THE GAME PISHES OF THE WOELD 



California pompano, PepHlus simillima, is very common at 

 times at Santa Catalina near Seal Eocks. Other small but 

 common fishes often caught are ' Johnny Verde,' Paraldbrax 

 nebulifer, the spotted Cdbrilla, and the Medialv/na, the latter 

 particularly common at Santa Catalina and a fine game fish 

 of three or four pounds when caught on a trout rod. A small 

 hook is necessary, and the fish will not take fish bait unless very 

 hungry ; crayfish, clam or abalone (haKotis) is the lure of its 

 choice. I have found Long Point, five miles from Avalon, an 

 especially good place for this attractive blue-tinted little fish. 



There are a number of small sharks on the Southern Cali- 

 fornian coast which afford the same sport as the British tope. 

 One known as the leopard shark, very common in Catahna 

 Harbour, attains a weight of sixty pounds and leaps when hooked. 

 The young bonito sharks, caught in the open ocean, four or five 

 feet ia length, are also game worthy the name, and leap high and 

 weU when in the toils. 



The list of smaU fishes of this locality, which could be fairly 

 included under the head of game fishes, is very large, suggestive 

 of the sport available to the angler who does not care for the 

 more strenuous exercise with the greater game. I am indebted 

 to Mr. Charles V. Barton of the Tuna Club for the following 

 data of the small shore fishes, on which he is an authority : 



' The principal game fish of Southern California waters taken from 

 shore or pier with hook and line are the California surf-wMting (Menticirrhus 

 undulatus), the yeUow-fin and the spot-fin croaker (Roncador sfearnsi). 



' The California surf-whiting, by reason of its gameness and superior 

 excellence as food, leads aU the rest in the fancy of the Southern Cali- 

 fornia hght-tackle angler. It ranges from a quarter of a pound to ten 

 pounds in weight. Eight and a half pounds is the largest registration on 

 the records of the Southern California Rod and Reel Club. It is an ex- 

 tremely powerful fish, living as it does in or near the surf, and its body is 

 shaped so as to withstand the crash and pressure of the breakers. Its 

 principal food is the sand-crab, so called, which burrows in the wet sand 

 and is washed into the water by the receding rollers. 



' The flesh of the surf-whitiag is firm, sweet, and daiuty, and is preferred 

 by many to that of any other salt-water fish. This fish is also known 

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