202 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



spawn in August. Professional fishermen take it for the market with "cod" 

 lines and albacore bait, but the anglers of the Tuna Club use 24-ounce and 

 9-ounce rods with a reel that will hold 1,000 feet of a 9-thread Cuttyhunk line 

 made for the purpose. The line is made in a building 700 feet long and is 

 tested to pull a dead weight of 2 pounds to the thread. With this tackle the 

 anglers go to the grounds in launches especially designed for the purpose, 18 or 

 20 feet long with 8 or 10 horsepower gasoline engines. In the stem are two 

 comfortable chair seats, one fishing to the right, the other to the left. On 

 reaching the ground the boatman tosses over the anchor, fixing a float to it 

 that he can cast off. The angler straps on a belt with a socket for the butt of 

 his rod, baits the number 7/0 O'Shaughnessy hook with half a barracuda, or a 

 6-potmd whitefish, or a piece of albacore, and tosses it over in 40 feet of 

 water. He may have to wait for a strike or he may get one immediately. 

 The strike is delicate, and when it comes the angler pays out 10 or 20 feet of 

 line, then strikes. If he hooks the fish there is a heavy rush and the boatman 

 casts off the anchor (fig. i, pi. i) and follows the fish, or keeps the angler stern to 

 it until he brings it to gaff, which may take an hour or five, according to the fish. 

 The gaffer, if the fish is large, tows it in, if small (150 pounds), he takes it on 

 deck (fig. 2, pi. i) and goes into port (fig. 3, pi. 11), where scores of people 

 hurry down to the dock to see the fish weighed. 



The tuna of the Pacific, or horse mackerel, or tunny, is taken in the Mediter- 

 ranean in great nets, miles long, being driven in, and the nets at Sicily are of 

 great value. In America the tuna, of three kinds, is taken as sport and is also 

 used as a food fish. The leaping tuna comes into Catalina in June and remains 

 until January. It is considered the greatest of all game fishes. The tackle is 

 a 24-ounce rod, a 24-thread Cuttyhunk or other good line, and a large reel of 

 \'om Hofe make. The angler does not wear a belt, but has a socket on the seat 

 for the butt of the rod. (Fig. 5, pi. iii.) Flying fish is the bait, which is 

 trolled about 100 feet behind the boat. Anglers play the fish and troll for it. 

 The}^ also approach the schools and cast the heavy bait in front of them. The 

 fish average 1 70 pounds (fig. 6, pi. iii) and the record is 251 pounds with the tackle 

 described. Market fishermen fish with heavy lines from sail boats, but the fish 

 is so powerful that few care to do it. The fish is a famous leaper before it is 

 hooked and when feeding, and preys almost exclusively on flying fish and squid. 

 It is found in all temperate and semitropic seas, and often weighs 1,500 pounds. 

 This tima is fished for a quarter of a mile offshore on about 4 miles of coast at 

 Santa Catalina and has not been taken with a rod in any other locality. It has 

 been known to tow a boat for 30 miles. 



The albacore, long-finned tuna, or alalonga, ranges up to 100 pounds and 

 is found in many localities off Santa Catalina Island. It lives in deep water 

 but near the surface. It looks something like the blue tuna but has very long 



