THE SMALL GAME FISHES 125 



was placed in the same tank it was always a duel 

 to a finish. A large sheepshead will worry any fish 

 almost to death. Pat was very friendly with a big 

 green turtle in the same tank, but this was because 

 the turtle offered no points of vantage. To see Pat 

 follow the keeper about, rolling his little red eyes up 

 at him, begging for food or to be scratched, was worth 

 while. 



The sheepshead is essentially a bottom fish, never 

 taken trolling; it frequents water from ten to fifty 

 feet deep, living on crabs, shells, not capturing fishes, 

 as the rock bass. It will bite at a fish bait, but the 

 lures to its fancy are crayfish, abalone, and crab. 

 From San Miguel to San Nicolas, and San Clemente 

 to Coronado, the sheepshead is in evidence, and, like 

 the blanquillo and several others, you will find him 

 nowhere else in the world. Like the Torrey pine, he 

 is indigenous to Southern California. My last word 

 for him is that he is better as a chowder than any 

 other way. 



The California barracuda is taken here by thousands 

 and is caught when fishing for yellowtail, at all the 

 islands; but it requires a long and elastic imagination 

 to consider it a game fish, for some barracudas of 

 twelve pounds will come in so readily as to almost 

 jump into the boat. They grow to weigh fi.fteen 

 pounds, and once in a while one will imitate a game 

 fish. If you must have barracuda, one of the most 

 valuable of the summer market fishes, approach it 

 with a very light rod — a six-ounce, seven-foot split 

 bamboo, a three-thread line, and sardine bait. It is 

 taken trolling or casting v/ith Wilson spoon or bait. 

 The Florida barracuda is a solitary fellow, a fine game 



