Tbe Albacore 209 



and a boatman, with a camaraderie not always 

 found where competition is keen, is seen pointing 

 away to the south, where a scene is staged on the 

 blue, glasslike sea well calculated to stir the blood 

 in the veins of the most phlegmatic angler. A 

 great patch of the ocean appears to be in violent 

 commotion; the air is filled with flying-fishes, 

 which dart along soaring, not flying, crossing each 

 other's path, resembling great dragon-flies, glisten- 

 ing in the sunlight, while a roar like the sound of 

 distant waves breaking upon the rocks is heard. 

 Boats are turned in that direction, and anglers, 

 rod in hand, are presently in the midst of the fray. 

 In such a sortie it is not a question of catching 

 fish, but how many will satisfy. Two anglers 

 have taken forty or more with rods in a few hours. 

 The greatest demand for albacores comes from 

 the black sea-bass anglers, who have discovered 

 that this leviathan looks favorably upon the rich 

 oily meat of the albacore. To the dwellers on 

 the Mediterranean it is a choice dish, but to the 

 average American albacore is neither 



" fish, flesh, nor good red herring." 



Despite this, the offshore commercial catch is 

 large and important in all the seashore towns 



