THE FISHES 



THE LEAPING TUNA 



(Thunnus thynnus) 



THE leaping tuna is a giant mackerel that roams 

 the temperate seas of the world in vast schools. 

 It appears at Santa Catalina, its spawning- and feed- 

 ing-ground, soon after the coming of the flying fishes 

 in spring, and remains in normal years until Septem- 

 ber 1 5th, but being a migratory fish, it is very uncer- 

 tain. The fish attains a weight of fourteen hundred 

 pounds, but the average size of the Santa Catalina fish 

 is one hundred and fifty pounds, and the record, two 

 hundred and fifty-one pounds, is held by Colonel C. P. 

 Morehous. The sixty or seventy members of the 

 Tuna Club who have taken a fish of over one hundred 

 pounds could tell extraordinary stories of the battle 

 to the finish with this remarkable game fish. The 

 author's record fish weighed one hundred and eighty- 

 five pounds, towed his heavy boat about twelve miles 

 in four hours, the boatman fighting against it all the 

 time, with no let-up to make it possible to gain an 

 advantage. Other contests have lasted from five to 

 fourteen hours. The bait is the flying fish, and a six- 

 teen-ounce rod, with twenty-four or twenty-one thread 

 standard line, are required by the regulations of the 

 Tuna Club, as devised for its annual tournament. 



IS 



