114 Big Game Fishes 
was hauled upon the beach. It was not believed 
possible to land so heavy a fish with a rod, but I 
was fortunate in seeing the first one taken in this 
way. General Charles Viele and myself were fish- 
ing with rods from an anchored launch two hun- 
dred feet from the shore at the “fence,” Santa 
Catalina. The General had a strike almost im- 
mediately, and springing into a small boat with 
the engineer as an oarsman was rapidly towed 
away. In about two hours he had mastered the 
fish and had it on the deck. When he was playing 
it I had hooked four or five, losing my lines and 
breaking two tips, it being impossible to stop the 
rushes with light tackle (twenty-one-thread line) 
from an anchored boat. Finally, my rod being 
entirely depleted, I tried a hand-line, and in less 
than an hour landed two bass. One weighed one 
hundred and fifty-eight pounds and another two 
hundred and seventy-eight pounds, the latter with 
the aid of General Viele. We returned to port 
with three bass, one weighing one hundred and 
fifty-eight, a second two hundred and seventy- 
eight, and the third two hundred and fifty-eight 
pounds, before lunch. This was the initial rod 
catch of this fish, and since then scores have 
been landed with rod and reel, the record catch 
