The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-09-10
TRAP, ROD AND GUN
BY TOM MARSHALL.

Where fish have wings and fly"
Imagine the surprise of an inland water
angler or fisherman If small mouth
bass could emerge from the water, set
his wings and gracefully fly in midair
a distance Of 200 yards, to again take
water ready for a dry fly or seductive
nSnnow. In company with my old
friend worlds champion wrestler)
Frank Gotch as running mate, we
headed for Santa Catalina, magic isle
OF the blue. Pacific, day dream and
mecca of all coast tourists and fish
ermen., En- route across the 26-mile
channel, our boat was conveyed by a
large colony of gulls, wise but wary
cormorants followed our boats wake
lazy brown pelican crossed our bow
at low elevation, in quest of finny fill
ing for his capacious pouch or empty
NAV. Porpoise and shark gracefully
disported, topping the wave crests OF
those gentle, undulating ground swells.
Many flying fish, about IA inches long,
sprung from the water on their aerial
flights, covering in many instances
distance of 200 yards Their gauEe
wings. scintillated in the sunlight, their
forked tails at intervals tapped the
flight In many instances flying fish
were evading tuna, albacore, or some
other deep water denizen, as they
. rushed after them just below the sur
face and directly beneath the flyer.
At Avalon we boarded a glass bot
toned boat, which enables one to Wis
ually delve into the innermost and in
ternal secrets of Old Neptune gazing
directly down into "Davey Jones"
lockers. We ran out over the subma-
are suspended in the water by olive
shaped air bubbles. You marvel and
wonder at the marine gardens or
aquatic forests. Blue crystal waters
of the Pacific enable you to see down
and distinguish at distance of 50 feet
citation. Iodine, ribbon and sea grape
KEEPS. Feather boa, sea kelp, sponge
n coral MOSES. Fishbone, maiden
hair and chiffon ferns, the arena of
Ife Is represented by fish of
the following varieties: Bass, octopus,
jay Ish, sea porcupine, shark, perch
Of the gold blue, green, silver and con-
Wet brands An occasional one-claw
lobster threads his way around the
rocks. All to be seen through the
boats glass bottom, where fish swim
complacently about, undisturbed by the
pTr of propellers.
Our boat logged on down on the seal
rocks, where seal have become chum-
my and are seen at a very close range.
The following day Gotch and essayed
a fishing trip after albacore with
shorty" acting official boatman. We
We're trolling about three miles off
MoonStOne Dedcl, Win no success
shorty located a colony of gulls about
a half mile to the west and headed his
boat in that direction with an assur-
ance we would find a school of fish at
that point explaining that. birds were
there feeding on small fish, who had
rushed to the surface in an effort to
avoid larger fish below. Upon our ar
rival shorty" threw overheard show
er. of sardines from the bait box, which
slowly descended to be seen a very
considerable distance down. Albacore
darted about in every direction In quest
of our lure. This semifeeding is des-
ignated by Catalina fishermen as
drumming the school. While alba
core were rushing out "chums'' Gotch
and l were industriouslys batting our
hooks and getting them overheard. An
albacore Immediately rushed my bait.
| saw him coming; he struck. taking the
lure with gulp, his hungry associates
rushing good second. MY line became
thumb brakS or drag was pressed hard
down. The silver beauty for second
rested, only to get a better start. A
number of direct snubs induced a sea-
son of "sulking' on his part. Setting
the butt of my pole in socket, / com
surface. During his rushes feet were lost
where l had before gained inches. My
muscles were at tension, aching with
fatigue. 1t was unethical and against
angler usage 10 Snout Tor helpi IL Wouid
only invite derision. Every move by
my fish could be seen, enabling me to
anticipate his tactics. Repeatedly the
long filmed scrapper was almost to the
boat. The sight of Shorty's face and
fear of the gaff would again put him in
franzind action. The fighting power Of
both fish and self were growing less
aggressive IRON fatigue. When final
~ landed him within gaffing distance,
AZ pounds of meat landed aboard was
all in. After listening to his tail tat
too in the sheet iron receptacle few
minutes l again baited up, had strike
and went to work. Before the school
was dismissed, we had landed seven of
those fighting beauties, averaging q
pounds Gotch having four to his credit.