THE AMBER FISH 339 



beautiful home in England. The next record fish, 

 that of Mr. Alfred L. Beebe, hangs in the Tuna Club 

 as a trophy of the club. 



The fish is one of the most beautiful that swims. 

 As you see it beneath a floating island of kelp or swim- 

 ming along the cliffs of the islands, the back appears 

 an olive-green, the fins and tail yellow^ or amber, the 

 belly a vivid silver; altogether a resplendent creature, 

 with a large, expressive, liquid, blue eye. The head is 

 large and the general shape of the fish is something 

 like that of a salmon; so much so that an old name for 

 the fish is the white salmon, or amber fish; but yellow- 

 tail is its proper name. I have seen the seas tinted 

 with them when not a fish would bite; again I have 

 seen a school rush into Avalon Bay, drive the sardines 

 out onto the sands, charging them like grenadiers, rush- 

 ing here and there, biting at everything from a rag to 

 a bone, carrying devastation everywhere among the 

 small fry and the anglers' lines. 



There are almost always a few yellowtails about 

 Avalon Bay in winter, but they are educated fishes, 

 and you may find these intellectual giants in any 

 school. They will seize every sardine you throw over, 

 but always refuse the bait that hides a hook. For 

 weeks a yellowtail lived near the Avalon dock in 1901. 

 I hooked him several times. I saw him hooked twice 

 in an hour. As soon as he felt the hook he swam out 

 one hundred feet or so, turned and came at the dock 

 with a rush, wound the line about it, broke it, and in 

 ten minutes was back at his old place with lines dan- 

 gling from his jaw. 



The yellowtail is the fish of the people. Boys, 

 children, women, all fish for it, and few anglers can 



