FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 



fish had been taken on rod and line only at Santa Gatalina. The mere fact 

 of the tuna's occurrence so far north as St Ann Bay was nothing new, 

 since it had been recorded in ** The Field " at any rate as far back as the 

 autumn of 1901. The true home of the sport, however, is Avalon, on 

 Santa Gatalina Island, where tunas have been caught on rod and line 

 for more than twenty years, Mr C. F. Holder, rightly acclaimed the 

 doyen of the sport, having, in 1889, caught one of 183 lb. The presence 

 of tuna bones in aboriginal burial mounds on the island points to long 

 familiarity with the fish on the part of the vanished natives, but its recog- 

 nition as game for the fisherman was left to Mr Holder and his contem- 

 poraries, who, between them, founded, in 1898, the since famous Tuna 

 Club, which aims at discouraging the use of handlines and at otherwise 

 regulating the sport in the best interests of all concerned. Not content 

 with advocating the exclusive use of the rod, the club has done much 

 to popularize the use of light tackle for yellowtail, white sea-bass, 

 and other game fishes of those seas, offering valuable cups, in addition 

 to medals and buttons, for the heaviest specimens caught under ap- 

 proved conditions. The club draws its members from all over America, 

 and has further conferred honorary membership on one or two anglers 

 in this country. 



Gatalina Island offers wonderfully suitable conditions for big game 

 fishing in comfort, such as are not, in fact, to be found anywhere else 

 in the world. Deep water is to be found close to the beaches, and the high 

 cliffs shelter the sea from the only wind likely to ruffle it in May and June. 

 Rainy days are few and far between, and the tidal ebb and flow is so slight 

 as to occasion no inconvenience. As a matter of fact, both sea-bass and 

 yellowtail commonly feed best during the first three hours after high 

 water. The one drawback to tuna fishing at Santa Gatalina is to be found 

 in the habits of the tuna itself. The fish is an inveterate wanderer, with 

 no fixed programme for its travels, and cannot therefore be counted 

 on, like the tarpon in Florida, at any given time of year. Sportsmen may 

 therefore experience the disappointment, as I did myself, of making the 

 long and expensive journey from England, without even seeing one. In- 

 deed, of the two. Gape Breton seems to be much more regularly visited 

 by the tuna shoals in August. 



The fishing at Santa Gatalina is done from motor launches, and the 

 charge for each, including services of the man, who is engineer and fisher- 

 man in one, as well as bait and the use of tackle, is a sovereign for the half 

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