The Tribe of Seriola 357 



ence is repeated. There is hardly any play that quite 

 comes up to that made by this fish. Its fierceness, its 

 sudden rushes, its evident strength, all are factors that 

 surprise old salmon fishermen and dumbfound the ten- 

 derfoot in these summer seas. Santa Catalina is the 

 home of the yellowtail, so far as the rod angler is 

 concerned, as here the equipment of boats is perfect, 

 the water smooth, and the fish found in large numbers ; 

 the rocky cliffs, the long ideal stormless summer days 

 appealing to anglers, some of whom have a weakness 

 for creature comforts even when fishing. 



The yellowtail is found as far north as Monterey, 

 and where deep water sets inshore, as at Redondo and 

 Portuguese Bend ; it is caught, also in mid-channel. 

 Schools may be found all along the coast where they 

 are taken by the professional fisherman with his hand- 

 lines and bone-gigs. But the ideal rod-fishing is found 

 in the lee of the channel islands, from San Diego and 

 Coronado to Santa Barbara, where still waters and ideal 

 conditions make the sport unique in the annals of 

 rod-fishing for big game. 



Yellowtail fishing at the islands continues all sum- 

 mer and up to December, and I have taken this fish at 

 Avalon from the pier nearly every month in the year ; 

 but officially Seriola is on leave, December, January, 

 and February, and is then only caught on hand-lines 

 six hundred feet down in the San Clemente Channel, or 

 off the great banks of Tanner and Cortez some miles to 

 the south-west, or down the coast at Ensenada. 



