CHAPTER XXIII 



A NEW GAME FISH 



AIONG the mysteries of the sea are the strange 

 migrations of its inhabitants, the fishes, and 

 the causes which influence them. The Pacific 

 Coast of North America is peculiarly situated; swept 

 by the Kuroshiwo, the so-called Black Current of 

 Japan, an Asiatic Gulf Stream, its climate is tempered 

 and modified so that the entire coast is much warmer 

 than corresponding regions on the Atlantic coast, and 

 it is constantly visited by strange and unexpected visi- 

 tors from the sea. For ten years Santa Catalina Island 

 has been famous for its tuna fishing; the big game 

 has been taken with rod and reel, the author capturing 

 the first very large fish, weighing one hundred and 

 eighty-three pounds, which was followed by one taken 

 by Col. C. P. Morehous, weighing two hundred and 

 fifty pounds, and the records of the Tuna Club to-day 

 show about sixty of the fishes taken with rod and reel, 

 weighing over one hundred pounds, and four or five 

 one hundred and fifty pounds. 



The tuna is remarkably fickle. As a general rule 

 it comes in July, or the latter part of June, arriving in 

 schools and remaining until August I5th, when it sud- 



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