122 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



reduce the numbers of these pests; yet they are among 

 the best of the market fishes. 



Among the best rod fishes of the small fry I would 

 name the whitefish, a long grayish fish with a blue- 

 tipped dorsal fin down its entire length. It is not 

 garbed in gorgeous colors, yet to my mind it is one 

 of the most attractive of all the tribe peculiar to these 

 waters. Why it is called " whitefish" I do not know, as 

 certainly it is not white. Its Spanish name is "blan- 

 quillo." A few years ago it could be caught almost 

 anywhere about any of the islands; but it evidently 

 does not like the human invasion, and to catch it one 

 must go to some unfrequented spot up the coast and 

 away from Avalon. It is found in the company of 

 the rock bass, preferring water forty or fifty feet down 

 in rocky places on the face of some algae-covered cliff. 

 But the boatman, if he understands the fish, can, by 

 liberal chumming, bring the blanquillo to the surface, 

 or near it, and this accomplished, sport beyond criti- 

 cism awaits the angler if he will but approach the 

 game fairly. 



By this I mean with a six-ounce rod not under six 

 feet in length; better yet, a longer rod, supple, with 

 plenty of resiliency. My old eight-ounce split bamboo 

 black-bass rod, nine or ten feet long, with the reel 

 strapped above the hand, has played many of them. 

 The fish runs up to eight or ten or more pounds, and 

 is as hard a fighter as you will ever try conclusions 

 with. You may know the whitefish by his "knock," 

 as he taps, knocks, or hammers on the line, probably 

 shaking his head. Then come a series of runs and 

 rushes that will break many a line and hook and fill 

 the angler with delight who brings the radiant oliva- 



