The California Weakfish 3*3 



The young of the large bass are also called sea 

 trout ; gamy creatures rarely caught except in the gill- 

 nets of the professional fishermen. The latter have an 

 interesting calling at the channel islands, but particu- 

 larly in the Santa Catalina Channel, where all the mar- 

 ket fishing of Los Angeles County is done. The men 

 mostly Italians, go out in their typical lateen-rigged 

 boats and troll for the barracuda, that schools in these 

 waters and constitutes a favourite market fish. With 

 four or more hand lines boomed out, these boats sail up 

 and down the channel and catch barracuda by the score. 



Then there is the sand dab fisherman, who goes 

 out three miles from Avalon to a sandy-bottomed coun- 

 try where he lowers a line three hundred feet down, with 

 a dozen hooks on it, allowing it to remain for half an 

 hour, then winding it up with a wheel. The catch, a 

 little fish resembling a sole, is considered a feast for the 

 gods. 



Over in the San Clemente Channel we may see still 

 another fisherman. He has a long trawl with several 

 hundred hooks, which is set in six hundred feet of water, 

 coming up with deep-sea groupers strange, big-mouthed 

 fishes of deep red and crimson tints. 



With them come small sharks and various strange 

 fishes, and enormous hammer-heads haunt the region, 

 preying upon the groupers and other denizens of deep 

 water. The gill-net and seine fishermen ply a profitable 

 trade. The gill-nets are set at night out in the channel, 

 and a variety of fishes are taken Spanish mackerel, 



