FISHINCx AT CATALINA ISLAND, LOWER CALIFORNIA. 



1!V I. A. GRAVLS. 



That we love trout fishino- is no rea- 

 son for our ignoring the genuine sport 

 that can be had in sea fishing at Cata- 

 lina Island. 



The writer spent a couple of weeks 

 there in the summer of 1894, and assures 

 you that for variety of amusement no 

 pleasure resort on the Coast equals this 

 charming spot. The bathing is superb, 

 the coast replete with interesting studies 

 and the inland walks charming. Dove 

 and quail, the latter in most admirable 

 cover, abound in season. Wild goats 

 furnish active sport, while their hides 

 and horns are trophies by no means to 

 be despised, and, lastly, the fishing can 

 not anywhere be surpassed. 



The number of different species of 

 fish there met with is astonishing. On 

 the wharf a busy crowd of urchins daily 

 assemble with crude appliances for 

 catching kelp fish, an utterl)^ worthless 

 variety, dead in color, attenuated in 

 size, listless in disposition, soft in flesh 

 and possessed of too diminutive a mouth 

 to take the hook, consequently, they are 

 not caught as are other fish, but, owing 

 to their slow and awkward movements, 

 they are frequently .snagged in the body, 

 and thus landed. 



Near the shore is found a small perch, 

 worthless for food or bait. At times 

 schools of them actually swann along 

 the surface of the water, breaking the 

 waves into tiny riffles, which shine and 

 glisten in the sunlight like moving dia- 

 monds. 



At Sugar Loaf, a high peak of rocks 

 on the right-hand entrance to the harbor 

 of Avalon, the surrounding waters are 

 termed " The Aquarium." Bv bringing 

 a rowboat to a standstill and looking 

 through a box with a plate-glass bottom, 

 which is set glass down on the water. 



gold fish, rock bass, rock cod, pompano, 

 kelp fish, sheepshead, white fish, the 

 sculpin and great, long, yellow eels can 

 be seen pursuing their daily walks of 

 life in blissful ignorance of the sight- 

 seer. The bottom of the sea at this 

 point is very irregular, filled with 

 grottos, depressions and sharp peaks, 

 all covered with kelp, from under which 

 the fish glide in and out and are seen as 

 distinctly as if they were but five feet 

 off, although they are in reality in from 

 seventy to ninety feet of water. 



Shoals of sardines and small mackerel 

 frequent the Avalon beach. They are 

 taken in nets in great numbers, and are 

 used while fresh for bait. The good 

 fishing grounds commence at Seal 

 Rock, some miles east of Avalon. Here, 

 by trolling either from a steam launch 

 or rowboat, 5'ellow' tail are taken. When 

 caught with rod and line the sport is 

 not to be despised. The sportsman 

 arms himself with a heavy rod, a reel 

 which will hold four or five hundred 

 feet of Cuttyhunk line, a medium-.sized 

 hook with swivel attachment, and, if 

 running rapidly on a steam launch, use 

 no bait but a bone squid, which revolves 

 in the water with great rapidity. A 

 white rag is also considered good bait ; 

 but, in fishing from a rowboat for yel- 

 low tail, small smelt or mackerel are 

 used. 



Just as soon as a j'cllow tail strikes, 

 the music begins, and the intensity of 

 the sport depends upon the size of the 

 fish ; a forty-pounder makes a long 

 fight and requires skillful manipulation. 

 As soon as the fish is safely hooked the 

 boat is brought to a standstill. Fre- 

 quently, with his first lunge, four him- 

 dred feet of line is taken out, no matter 

 how taut the reel is held. The process 



