Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-07
CAL|FORN|ANS TURN
TO BASS F|SH|NG|
SWarms of Alien Fish Lure
Large Crowds Along
Pacific Coast.
epecisl Dispatch to The star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
SAN FRANCISCO, September Am
alien species Of game fish, plus recent
legislation restricting commercial net
ting, Is fast making race Of fishermen
out of the population Of the central
coastal region of California. The fish
Is the roccus lineatus, more commonly
known as striped bass, or "striper," and
the fishermen, and fishing women, seem
to be any one who can find room along
$50 miles of ocean front or some 1000
miles of interior waterways adjacent or
tributary to San Francisco Bay.
When the California Fish and Game
Commission back in 1879 and 1882 i'm
ported about 400 lingering bass and
planted them inside the Golden Gate
the resulting increase in numbers among
the transplanted tribe was greater than
the recent increase in striped bass fish
ernlen, but not much.
Introduced 20 Years Ago.
This was probably the most success
full experiment in transplanting fish in
history. Twenty years after the 400
baby striperS from the Atlantic were
introduced into their new home. COM
mercial fishermen of California caught
and marketed in one year q million and
a quarter pounds Of this variety of fish.
During the World War the annual catch
was from q million to a million and a
half pounds. and since then, despite
restrictive legislation. has run annually
over half million pounds.
During all this time, Of course. the
fighting striper was sought by hundreds
of sportsmen, but it has been since the
State Legislature early this year pro-
hibited netting the fish that the great
popular interest in the sport has arisen
Prohibition of netting was a contro-.
versial issue between sportSmens or
CARNATIONS and commercial fishermen
for months, and the controversy and
its result was sufficient advertising to
attract thousands OF new fishermen.
Surf fishing Is carried on the year
around from Monterey Bay to the Rus
sian River. Old-timers at the sport,
in their hip boots and duck suits, who
with a flick of a Sprng butt split bam-
boo pole cast a flve-ounce lead and
couple Of chunks Of sardine a hundred
yards out into or beyond the breakers
are now surrounded at all the popular
beaches with numerous beginners who
use any sort OF pole they cal, can muster,
or a spool Of Guilty hunk line ana no
pole. Standing room only Is the rule
Saturday afternoons and Sundays on
beaches within or near the city, and in
creasing hundreds swarm TO favorite
spots in rivers and sloughS about the
bay. Many bring home their fish, be-
ueve it or not.
JobIess Add to Total
Undoubtedly unemployment and part
time employment have contributed to
the tide Of fishers. Even If casting bait
into salt water Is not an economical
way of providing food for the family
it Is proving stimulus to business. and
a 10 or 12-pound fish Is great to make
one forget salary or wage cut.
Tons of sardines are brought into
the city for bait. Equipment being
used in the sport is estimated to amount
to $3,000,000 and the value Is growing
fast. Another estimate Is that fol-
lowers of real or rumored striper runs"
spend 81, 900 900 a year. Fishermen who
bitterly opposed the prohibition of
netting are finding easier money in
renting out boats or otherwise catering
to the amateurs.
Recent studies Of the Fish and Game
Commission indicate that the progeny
of original 400 transplanted stripers
have kept their headquarters in San
Francisco Bay, coming back from
wanderings of rs miles north or south
along the coast or 200 miles inland to
spawn in the upper reaches OF the bay.
However, In recent years a clan seems
to have declared its independence and
to have established itself in oregon
waters, spawning at Coos Bay. A few
have wandered as far south as Los
Angeles, but they report back at head
quarters at the spawning season.
real migration of surplus population,
however, seems to be under way north
ward.
The rigid protection being given 30
abundant commercial fish as the bass
Is an experiment. Thus far the expert
ment seems to have been very success
full, and If popular interest in Turing
the tasty fish from It's salty home con-
tinues to grow as it has recently, the
experiment is most likely to be main
tanned, or even carried further, as COM
mercial fishing for the bass with hook
and line Is still permitted.
(Copyright, 1879