A Sportsman 347 



I did not experience, nor the habituated fishermen. 

 But even with a rough sea the fishing would hold good. 



Many destroyers beside man are among the salmon 

 — the sea-lions, seals, and sharks being most con- 

 spicuous, with occasional visitations of porpoises, killers, 

 tvmas, and grampuses. 



One morning in a dense fog an immense sea-lion 

 rose up from the water just ahead of my boat with 

 a salmon in its mouth, a rather appalling sight from 

 his close proximity, but harmless, as they have never 

 been known to attack men or boats, although a fatal 

 incident occurred in the bay the year before my fish- 

 ing, when a large sea-lion became entangled in a 

 fishing net — not an imcommon event — and, while 

 being struck at by one of the netters at close quarters, 

 seized him by the thigh, and carried him down, with 

 fatal result. The seals are plentiful and will occa- 

 sionally cut off the salmon while it is being hauled in. 



The fishermen dispose of their fish almost wholly 

 for moderate prices at the Monterey pier, where 

 salting works are established, receiving for their 

 salmon from three to five cents per pound. Their 

 other varieties of marketable fishes are handled also 

 by the salters, who pack and forward to dealers at 

 the various markets. 



It is observable that the schools of salmon are 

 comparatively uniform in weights, in one locality 

 running from twelve to twenty pounds, and in an- 

 other from twenty pounds up ; and off the coast at 

 Santa Cruz, twenty miles north of Monterey Bay, 

 they run lighter than at the latter locality, where 

 grilse are much more plentifvd. 



It is a feature apparent at Monterey Bay that the 



