Sea Fishing 321 



The king-salmon stands next to the tuna in my 

 affections, and may be taken with rod and reel in a 

 dozen different localities on the Pacific coast, but 

 seldom south of Santa Barbara. Monterey bay is a 

 famous hunting-ground. At Santa Cruz are found 

 boatmen, tackle, bait, and in the season, dozens of 

 enthusiastic fishermen. My brothers and I have 

 caught numbers of these fine fish off Port Harford. 

 They vary in size from eighteen to forty pounds. Sir 

 Kichard Musgrave, I believe, holds the record with a 

 monster of seventy pounds, taken with rod and reel 

 at the mouth of the Campbell Kiver. A cast of this 

 salmon can be seen in the museum at Victoria, and 

 no less august a paper than the Spectator chronicled 

 its capture. 



The bait is a fresh sardine, or, failing that, a large 

 spoon. The rod should be light, stiff, and not too 

 short ; the reel should hold not less than five hun- 

 dred feet of fifteen-ply cutty-hunk line. The 

 authorities disagree as to the use of a sinker, but no 

 rule can be laid down. I use a light sinker, and 

 instruct my boatman to pull slowly in and around 

 the schools of sardines, herrings, and anchovies, 

 upon which the salmon feed. Failing in these 

 tactics, I have substituted a heavier sinker, and 

 trolled lelow the schools of bait ; the salmon have 

 then bitten freely. Of their comings and goings 

 knoweth no man with certainty. December, Jan- 

 uary, February, and March are the best months, 

 but, like wapiti, they shift their quarters with exas- 

 perating swiftness. Instruct your boatman to wire 

 you the news of their advent, and lose not a moment 

 in taking the next train to the fishing-ground, 



21 



