Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast Part 21

Light bluish on the back and white on the sides, with many small specks; dark spot at the base of the pectoral fins. Head, long, with pointed snout, and with the scales of the head running nearly to its end. Dorsal fin double, the first half having ten spines and the latter twenty-one or twenty-two soft rays. a.n.a.l with two spines and nine rays. Tail but little forked.

=Tackle=--The same as for salmon or yellow-tail.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CALIFORNIA WHITING OR SAND SUCKER (Menticirrhus undulatus)]

CALIFORNIA WHITING OR SAND-SUCKER

(Menticirrhus undulatus)

This species is common to the sand beaches of the Pacific, from Point Conception south to Guaymas, Mexico. It feeds during the larger part of the year in the surf, and is caught from the wharfs or by long casts with heavy sinkers from the beach. The whiting appears on the California coast in two varieties, the =undulatus= proper and a subspecies which I think has never been cla.s.sified. At any rate, the difference seems sufficient to ent.i.tle it to a subspecifies cla.s.sification, for the mouth curves strongly downward, and, therefore, does not extend so far back as the undulatus proper. The tail also differs, in having both upper and lower lobes rounded, instead of the upper being square as in the =undulatus=.

Head, about one-fifth of the entire length; snout, rather pointed, and projecting beyond the mouth; mouth reaching to the center of the eye; small barbel on the lower lip. Dorsal fin, double, the first with from seven to nine spines, the second soft and reaching from the first to within about the length of the head from the tail; pectoral fins near the gills and about the width of the eye below the center of the body; ventral fins, a little behind the pectoral; a.n.a.l fin under the center of the second dorsal; dorsal fins dark; pectoral, ventral and a.n.a.l fins, light with darker tips; tail of the =undulatus= proper, upper lobe square and lower lobe rounded. Back, bluish brown, shading to white on the belly; scales, small. Below the lateral line are a number of small spots forming irregular lines running backward and upward.

Size, rarely exceeding eight pounds.

The ill.u.s.tration is of the variety that I have referred to as a subspecies.

=Tackle and Lure=--The three-six tackle. Rod to be of wood, consisting of a b.u.t.t and tip, and to be not shorter than six feet over all; weight of entire rod not to exceed six ounces; b.u.t.t not to be over twelve inches in length. Line not to exceed standard 6-thread. Lure, sandflies, mussels or clams.

[Ill.u.s.tration: YELLOW-FIN CROAKER (Umbrina roncador)]

YELLOW-FIN CROKER

(Umbrina roncador)

The yellow-fin croaker is found in the surf or near it along the sandy beaches from some distance north of Point Conception south to Manzanillo, Mexico, where it is known by the name "corvina con aletas amarillas," or "croaker with yellow fins."

Head, about one-fifth the whole length; snout, very blunt, with a small barbel on the lower lip. Dorsal fin double, the first half with seven or eight spines, the longest about two-thirds the length of the head; second half rayed and about two-thirds the height of the first, and reaching to about half the length of the head from the tail; pectoral fins short, and placed close to the gills and a little below the center of the body; ventral fins just below the pectoral and a trifle longer; a.n.a.l fin, below the center of the second dorsal; tail, nearly square. Back, greenish brown, with a metallic l.u.s.ter and giving a pinkish tinge in some lights; sides, shading to white on the belly.

A few irregular spots on the sides forming faint lines.

SPOT-FIN CROAKER

(Roncador stearnsi)

The spot-fin croaker appears in and near the surf of the Pacific Coast from Point Conception south to Mexico. =Roncador= is Spanish and signifies snorer. This species resembles the yellow-fin very closely, but is usually lighter in color and more metallic in appearance. It can always be distinguished from the yellow-fin by the distinct black spots at the base of the pectoral fins.

=Tackle and Lure=--Same as for whiting.

THE TUNA CLUB OF CATALINA ISLAND

I cannot close these articles on fish and fis.h.i.+ng without a few words of commendation of the Tuna Club of Catalina Island. From the very inception of this organization it has striven to encourage the use of light tackle by all anglers. To this end, it has adopted three cla.s.ses of tackle specifications for the taking of the several kinds of fish found in the waters surrounding its island home, and provided a number of cups and b.u.t.tons to be awarded each year to anglers who land fishes of certain weights, with such tackle as is prescribed therefore by its rules. This campaign, which it has so energetically urged in behalf of scientific angling, has worked wonders in its section of the Coast.

The old methods of landing fish, even of the gamiest quality, by the employment of nothing more than brute force at the end of an unbreakable cable, has almost disappeared in its section, and scientific angling with the lightest possible tackle has taken its place. But the good work of the Tuna Club has not been confined to the boundaries of its own section. Anglers from other sections of the country visiting Catalina, and seeing the additional pleasure derived from the use of light tackle, have become enthusiastic advocates of this more scientific means, and returning to their homes have spread the propaganda there.

To the stiff pole and chalk-line fishermen of confirmed habits I have nothing to say. But to the younger generation who have not yet grown grey in the practice of bad habits, I wish to urge upon them the use of the lightest tackle possible, as a means of developing greater skill and deriving greater pleasure from their favorite sport. And this is equally true whether it be a tuna or a trout.

Order, ACANTHROPTERI

Family, SCIAENIDAE

Genus Species Common Names Range ------------ ---------- ------------------- -------------------------- {California whiting {From Point Conception Menticirrhus undulatus {or sand sucker {south to Guaymas, Mexico.

{From Point Conception Roncador stearnsi Spot-fin croaker {south to Manzanillo, {Mexico.

{From Point Conception Umbrina roncador Yellow-fin croaker {south to Manzanillo, {Mexico.

{From San Francisco south Cygonoscion n.o.bilis White sea ba.s.s {to Coronado Islands.

ATTRACTIVE FIs.h.i.+NG RESORTS

It is possible that the day may come when man will be so engrossed with the pursuit of the dollar that the call of the wild will no longer quicken the pulsations of his heart. But until that time does come, the wild creatures of nature, whose pursuit affords the most healthful and exhilarating pastime, will continue to lure him to their haunts.

"To sit on rocks and gaze o'er flood and fell; To slowly trace the forest's shady scene, Where things that own not man's dominion dwell, And mortal feet hath ne'er, or rarely, been,"

will long continue to present a charm to all who love the sublimity of the mountains, the beauty of the flower-decked fields, or the awe-inspiring grandeur of the ocean.

To draw a bead on the antlered buck; to stop the flight of the gamy quail; to land the denizen of the mountain stream, or troll the ocean's depth for the tuna, the salmon or the yellow-tail, furnishes a pastime whose recollection draws one back again and again to sit on nature's lap and listen to her teachings. The recollection of these pleasures are locked in the treasure vaults of the memory, where the wearings of time can never erase them; for when the once firm step that carried him proudly up the mountain's side shall falter and become a palsied wreck of time, and the eye, dimmed by the acc.u.mulated mists of years, shall see clearly, only in retrospect, he will sit by his fire-side in slippered feet, and, gazing down the long vistas of the past, live over and over again in his reveries the pleasures furnished by the forest, the field, the stream and the ocean.

Nothing would please me better than to describe herein the many places where, during a residence on the Pacific Coast of more than half a century, I have enjoyed these sports in the fullest degree. But even the merest mention of the almost innumerable hunting grounds and trout streams, and the hundreds of mountain and sea-side resorts, from Was.h.i.+ngton to Mexico, would, of itself, make a volume of no mean size.

I am, therefore, restricted to the mention of only a few of the more attractive places where good sea fis.h.i.+ng can be found, coupled with such accommodations and surroundings as appeal to the discriminating pleasure seeker.

CATALINA ISLAND.

Almost due south of Los Angeles, and about twenty miles from the mainland, is the far-famed island of Catalina.

It is still a debatable question whether it was the leaping tuna that made Catalina famous, or whether it was its many attractions, its facilities for sea fis.h.i.+ng and its splendid accommodations, that gave the sport of tuna fis.h.i.+ng a world-wide reputation.

This beautiful island, with its diversified amus.e.m.e.nts; its grand scenery; its wonderful drives; its surf less sea bathing; its marine views; its perfect equipment for sea fighting, and its splendidly appointed hotel, has made it the Mecca to which the enthusiastic anglers of the world make their regular pilgrimages, for it seems to be the favored habitat of all the game fishes of the ocean, except the salmon and the striped ba.s.s.

Catalina is the home of the Tuna Club, the greatest fis.h.i.+ng organization of the world, with its international members.h.i.+p pledged to the promotion of scientific angling. It is here where the world's records are made, and the greatest feats in landing the fighting monsters of the sea have been achieved.

In its variety of game fishes I know of no place to equal it. The leaping tuna, the albacore, the Spanish mackerel, the bonito, the chub mackerel, the white sea ba.s.s, the yellow-tail, and the California swordfish, the sensational fighter of the ocean, are all here and ready to give the light tackle angler the most exciting contest of his life.