Part 29

By many anglers for large and exciting game, the California swordfish is pronounced the king of all game fishes. Certainly they put up a very determined and exciting fight. In size they average about 180 pounds, though one has been taken at Catalina by W. C. Boschen that weighed 355 pounds. When a swordfish is hooked its rushes are desperate, even reckless, and at times dangerous to the angler. In its determined efforts to free itself from the impaling hook, it threshes the waters into foam, repeatedly leaping into the air, where the sunlight scintillating upon the purple of its back and silvery sides adds the charm of color to the excitement of the contest. It is safe to say that there is no fish, either in the salt or fresh waters, that is so constantly on the surface and in the air during its struggles for freedom as is the California swordfish. Thirty, forty and even fifty clean leaps into the sunlight by the one fish have been recorded in its desperate struggle to baffle the skill of the angler.

The snout of the swordfish is continued into a long, sharp bone, which measured from the back of the mouth is about one-fourth of the length of the fish from the mouth to the base of the tail. The under jaw is also a sharp projecting bone about half the length of the sword. The dorsal fin rises sharply from the top of the head to a height nearly equaling the depth of the body, the latter part curving downward and continuing along the back to nearly the center of the body; tail divided into two long, slim forks; second dorsal and anal near the tail and nearly opposite each other; ventral fin below the terminal of the first dorsal; pectoral fins rather long and located close to the gill-covers; two long, slender feelers projecting from the center of the throat just below the base of the pectorals; eye very large and bright dark blue.

Purplish green on the back, with blue perpendicular stripes fading into the silvery sides; fins, dark purple.

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

THE BLACK SEA BASS, OR JEW-FISH

(Stereolepis gigas)

This monster of the ocean, commonly called jew-fish, seems to be in all respects a gigantic black bass, closely resembling the small-mouthed of the fresh waters, and no further description will be necessary for anyone who may be fortunate enough to land one to know to what species it belongs. In fact, he will know just what he has hooked long before the monster shows himself on the top of the water. This huge black sea bass seems to have a very restricted range, for it is only known from the Coronado Islands to the Farallones. They are very plentiful around Catalina Island, where they are usually taken with hand lines. They can not be called a game fish, though they are now being taken with rod and reel at Catalina and furnish a kind of "heavy-weight" sport for those who like it. One weighing over 436 pounds has been taken on a tuna rod and twenty-one thread line. The writer saw one several years ago that was taken on a hand line that weighed 720 pounds and was over seven feet in length. They are fish of great strength and will tow a boat with ease at a considerable speed.

=Tackle=--The same as for tuna, with fish bait.

THE BARACUDA

(Sphyraena argentea)

The baracuda is a common fish from San Francisco south to Mexico. In the Santa Barbara channel and about Catalina and San Diego it is largely taken by trolling with light tackle, when it affords really good sport. It is a long, slim fish, reaching three and even three and a half feet in length, the usual catch being from two to two and a half feet in length.

Head long and slender; eye high up on the head and nearly half way between the snout and the back of the gill covers. Pectoral fin just below the lateral line; first dorsal spinous and nearly opposite the ventral; second dorsal about midway between the first and the tail; anal almost directly under the second dorsal.

Bluish brown on the back, grading into white on the belly.

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

WHITING and CROAKERS

There are three other species of fish which inhabit the surf of the Pacific from Point Conception, south to Mexico, that, while they can not be properly termed game fishes, furnish the angler fine sport because of the gamy fight they make on light tackle. These are the whiting (=Menticirrhus undulatus=), the spot-fin croaker (=Roncador stearnsi=) and the yellow-fin croaker (=Umbrina roncador=). The first of these is known locally by the names of corbina and surf-fish, which are bad misnomers. The name, surf-fish, is given by the ichthyologist to a species of perch, and the courbina belongs to the genus =Pogonias= and is not found as far north as the California coast. These names should be abandoned by the anglers and the proper English name of whiting used. The word courbina is Italian and means croaker, from the Latin, corvus, crow.

THE WHITE SEA BASS

(Cygonoscion nobilis)

The white sea bass is purely a California species, ranging from the Coronado Islands to about the latitude of San Francisco. They are caught trolling and make a gamy fight on rod and reel. Twenty to forty pound fish are common and they have been caught weighing seventy-five pounds.

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. Anal with two spines and nine rays. Tail but little forked.

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

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 classified. At any rate, the difference seems sufficient to entitle it to a subspecifies classification, 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; anal fin under the center of the second dorsal; dorsal fins dark; pectoral, ventral and anal 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 illustration 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 butt and tip, and to be not shorter than six feet over all; weight of entire rod not to exceed six ounces; butt not to be over twelve inches in length. Line not to exceed standard 6-thread. Lure, sandflies, mussels or clams.

YELLOW-FIN CROKER