ACCLIMATIZATION OF FISH IN THE PACIFIC STATES. 
455 
Mr. Alexander reports tliat early in fall the fishing is carried on principally in the 
northern part of San Francisco and Suisun bays, and that as the season advances 
striped bass gradually move up the river, the fishermen endeavoring as far as possi- 
ble to keep with them. In the winter the main body of the fish is found in the waters 
constituting the delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The fishing is at 
its height between October and February, attaining its maximum in December. The 
fish appear to be found in larger numbers in San Francisco Bay adjacent to San Fran- 
cisco in summer than at other times. 
In Monterey Bay there are no regular fishing-grounds for striped bass, the few 
taken being caught only incidentally. At Monterey and Santa Cruz only a small 
number have ever been obtained. Hone was taken at the former place and only one 
at the latter in 1893. More are found at Capitola than elsewhere in the bay. In 1893, 
which was the first year in which striped bass were caught by the fishermen of that 
place, 25, weighing 200 pounds, were obtained in a drag seine in September. 
APPARATUS AND METHODS EMPLOYED IN CAPTURE OF STRIPED BASS. 
In San Francisco Bay and the waters tributary thereto gill nets and purse seines 
are employed in the capture of striped bass. Drag seines used for other fish and 
salmon gill nets also take striped bass incidentally. 
In 1893 there were 31 regular striped-bass fishermen in California. These used 12 
boats, worth $1,400; 24 gill nets, worth $000, and 3 purse seines, worth $450. 
The striped-bass gill net is from 00 to 70 fathoms long and 25 to 30 meshes (or 
about 14 feet) deep. It has a mesh of 04 or 0| inches. The cost is about $25. 
The purse seine was introduced in 1892, and is said by Mr. Alexander to give satis- 
faction to the few fishermen who use it. The seine is like a small mackerel seine, being 
200 to 225 feet long and 14 feet deep. The cost is $150. The comparatively small 
size of this seine makes it adapted to use in the sloughs and similar waters where a 
full-sized purse seine could not well be handled. 
The purse-seine fishermen set their seines only when striped bass are visible. As 
soon as they are observed schooling or playing at the surface, the boats are put in 
motion and the seine is set. The seine, being small, is quickly set, pursed, and made 
ready for another trial, and many hauls may be made in the course of a day. Three 
men usually go in each boat, and sometimes two boats are employed to set a seine, but 
this is often done from one boat. 
When the day’s fishing is over, the fishermen take their catch to the nearest steam- 
boat landing or railroad station, most of the fish being shipped by water. Nearly all 
the steamers plying between Sacramento, Stockton, and San Francisco make numer- 
ous stops in the fishing districts and take on board the striped bass, shad, salmon, and 
other fish that have been brought in. The principal dealers in San Francisco have 
packing boxes at the different landings, which are used by the fishermen in making 
their consignments, each dealer usually receiving all the fish caught by certain fisher- 
men. The fish are packed without being cleaned or iced. 
ANGLING FOR STRIPED BASS. 
The anticipation of fine sport with the striped bass which the California anglers 
entertained when the successful introduction of the fish was assured has not been 
fully realized. Up to the present time comparatively few bass have been taken with 
the rod, and the fish has not evinced the gamy disposition which characterizes it on 
