The Albacore 209 
and a boatman, with a camaraderie not always 
found where competition is keen, is seen pointing 
away to the south, where a scene is staged on the 
blue, glasslike sea well calculated to stir the blood 
in the veins of the most phlegmatic angler. A 
great patch of the ocean appears to be in violent 
commotion; the air is filled with flying-fishes, 
which dart along soaring, not flying, crossing each 
other’s path, resembling great dragon-flies, glisten- 
ing in the sunlight, while a roar like the sound of 
distant waves breaking upon the rocks is heard. 
Boats are turned in that direction, and anglers, 
rod in hand, are presently in the midst of the fray. 
In such a sortie it is not a question of catching 
fish, but how many will satisfy. Two anglers 
have taken forty or more with rods in a few hours. 
The greatest demand for albacores comes from 
the black sea-bass anglers, who have discovered 
that this leviathan looks favorably upon the rich 
oily meat of the albacore. To the dwellers on 
the Mediterranean it is a choice dish, but to the 
average American albacore is neither 
“fish, flesh, nor good red herring.” 
Despite this, the offshore commercial catch is 
large and important in all the seashore towns 
P 
