Qualifying in the Three-Six Club 217 



Baron, our host, had " Mexican Joe," and the 

 tuna hound for luck. Then there was Al 

 Shade, who had lived on San Clemente nearly 

 as long as Joe, and Clover, three good boatmen. 



At six or seven bells we would slip away from 

 the ship, run along by the terraced mountains 

 of the west side, pass the sunken rocks and 

 kelp beds where the great forest was folding and 

 unfolding in the blue water, by the causeway 

 with its strange heads, and zip, bang, z-e-e-e! 

 and the sport was on ; not on one rod, but often 

 on six, with dozens of unhooked twenty- and 

 thirty-pounders dashing about, enraged at being 

 too late for the sport of playing the newcomers. 

 It is a case of " We have met the enemy and 

 we are theirs." Snap goes a line; a rod straight- 

 ens up; a reel is almost emptied, the z-e-e-e! of 

 another sings a brazen funereal note, and in a 

 few seconds five anglers are retired, one alone 

 playing his fish on the thread of a line. 



The reader might surmise that here was very 

 poor fishing or manipulation for five fish to be 

 lost at the first charge, but a glance at the tackle 

 clears the situation. All the anglers are fishing 

 according to the rules of the Tuna Club, which 

 call for a nine-ounce rod and a line of nine 

 threads, having a breaking strength of eighteen 

 pounds, while the anglers of the third boat are 

 fishing with the " Three-Six Club " tackle, with 

 an eye out for the Potter silver cup already de- 



