CHAPTER XI 



FISHING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



R)DS are not put away during the winter in 

 Southern California, for there are the white- 

 fish, the sheepshead and the rock bass always 

 to be had along shore ; but as spring comes on there is 

 greater activity, and the best fishing, the real sport, 

 is in the spring and summer, where the Black Current 

 that sweeps down the coast is tempered by the semi- 

 tropic sun, and the shore is swarming with bait. 



The mainland Pacific Coast presents many anoma- 

 lies. Harbors, coves and bays it has only to a lim- 

 ted extent, the coast between San Francisco and San 

 Diego being, in the Eastern sense, with one exception, 

 without protected bays for the fishermen. The wind 

 blows freshly every day, and the sea rolls in eternally 

 upon long sandy beaches, broken here and there by 

 rocky headlands. To fish with a small boat rigged 

 with a chair, and the conveniences one finds on the 

 St. Lawrence, is almost impossible. The profes- 

 sional fisherman goes offshore in his heavy sailboat 

 from one mile to three, and trolls for barracuda or 

 yellowtail, or sets trawl-lines along the rocky points. 



