FISH AND FISHING 



125 



about a minute or less I slowly and softly 

 drew in the line until I felt a slight resist- 

 ance. Then, with a good strong jerk, the 

 line swished straight out of the water 

 about 15 feet, and I had hooked my first 

 pickerel for the season. 



My captive had his own ideas of where 

 he wanted to go and I had mine. He 

 seemed to think the water would be more 

 healthful for him about 100 yards up shore, 

 but I had discovered some logs and beams 

 there on the way out; so, gently checking 

 the line, I persuaded him to come up and 

 have a look at the bottom of the boat. 

 Incidentally I got a look at him, but he 

 did not agree to my plans. The next 

 moment he was taking out line at a rate 

 that would soon exhaust the supply on the 

 seat. Again I checked him. Being anxi- 

 ous to get a look at him, and hoping for 

 at least a 10-pounder to take back, I slowly 

 brought him within 8 feet of the boat. I 

 caught a glimpse of a dark green back 

 and pink fins which in length looked up 

 to my expectations. The next instant he 

 was off like a flash, but that time not so 

 far. After playing him another 5 min- 

 utes, I hauled him ingloriously up to the 

 boat like an old boot and flopped him 

 into the bottom, well up in the bow, so 

 he might not in his gymnastic exercises 

 get overboard. I then rowed for the pier 

 to have him weighed. 



Had I lost him I should have related the 

 story as the loss of a 15-pounder, but 

 when he was safely gilled on the scales 

 he tipped 6% and I was satisfied. 



CALIFORNIA CATCHES. 



The fishing season opened about a 

 month earlier than usual this year, and 

 some good catches have been made re- 

 cently at Avalon, Long Beach and Re- 

 dondo. March 9th Dr. Milbank Johnson, 

 of Los Angeles, and H. L. Borden, of 

 New York, were trolling for yellowtail 

 near Avalon and one of them hooked a 

 tuna, which is an unusual occurrence so 

 early in the season. The tackle being too 

 light to handle such a large fish it was 

 lost after a short struggle. 



March 24th G. D. Bonbright, of Color- 

 ado Springs, took the first tuna' of the 

 season. It weighed only 32 pounds and 

 is believed to be the smallest tuna ever 

 taken at Avalon. April 1st a peculiar 

 catch was made by Mrs. Bonbright. 

 She was fishing with but one hook, yet,' 

 to her astonishment, she pulled in 2 large 

 rock bass, one weighing 3 pounds and the 

 other 6. It seems when the first fish 

 struck the hook it was expelled through 

 the fish's gills, and the second fish seized 

 it and was also caught. Several different 

 persons witnessed this strange occurrence 



and although it was April 1st this is no 

 April fool fish story. 



Barracuda, yellowtail and bonita have 

 run in large numbers and have afforded 

 excellent sport. Mackerel have also been 

 running well, and some excellent strings 

 have been taken at Avalon and Long 

 Beach. April nth a party of 4, fishing 

 near Avalon, took a string of 184 large 

 mackerel. Several other parties also 

 brought in catches of 20 to 40. The 

 Tuna club opened the season May 1st 

 with its annual tournament for prizes. 



B. C. Hinman, Los Angeles, Cal. 



GENTLEMEN ANGLERS IN MICHIGAN. 



There were 4 in the party that left Har- 

 risville, Mich., May 4, 1901, to go a few 

 miles to that ideal trouting stream, Black 

 creek. This stream is an inspiration in 

 itself, having all kinds of bottom, shingly 

 and gravelly., mossy and grassy, having 

 rapids and ripples, falls and cataracts, 

 shallows and deep, sluggish pools. We, 

 Geo. W. Colwell, H. M. Long, Chas. Ed- 

 wards and I, had a day of rare sport. 



As it was our first trip of the season 

 we each had a desire to excel all others in 

 angling. Had we been pot hunters our 

 catch, would have been wonderful; but we 

 are pleasure seekers and catch fish for 

 sport, having a true conception of when 

 sport becomes pot hunting. 



We found some other anglers on the 

 stream who were using bait, which the 

 fish took readily, but we tried flies. The 

 fish did not rise readily until about noon. 

 Then our fun began. In about an hour 

 one of the party shouted, 'T have enough," 

 and then from other parts of the stream 

 came the shouts, "So have I." We com- 

 pared notes and found that the glory of 

 excellence rested with no one in particu- 

 lar as all had splendid catches, about 20 

 each, varying in weight from 6 to 21 

 ounces.. 



Black creek has been stocked from the 

 State fish hatchery and is a splendid 

 stream for trout to multiply in. It runs 

 through impassable tangles of swamp in 

 places, where anglers never cast a line; 

 consequently the stream is not becoming 

 depleted and is at present one of our best 

 stocked streams, although we have here as 

 good fishing as is found anywhere. 



W. H. Sanborn, Harrisville, Mich. 



FEARLESS OHIO WARDENS. 

 In April last Charles Ruckle and Levi 

 Fox, game wardens, of Akron, Ohio, got 

 into a boat shortly after dark and rowed 

 out on Long lake in search of certain men 

 who they had reason to believe were 

 handling gill nets in the lake. When near 



