Chapter XXI 



The California Weakfish 



IN all probability more men go down New York Bay 

 for weakfish than for any other denizen of the 

 shallow waters, and thousands have sat in the hot 

 sun on the edge of the flats at the mouth of the river 

 and felt well repaid with a four- or five-pound weakfish. 



What would such an angler say to a fifty-pounder, 

 not one but a dozen, or to see an eighty-pounder towing 

 a boat across a placid bay ? This can be seen in 

 Southern California, or from the Gulf to San Francisco, 

 as the Californians have a weakfish that is a giant, 

 ranging up to one hundred pounds or more. 



The fishes of the largest size are found in Lower 

 California in the Gulf of California. I have been told of 

 fine sport on the coast north of Tiburon, where the 

 tide falls very low and comes in with a bore like that of 

 Hang Chow or the Bay of Fundy. On the crest of 

 this wave comes the white sea-bass, as it is called, a 

 typical weakfish ; and down in the Gulf it is taken by 

 standing on the beach and casting into the surf, in which 



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