1 84 Big Game Fishes 



anywhere alongshore, away from sandy beaches, 

 and at rocky points, but the largest I have found 

 after fishing at nearly all the islands were at the 

 government island of San Clemente, about fifty 

 miles from San Pedro, or opposite San Juan 

 Capistrano. During a yachting trip around this 

 island we anchored on the lee or east side where 

 there was a rapid current, and in this I amused 

 myself one morning casting for yellowtails. In- 

 stead of the latter, quantities of whitefish rose 

 and began to follow the bait. At a distance they 

 resembled and acted not unlike pollock, and 

 taking a ten-ounce split bamboo rod, and using 

 crayfish (spiny lobster) bait, I was soon partici- 

 pating in sport well worthy the name. The swift 

 current carried the bait astern, and as it drifted 

 twenty-five or thirty feet there was a struggle for 

 it by scores of whitefish of large size, their at- 

 tractive drab colors, with dashes of blue and 

 yellow, flashing in the sunlight as they played 

 upon the surface. When hooked they rushed 

 away with force and vigor that tested the light 

 tackle to its utmost, and as the sport grew fast 

 and furious, and several anglers joined, the snap- 

 ping of the delicate lines began. Some of the 

 largest fish made a determined battle, and an old 



