The Kingfish 295 
The season for bonitos, on the California coast, 
is from May until December, the midsummer 
months being the best. The largest fish I have 
seen weighed twenty pounds, and was so power- 
ful that it repeatedly towed the heavy boat around 
and around, making a more desperate fight than 
some fishes I have taken, of twice the size. The 
average size of the bonito in these waters is 
twelve pounds. The range of this species is very 
wide, covering all the Pacific from San Francisco 
to Chili, beyond and west to the shores of Japan. 
It doubtless spawns in the open Santa Catalina 
channel and in the vicinity of the islands; but 
extremely young fishes have never been observed 
here by me, though I have dredged and watched 
the hauling of seines and nets, surface and other- 
wise. This region is a spawning-ground for many 
genera. The flying-fish spawns here in July, yet 
I have never been able to secure a young one, 
though I confess to have chased them, about the 
size of grasshoppers, for hours with a scoop-net. 
The little creatures, about an inch in length, 
could “fly” or soar about a foot, and attempted 
to take to the air as I struck at them with the 
net. They well illustrated the ease with which 
the young of common fishes can escape obser- 
