206 Recreations of a Sportsman 



salmon and white sea-bass it is hard to choose, 

 and it required some moral courage to delib- 

 erately try to get rid of a fish that may weigh 

 thirty or even sixty pounds and look upon it 

 as a nuisance, but apparently it was necessary 

 here. I played the fish recklessly, gave it no 

 slack, hoping it would break the line, but nothing 

 would remove it, it came in despite us, a splendid 

 fellow at any other time or anywhere else, and 

 I could but think if such a weak fish, as it was 

 of the tribe, weighing nearly forty pounds, should 

 be caught down New York Bay where the weak- 

 fish anglers go, what an excitement it would 

 occasion. Every paper would have the account, 

 the angler's picture would be published and all 

 the particulars, while here at Monterey such 

 game w r as considered a nuisance, as we were 

 fishing for salmon and wanted nothing else. So 

 we moved back into the sphere of the salmon 

 schools, which were evidently changing about, 

 following the big schools of anchovies. 



Monterey Bay is a most interesting place for 

 the angler, as on a fishing trip there are count- 

 less strange fishes and birds always in sight. 

 Sea pigeons covered the water in places in such 

 numbers that they were disagreeable, the strong 

 pungent musky odor filling the air. Then 

 whales would rise to engulf small fry, or tuna 

 would dash in, adding to the excitement. The 

 bay is a famous feeding ground for whales and 



