328 Recreations of a Sportsman 



them, and played my dolphin in a glorious gar- 

 den of the sea, until it ran aground in the weed ; 

 which, I fancy, explains why I caught it. It 

 was a case not of skill, but of good luck ; not on 

 the side of the fish, but good luck for me. 



For nearly twenty years I fished the Pacific off 

 the Southern Californian islands, where is found 

 the greatest variety of big game fishes, of size 

 and quality to stir the soul of the most phleg- 

 matic ingrate. In all this time, though I saw 

 some of the rarest fishes of the sea taken in- 

 cluding the opah, the ribbon-fish, fishes that have 

 lights, and many more, never did I see a dolphin 

 or even hear of one being seen, until in 1906 

 or 1907, when one was brought in by a profes- 

 sional fisherman ; then another later, and then 

 every one went dolphin fishing with light rod 

 and reel tackle. 



There is but one criticism to be made about 

 the sea angling in Southern California, if, indeed, 

 one should have the temerity to take exception 

 to the fulsome bounties of nature, and that is 

 when you go fishing you often catch fish too 

 easily, and if disposed to see how many you 

 could take, which, unfortunately, is the aim and 

 desire of certain lamentables, you could almost 

 fill a boat at times with fifteen- or twenty-pound 

 yellowtails. 



But there was no danger of this with the dol- 

 phin. One fisherman said (and he was not un- 



