The High Leapers 



tacle, as following the first rush away, the trout, 

 usually of large size, would surge upward and go 

 whirling into the air, its marvelous tints caught by 

 the sun, blazing and scintillating as the fish reached 

 the air again and again. 



The gar is a leaper, going at times into the air 

 eight feet, I have seen the leaping shark at Aransas 

 three feet in air on the end of my line; and the 

 leopard shark of Catalina is a clever jumper when 

 taken in shoal water. Black bass are famous for 

 their leaps of two and three feet remarkable when 

 the size of the fish is considered. A chapter could 

 be written on the leaps of the lady-fish and the ten- 

 pounder; they are cousins of the tarpon, and mem- 

 bers of the circle which includes the most agile 

 acrobats of stream and sea. 



The two swordfishes taken with rod and reel in 

 Southern California water are both leapers. Tetrap- 

 turus fall back clumsily from a leap of three feet, 

 which I have observed, but Xiphias, which has been 

 played by anglers here, makes a graceful leap, one 

 having been seen to go into the air four or five feet 

 several times, and up to date none of this species has 

 been landed; their extraordinary fins enable them to 

 break the delicate line of 2i-thread, which is used. 



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