88 FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 



stage of the game, it was a tug of war, my com- 

 panion's fish going astern, while my own dashed ahead ; 

 we saved them both. All the fish were over fifty 

 pounds in weight. Over one hundred such bass were 

 taken this day, May first, not one hundred feet from 

 the beach, where scores of people watched the extraor- 

 dinary scene of breaking rods and lines, as ten times 

 as many fish were hooked as were landed. 



The so-called sea trout of Southern California is a 

 small species of this fish, ranging up to twelve or fif- 

 teen pounds; it is beautifully spotted. This is 

 Cynoscion parvipinnis. In the Gulf of California an- 

 other species is found, C. macdonaldi. This fish I have 

 taken in Tobari Bay, Gulf of California, with a spoon ; 

 they run up to one hundred and fifty pounds in weight. 

 These magnificent game fish test the strongest tackle 

 and are shown in Fig. 42. 



The white sea bass is a good food fish. In Mon- 

 terey Bay it is taken by the ton in nets, and I have 

 seen them brought in at Capitola by the boatload for 

 shipment to San Francisco ; all were over fifty pounds, 

 and ran up to eighty. When fishing for salmon here 

 I have found the sea bass a nuisance, hooking them 

 continually when trying for the Chinooks; under 

 ordinary circumstances one would hardly consider 

 such a fish a nuisance. The Tuna Club has special 

 prizes and trophies cups, medallions and medals for 

 the angler who breaks the club records. Some of the 

 club's catches with rod and reel are as follows: 



Largest White Sea Bass (Cynoscion nobilis) 

 Edward M. Boggs, Oakland, Cal., season 1899.. 58 



Wm. P. Adams, Chicago, 111., season 1903 52 



C. H. Harding, Philadelphia, Pa., season 1904.. 60 



