22 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. i, 1910. 
made fast to her stern and all the power of her 
engine was employed to drag the ray from its 
place to the surface, and we at last got it headed 
for the beach. To haul it h:gh and dry on the 
beach took the entire crew of the Comfort and 
the assistance of twenty Mexican fishermen.” 
Not much is known about the Lower Califor¬ 
nia giant rays. Conn is the chief contributor 
to reliable information concerning them. Like 
the tribe generally they are of a diamond shape, 
wider than long, excepting the tail, and have 
fleshy fins which take the place of the tail in 
propelling them, giving immense power. 
Mr. Conn reports that he has discovered the 
winter habitat of tuna. They are found in most 
of the bays along the peninsula of Lower Cali¬ 
fornia and in the gulf, some being seen every 
spring. The fishing in the localities being visited 
by Conn is probably the grandest rod and reel 
sport this world affords. Cabrilla pinta, a variety 
of jewfish (grouper) ; the common Catalina jew- 
fish; immense white sea bass, one of 112 pounds 
having been taken; yellowtail; papagallo, a 
variety of the seriola tribe somewhat similar to 
yellowtail, but with elongated dorsal spines 
forming a sort of cocks comb, all have been 
landed by the party. Mr. Conn took with him 
L. G. Murphy, the veteran jewfish angler who 
was with him last winter. They expect to re¬ 
turn early in the year. Edwin L. Hedderly. 
Good Fishing. 
What 1 sort of fish the San Francisco anglers 
catch in winter is told by the Chronicle as fol¬ 
lows: 
At the Wingo slough levees about fifty rods 
prospected the turgid waters from early morn 
until train time. The big doings came off at 
an unexpected time. Joe Harding got into the 
limelight and was the Warwick of the day, when 
he hooked a thirty-eight-pound bass, and that is 
some fish, too. 
The fish gave him a fight for thirty minutes. 
He had just time, with the assistance of other 
fishermen, to land the fish, cut off and abandon 
many feet of good cuttyhunk line and hike for 
the train—or walk back several miles to Schell- 
ville for an overnight stay. He played big and 
little casino with striped bass. Another fish he 
caught scaled only four pounds. H. F. Hart’s 
two fish weighed nineteen and sixteen pounds; 
three others he hooked escaped. He angled near 
the bridge, a heretofore rather overlooked fish¬ 
ing spot by the talent. Tim Lynch joined the 
band wagon with a nine-pound bass. Jim Lynch 
landed a three-pound flounder, much to his own 
and everybody else’s surprise. These fine flat 
panfish can be found in any of the bay sloughs 
■ or creeks in sandy or gravelly bottom, for now 
iis their spawning time. 
On the mild and muddy San Antone a number 
of the regulars plodded the banks or fished from 
boats. Luck was parsimoniously doled out in¬ 
dividually, but where it struck it was prodigal. 
A 1 Wilson’s big fish weighed thirty-four pounds; 
for side trimmings he had eleven and nine- 
pound fish. Bob Sangster accounted for five 
fine fish—thirty-one, twenty-three, nineteen, six 
and five pounds they weighed. 
San Antone must be accorded the credit for 
being probably the best striped bass fishing re¬ 
sort for hook and line within easy reach of this 
city. To the expert veteran angler A 1 Wilson 
must be accorded the laurel for a striped bas 
championship. During the month of November 
Wilson’s total catch of twenty-one striped bass 
(e£ch fish over ten pounds) weighed 509 pounds, 
an average of nearly twenty-five pounds. I11 
San Antone slough the scale of weights runs: 
Eighteen, twenty, thirty-two, thirty, sixteen, 
twenty-six, twenty-six, twenty-six, twenty, ten, 
thirty, twelve, thirty-six, seventeen, thirty-five, 
thirty-five and twenty-eight. Wingo catches 
were: Twenty-three, thirty-three, thirty-six and 
sixteen pounds. A previous catch of seven bass 
scaled 170 pounds. 
Tournament Casting. 
East Orange, N. J., Dec. 27.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: From hints in communications to 
Forest and Stream and much stronger than 
hints, almost threats from certain men attend¬ 
ing the last anglers’ tournament at New York, 
it would appear that if in the event our present 
rules regarding professionalism should not be 
made more liberal, concerted influence would be 
brought to bear on a number of clubs, at present 
affiliated with the National Association of Scien¬ 
tific Angling Clubs, to withdraw and with them 
as a nucleus form a rival association with ‘‘open 
to all” as their constitution and by-laws. 
While my sympathies are still with the pro¬ 
fessional, I wish to disclaim connection with 
such an unwise movement. No stigma, no odium 
can be attached to professionalism as we under¬ 
stand it and there is no reason why all cannot 
work in harmony to the uplift of this beautiful 
clean game. 
Established on such a substantial footing, in¬ 
teresting so many splendid fellows and with in¬ 
terest being awakened in many more of the elect, 
the possibility of even a partial dismemberment 
of our present national association does not look 
good to me. Do not do it, fellows; surely there 
is enough intelligence within the ranks of both 
sides of this question to solve it satisfactorily 
and amicably to both sides. Therefore, in an 
honest, heartfelt endeavor to clear the atmos¬ 
phere, allow me to suggest the following: 
Form a professional association, membership 
open individually to all, hold annual tournaments 
in conjunction with and previous to that of the 
N. A. S. A. C. and at the conclusion of events, 
both associations, repeat the entire programme in 
a world’s championship series, the one-two-three 
men, both associations, eligible to cast. 
I feel reasonably confident of such a proposi¬ 
tion, our professional brethren would be met 
more than half way, harmony and good fellow¬ 
ship would prevail and the game given an im¬ 
mense impetus and added interest. Come, now, 
boys, what do you say? A. Jay Marsh. 
Biloxi Bacon. 
There are all kinds of fishing along Missis¬ 
sippi Sound from Bay St. Louis to Biloxi, ac¬ 
cording to H. C. Ryall, of New Orleans. 
The mullet, a small but very palatable fish, is 
the common diet of the people all along the 
coast, and is familiarly known as ‘‘Biloxi bacon.” 
The mullet is caught with a little cast net 
familiarly known as the “Biloxi life preserver,” 
because anybody can go out in a boat at any 
- time and catch fish enough for a meal in a few 
minutes.—Washington Herald. 
Aransas Pass Tarpon Club. 
Akron, Ohio, Dec. 22. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: I am pleased to again be in a position 
to say that the Aransas Pass Tarpon Club of 
Tarpon, Texas, has had a very prosperous year. 
In June, 1907, the Aransas Pass Tarpon Club 
was organized at Tarpon, Texas, for the pur¬ 
pose of stimulating the art of angling in a more 
scientific manner, especially for the “mighty and 
gamy” tarpon. The club’s efforts have been re¬ 
warded, even beyond its fondest hopes. Up to 
that time it was considered impossible to land 
a tarpon on light tackle, namely, No. 9 thread 
line and light rod. Anyone so foolish as to even 
suggest such a thing as possible was regarded 
as eligible for a lunatic asylum. However, L. 
P. Streeter, of Los Angeles, Cal., a sportsman 
of national reputation, who had conquered every 
known game fish regardless of size on light 
tackle, was not of this opinion. Taking his 
guide into his confidence he decided to make 
an effort. 
On a morning in June, 1907, he made an early 
start for the jetties and in due time a tarpon 
struck his bait and the fight was on. The writer 
was a witness to that fight and nev^r will he 
forget the spectacular performance of the silver 
king in his frantic leaps and plunges to free 
himself from the thin thread which held him 
captive. Patience and skill finally won the day 
and after two hours of skillful work the fish 
was brought to gaff with a mighty shout of satis¬ 
faction from both Mr. Streeter and his guide. 
There were about fifteen tarpon fishermen in 
the vicinity and all made haste to congratulate 
Mr. Streeter on his success. 
Having demonstrated that it was possible to 
land a tarpon on light tackle, Mr. Streeter set 
about immediately that very day to organize the 
Aransas Pass Tarpon Club. Calling together 
the anglers who were at the hotel, myself among 
them, he consummated the organization and laid 
plans for the future. 
The first season, 1908, much interest was taken 
by the sportsmen of this and other countries. 
Many tarpon were caught on heavy and light 
tackle; thirty-five alone were taken on light 
tackle. The second season, 1909, just closed, 
has shown a wonderful improvement over the 
preceding one. Two hundred and seventy-nine 
fish were taken on light tackle alone, say noth¬ 
ing of the many which were taken on heavy 
tackle, anything heavier than nine-thread line. 
The club decided to offer solid gold and silver 
buttons to each and every angler who landed 
a tarpon on light tackle, and special prizes to 
such as succeeded in meeting certain require¬ 
ments specified under club rules. 
I inclose herewith a list of all of the gold 
and silver button members. Also a list of the 
prizes and to whom awarded for the season 
1909. Eight silver buttons and thirteen gold but¬ 
tons were awarded the past season and the fish 
credited to the angler is the one which qualifies 
for the button. However, many other tarpon 
were taken on light tackle by the same angler, 
but as an angler is only entitled to one button 
no mention was made of them in the inclosed 
list: 
PRIZES AWARDED. 
For longest gold button tarpon of season, sil¬ 
ver medal presented by L. P. Streeter, Pasa- 
(Continued on page 38.) 
