Fishing in Southern California 



The bass, like all of its kind, affects the rocks and 

 the great beds of kelp which form halls and par- 

 terres beneath the sea, in comparatively shallow 

 water inshore. The boat is anchored in twenty-five 

 or thirty feet of water, and arrangements made to 

 cast off at short notice. The equipment is a single- 

 tip rod, the line a thread of 9 or 21 strand, with 

 long wire leader, and Van Vleck tarpon hook. The 

 bait is four or five pounds of barracuda, or a live 

 white fish. This is cast into the clear places in the 

 kelp, or near it, or suspended three or four feet from 

 the bottom, as the angler may choose; either way 

 accomplishes the purpose and lures the big game. 

 The strike of the tuna is a magnificent rush, some- 

 times a leap upward, sometimes down; that of the 

 yellowtail a single powerful plunge, a miniature light- 

 ning stroke with electric effects; but the king of the 

 bass is more deliberate, reminding one of the methods 

 of the great Mexican barracuda. The line begins to 

 move, to tremble and twitch. A few inches go over 

 the rail, the reel sounds a note of alarm, then another, 

 and the line runs slowly out. Five feet have gone 

 when the angler gives the fish the butt, and the bass 

 gives the retort courteous. I have seen a strong man 

 jerked elbow deep this on the handline; but with 

 the reel, it means a long musical prelude in various 

 keys, the bass tearing off the line by the fathom. The 

 boatman casts off the anchor buoy, grasps his oars, 

 and heading out to sea, surging through the water, 



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