ii4 Big Game Fishes 



was hauled upon the beach. It was not believed 

 possible to land so heavy a fish with a rod, but I 

 was fortunate in seeing the first one taken in this 

 way. General Charles Viele and myself were fish- 

 ing with rods from an anchored launch two hun- 

 dred feet from the shore at the "fence," Santa 

 Catalina. The General had a strike almost im- 

 mediately, and springing into a small boat with 

 the engineer as an oarsman was rapidly towed 

 away. In about two hours he had mastered the 

 fish and had it on the deck. When he was playing 

 it I had hooked four or five, losing my lines and 

 breaking two tips, it being impossible to stop the 

 rushes with light tackle (twenty-one-thread line) 

 from an anchored boat. Finally, my rod being 

 entirely depleted, I tried a hand-line, and in less 

 than an hour landed two bass. One weighed one 

 hundred and fifty-eight pounds and another two 

 hundred and seventy-eight pounds, the latter with 

 the aid of General Viele. We returned to port 

 with three bass, one weighing one hundred and 

 fifty-eight, a second two hundred and seventy- 

 eight, and the third two hundred and fifty-eight 

 pounds, before lunch. This was the initial rod 

 catch of this fish, and since then scores have 

 been landed with rod and reel, the record catch 



