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200 or 300 pounds being taken with rod and reel, fishes which towed boats 

 and men from two to ten hours, the entire fishing contingent from America 

 around the world began to listen, and so Santa Catalina became a well- 

 known name, synonymous with angling of the best quality. 



Santa Catalina Island has an advantage as a fishing ground in being 

 within three hours of Los Angeles. It is reached by fine ocean steamers — 

 one, two, or three a day. It has a town of 6,000 or 7,000 persons in 

 summer; and with its perfect climate winter and summer, never cold or» 

 hot, a continuous summerland, abounding in flowers in winter and big 

 game fishes all the time, it is little wonder that its fame has gone far and 

 wide. 



Avalon, the town, is the headquarters of the anglers. Here Is the 

 famous Tuna Club, governed by fifty-six men, who have with rod and reel 

 and 21 -thread line taken a leaping tuna over one hundred pounds in 

 weight. The club gives a yearly angling tournament, offering beautiful 

 prizes, cups, medals, etc., to raise the standard of sport — educate people 

 how to fish in a fair and sportsman-like manner. The club has, aside from 

 Its fifty-six active members, about 250 associate members; and among Its 

 honorary members are Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Dr. Henry 

 Van Dyke, and other distinguished anglers and sportsmen. 



This club, whose president is Charles Frederick Holder, author of "The 

 Log of a Sea Angler," who founded the club some ten years ago, divides 

 the game fishes of Santa Catalina into two classes. Class A includes the 

 leaping tuna, 200 pounds; black sea-bass, 450 pounds; sword-fish, 200 

 pounds. Class B — Albicore, 40 pounds; yellow-fin tuna, 70 pounds; white 

 sea-bass, 60 pounds; yellowtail, 50 pounds; bonito, sheep's-head, white fish, 

 etc. All these fishes are hard fighters and are taken with rod and reel 

 only; Indeed, no one can contest for the various prizes unless they conform 

 to the rules of the club, i. e., fish for the game, in class A, with a 21 -thread 

 line and a tip weighing not over 16 ounces and a rod not under 6 feet 

 9 inches, and for those of class B, with a line larger than a number 9, and 

 a rod-tip weighing less than 6 ounces or less than 5 feet. Another club — 

 the "Light Tackle" — founded last year, has a similar tournament and has 

 added greatly in the movement to encourage a higher standard of sport. 

 The president of this club is Arthur J. Eddy, of Chicago and Pasadena, a 

 well-known patron of sport and a litterateur. 



The boats used at Avalon are the results of the suggestions of anglers 

 of the Tuna Club, and are 18 or 20-foot gasoline launches with a small 

 engine. The anglers — two in number — sit in comfortable seats facing the 

 stern, one fishing to port, the other to starboard, the engineer being both 

 boatman and gaffer. The common fishes here are the yellowtail and 

 albicore, the former, like Henshall's bass, "pound for pound, inch by 

 inch," being the hardest-fighting in the world. It averages about 17 

 pounds and has been taken as large as 80 pounds. Such a fish would 

 fight for hours, and with light rods affords an amount of sport hard to 

 describe to the novice. The yellowtail is taken in the harbors and bays 

 and is a social fellow, while the albicore is found a mile or two off shore 

 and makes a fine fight for its liberty. 



Among the large fishes the sword-fish makes a sensational play, leap- 

 ing violently out of the water when hooked and acting very much as though 

 it was looking for the cause of its trouble, but so far no boat has been in- 

 jured by one. 



The leaping tuna makes the most sensational play. The first large one 

 taken here single-handed with rod and reel, 21 -line, was landed by Charles 

 F. Holder, the catch suggesting the founding of the Tuna Club. This fish 

 towed the heavy boat against the oars of his boatman over twelve miles 

 in four hours, making In all probably the most sensational play known up 

 to that time. This fish weighed 180 pounds. The same angler was cap- 

 sized about a mile and a half off shore by another tuna, and if the com- 

 plete history of the fifty-six catches could be written, the annals of the 

 club would read like a tale from Munchausen. Judge Beaman, of Denver, 



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