Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1914-09-04
big OCEAN ACROBAT
MoIa, One of the Strangest Crea.
lures Of the Sea.
Thousand Pound Fish, all Head, but
Can Jump-Delicate Pompanoes
Which Glide Like an Aeroplane
Striped Shark That Leaps.

striped shark That Leaps.
One of the strangest jumpers 1t has
been my good fortune to watch and
catch is the sunfish, or mola, in all
probability the stran gest fish in the
sea. as it appears to be all head, says
a writer in the New York Press. This
is so seemingly true that In a speci-
men three feet long the vertebra Is
but an inch and a half long. Some
of the fish weigh over one thousand
pounds.
have had some weird experiences
with this fish. In 1875 l was fishing
at the mouth of the st. John river,
Florida. for channel bass, tarpon and
big sharks, when a monster sunfish
came sailing In and, like a ship,
grounded on the bar opposite Pilot
town. l went out to watch its capture.
1t was said to weigh 1900. pounds,
and looked it. 1t was II feet high.
The next one saw was off the Isles
of Shoals, in 1877. had been trying
to take tuna with rod of Boon
island, and on the way, in the dory,
we nearly ran into a sunflsh. hooked
on to it with a gaff and brought 1t IN.
Later at Santa Catalina found a very
large one. ran alongside, seized its
fin and bent it over the rail while the
boatman cut hole in the fin and
passed rope through it.
While we were doing this the mon.
ster nearly wrecked the launch and
towed us toward shore; when we final
ly got it in tow our launch could not
move when the fish felt like swim
ming the other way. 1t took two
launches to tow this sunfish, which
must have weighed over 1000 pounds,
into Avalon bay, where l had an ex-
cellent opportunity to watch and study
it, after which released it uninjured.
Of Santa Catalina or San Clemente
in summer thousands of the young OF
this fish are seen from foot to three
feet in length. They swim in small
schools; are very social, swimming
about the boats, engaged in contin-
ual game of leaping. Sometimes wher-
ever you look you see leaping sun
fish. At times they leap very clumsily,
but generally come down with re-
sounding crash. To see dozens OF these
big heads" in the air coming down
in a continual patter is fascinating.
The big barracuda and the kingish
of Florida are jumpers Of high degree.
The former Is a wild and splendid
jumper after it is hooked, while the
latter makes magnificent leaps after
the bait before it is hooked; so 1t Is
in the class with the tuna. ! should
not care to 60 on record with a mere
guess as to the length Of the jumps,
but they are supreme in yivacity,
length and exhilaration among the wild
tinny tribes of the sea.
That there should be SO great a
difference in the mere leaps of game
fish seems impossible to the layman,
but your keen observing angler no.
tees all the niceties Of the jump and
is quick to see It.
Several years ago l was fishing just
outside of Arkansas pass, Texas, for
channel bass, which we took with
shrimp bait in extraordinary holes in
the lagoon when the gatftopsail catfish
would allow it. This was an extra
ordinary locality for jumping fishes.
Apparently everything leaped, and at
the slightest suggestion. II l splashed
the water with an oar score OF
mullets would 60 into the air, and over
what appeared to be variety Of tule
there was a constant fash of scales in
the hot August sun.
Suddenly the pompanoes began to
leap and l was afforded remarkable
opportunity to watch their methods.
The pompano Is little fish, hut very
broad. An ordinary leap covered ten
or Is feet. But the peculiar feature
was that this little fish, about the size
of the palm of your hand. did not
jump high, yet covered Incredible dis
tances. After watching several l be-
lieve solved the mystery.
III ledplnS lHe pompduo ulu HoI ~
up; it dashed out Of the water at an
angle and when at an elevation OF four
or five feet I distinctly saw it turn on
it's side, and so. like an aeroplane, with
its broad surface to the air, 1t slid
away in long and graceful parabola.
l saw this repeatedly, as the fish
were jumping by our boat every few
minutes, and one or two fell into the
boat. A friend told me that In beat
ing up a narrow river in Florida he
alarmed school OF these delicious,
delightful little fishes and they came
out Of the water In swarms. lombard
Ing him, hitting the sail and falling
into the boat.
At Arkansas, In the pass, hooked .
shark, which jumped SO exactly like
tarpon that l was more than once de-
ceived by it. In Catalina Harbor,
CAL, there is a striped shark which
leaps when hooked and gives a very
good imitation Of game fish.