302 Life in the Open 



catch weighs ten or fifteen pounds ; and in the San 

 Clemente Channel, to the west, albacores have been 

 caught that weighed one hundred pounds and were 

 doubtless the equal of any tuna of the same size. 



Another albacore, ranking with the tuna as a game 

 fish and weighing about fifty pounds, is the yellow-fin, 

 or Japanese hirenaga (Sermo macropterus). This fish, 

 common at Nagadaka, appeared at Santa Catalina in 

 September of 1905, affording rare sport ; all the catches 

 averaged fifty pounds. 



The albacore is always on the move, and going fast ; 

 it stands not on the order of going, but appears to be 

 on the constant lookout for game or victims of some 

 kind ; hence it is easy game for the angler, who rigs his 

 lure with a big smelt or a flying-fish, and moving fast 

 has a continuous series of strikes the fish making 

 a very gamy play, though, like nearly all deep 

 sea fish, inclined to sulk, although taken on the 

 surface. 



The most remarkable rod catch ever made in these 

 waters was of albacore. The Avalon boatmen who took 

 out anglers and looked on, but never fished, one day de- 

 cided to go a-fishing ; so they refused work and every 

 launch went out with its owner and a friend in the 

 seats, bound for the trolling ground offshore. They had 

 agreed on the terms of the tournament, had prizes and 

 cups, and at the end of the day about thirty rods re- 

 ported about an average of ten albacores each ranging 

 from ten to thirty pounds, the aggregate making a 



