SALMON FISHING IN THE BAY OF 



MONTEREY 



W. R. WELCH 

 Game "Warden Santa Cruz County 



MONTEREY BAY forms a portion of the western boundary of the 

 county of Santa Cruz, California. In the waters of this bay, in 

 the vicinity of the historic city of Santa Cruz, are to be found 

 upwards of one hundred and fifty different varieties of fish, prin- 

 cipal of which are halibut, sea-bass, yellowtail, tunny, barracuda, 

 bonita, codfish, rockcod, and rockfish of many varieties, smelt, flounder, 

 sole, mackerel, perch, sardine, pompano, and many other kinds of valuable 

 food fish, as well as the most noted of all — that royal game, as well as food, 

 fish, the "Quinnat," or King salmon. 



About one hundred people, with an invested capital of about $35,000, 

 are at the present time engaged In the fishing industry in Santa Cruz 

 County. During 1906 about 1,200,000 pounds of fish, valued at $40,000, 

 was exported out of the county, and of this amount about 175,000 pounds 

 were fresh salmon. Most of the fish now being caught at Santa Cruz is 

 shipped by rail to San Francisco in boxes and sacks, without being dressed 

 or iced. A large portion of the catch is also used locally and shipped to 

 adjoining towns. 



A splendid opportunity offers at Santa Cruz for the investment of capi- 

 tal in the establishment of a fish cannery, and the proper handling and 

 development of the salmon, as well as the other fishing industries of Mon- 

 terey Bay. Not until within the past few years has the fishing industry 

 of Santa Cruz received any particular attention. For many years it has 

 been known that salmon entered Monterey Bay and that it was practically 

 the limit of their southern range, as only a few scattered salmon can ever 

 be seen south of Monterey Bay. Some few were taken each year by 

 sportsmen while trolling for other fish, the professional fisherman not 

 giving any attention to them until within the past few years, when the 

 salmon fishing to be had in the waters of Monterey Bay began to attract 

 widespread attention, not only of the professional fishermen, but of sports- 

 men all over the country, and to-day the grandest kind of sport is to be 

 had angling for the King salmon in the waters of Santa Cruz harbor. Here 

 these fish are taken in large numbers on hook and line, from the month 

 of May to September 17th and sometimes during January and February. 

 They are taken by trolling with hook and line from rowboats and power 

 launches, and catches are often made of as many as fifty fish to the boat 

 per day. The fish average about eighteen or twenty pounds each in 

 weight, and are often taken weighing forty or fifty pounds each. The 

 announcement that the salmon have entered the waters of the bay is 

 received with delight, not only by the professional fishermen, but by sports- 

 men all over the country, and the wharves at Santa Cruz soon present 

 scenes of activity; boats are removed from their winter quarters and made 

 fast to the buoy-lines in the harbor; rods, lines, and reels are overhauled, 

 and everything made ready for the summer's sport. Messages by tele- 

 graph and 'phone are sent to anxious sportsmen who have been eagerly 

 awaiting the glad tidings that "the salmon run in Monterey Bay is on," 

 and within a few days the beautiful blue waters are dotted with number- 

 less rowboats and power launches, each of which contains from one to 

 six ardent and enthusiastic anglers. 



While trolling for salmon the angler at any moment is likely to have 

 a "strike" from a sea-bass, yellowtail, bonita, halibut, or any other of the 

 large fish that inhabit the waters of the bay, and his tackle and skill be 

 given a test seldom, if ever, equaled in other waters. Upon the angler's 

 return to the wharf the catch Is prepared for shipment by afternoon trains 



