7 oo 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[May 2, 1908. 
Catalina Angling. 
Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, April 15.— 
Editor Forest and Stream: The Tuna Club 
house plans have now progressed to such a point 
that a commodious and comfortable building is 
assured. In brief, a two-story club house, con¬ 
taining a large living and lounging room, cafe, 
numerous lockers, four private rooms and a big 
bunk room for “overflow meetings” in times of 
congestion, roof garden, private landing pier and 
other conveniences to be described later on are 
proposed. The structure will be a decided addi¬ 
tion to this unique little sportsman’s village. Any 
gentleman is eligible to membership in the Tuna 
Club, provided he qualifies by catching a fifty- 
pound tuna on nine-thread tackle, or a blue tuna 
of 100 pounds on heavy tackle. 
Not the least of the Tuna Club’s scheme is 
the providing of bait. Hitherto this has been 
in the hands of old Vincente Mioricich, the pro¬ 
fessional fisherman here, and in reward for the 
work of his men in pulling the seine for sar¬ 
dines, anglers have given him their catches of 
marketable fish. It is not so much an item in 
winter, but in summer Vincente reaps a rich 
harvest of barracuda, yellowtail, rock bass, 
whitefish and other varieties, more than repay¬ 
ing him for the time expended. But this ar¬ 
rangement has not been at all satisfactory to 
the anglers, as might be surmised. The market 
fishermen no doubt think they will get the fish 
anyway, and particularly of late it has been very 
hard to get them to go out and find bait in the 
morning. As a last resort the Tuna Club has 
decided to tackle the bait matter itself, and 
henceforth this will be part of the caretaker’s 
duties. * 
The bait question has been growing serious. 
Salt sardines cannot tempt fish when the sea is 
stocked with the fresh article, and to be practi¬ 
cally hung up after, perhaps, a trip across the 
country with all the attendant expense just ber 
cause the Latin fishermen have not made quite 
ready to pull to Pebbly Beach or accept a tow 
down and back to seine for sardines, soon be¬ 
comes monotonous. Instead of getting out at 
daylight, the launches potter about Avalon Bay 
sometimes until n o’clock waiting for bait. No 
more of this in future, now that the Tuna Club 
has taken hold of it. 
About three weeks ago a spell of unseason¬ 
ably hot weather put the yellowtail feeding 
briskly, and there was some fine sport for a few 
days, but the weather has since returned to its 
usual behavior at the present time of the year, 
sport being very $low in consequence. As is 
the general rule the few fish taken have in many 
instances been of exceptional size. Early in the 
season, if an angler hooks a yellowtail, it is apt 
to be a good one. 
Evidencing the perversity of fate is the 
achievement of a visitor in landing a sixty odd 
pound albacore the other day, the second one 
of that weight ever taken around the island, 
so far as accurate and authenticated report goes. 
Then again a few days ago a tourist was out 
with one of the boatmen, and after trolling un¬ 
successfully for two hours he passed the rod 
over to his boatman. Promptly a vigorous strike 
signalled thp attack of a big one. The boatman 
played the fish on the nine-ounce nine-thread 
gear about an hour, and passed the rod to his 
amateur, who wrestled with it nearly as long 
before it was finally gaffed. The fish proved 
to be an immense male yellowtail scaling 42^2 
pounds. It may be the season’s record fish 
Few ever are taken bigger, especially on light 
tackle, but that unfortunate passing of the rod 
over to the boatman disqualified the catch, so 
that no gold button could be. awarded upon it. 
What emphasized the hard luck part of this 
chapter was the fact that Commodore Potter 
and I were trolling assiduously over the same 
ground off Jewfish Point and Seal Rocks, work¬ 
ing our hardest to get a yellowtail on “666” 
tackle. We watched the fight carefully, and 
there was nothing done during it that Roy 
Shaver’s six-ounce rods and a six-thread line 
properly handled were not fully equal to, for 
during the time the boatman had the fish on 
he got practically no help from the launch, and 
had to fight her as well as the fish, the current 
carrying him over the- fish repeatedly, giving a 
bad angle for light tackle. 
Incidentally, Potter and I have demonstrated 
that our pet six-ounce six-thread tackle is fully 
up to yellowtail. With Potter’s boatman, the 
veteran and capable Percy Neal, who adds a 
keen perception and studious disposition to his 
other qualifications as a fishing pilot, we tried 
out thoroughly the first pair of six-ounce split 
bamboo rods Secretary Shaver, of the Rod and 
Reel Club,’turned out. They were experimental, 
but he perfected them in every detail, making 
them marvels of lightness and tough resiliency. 
When it is stated that so perfectly are they pro¬ 
portioned and the guides spaced that even with 
extreme stress the line never touches the rod, 
but runs free on the agate guides, the perfec¬ 
tion of these phenomenal instruments may be 
imagined. Shaver is an enthusiastic angler, and 
an artist in wood and metal, making beautiful 
presents to his friends, few of whom have not 
received some of his handiwork. 
The pressure that has been brought to bear 
upon Commodore Potter and I, the principal 
ones to blame for the six-thread clubs of the 
island and mainland, may be surmised accurately 
by anyone who has dared to suggest an angling- 
innovation. Enough to say that the rapid fire 
batteries of Lafayette Streeter’s sarcasm all but 
exhausted their ammunition, while the dry drol¬ 
leries of Tom Manning, and the rapier thrusts 
of Professor Holder’s wit completely routed the 
six-strand pair at every engagement in one¬ 
sided strife. It was all the enemy’s way; the 
trick had not passed the caloric stage, and no 
one could be expected to take seriously so diffi¬ 
cult an accomplishment until it had been done. 
In spite of the poor outlook we finally were 
driven to the open sea. The Metropole porch 
became too hot for comfort. March 30 the 
victim, after following the pair a mile, 'con¬ 
tracted an entangling alliance and the six-six 
gear put him belly up according to the piscatorial 
Hoyle in considerably less than the four minutes 
to a pound estimated by Secretary Streeter. 
The catch was a little fellow, thirteen pounds, 
but like most little yellowtail, of horsepower 
disproportionate to his poundage, he put up a 
most beautiful fight. Never was the gear in 
peril or the rod extended to anything like its 
safe limit. The play was safe throughout with 
not to exceed two pounds pressure on the fish 
at any stage. The light rod proved a wonderful 
killer and a great line saver. Now a big de¬ 
mand has sprung up for them. It is practically 
identical in strength with the black bass caster’s 
outfit. Chief of the difficulties is striking and 
setting the big heavy wire hooks in the horny 
mouths of the yellowtail and other big fish. 
This really is the great drawback. So many 
strikes must be lost on the present type of 
hooks. Personally, I feel sure that improve¬ 
ment in the fastening power of hooks can be 
made, and it is now up to the tackle cranks to 
see what can be done along this line. A smaller 
Van Vleck or Captiva might be of service. A 
trailer to nab the bass that so consistently nip 
the tail off the sardine baits would be a boon 
also. These difficulties all will be surmounted. 
The mottoes of the clubs, “More sport, less 
fish” and “More skill, less strength” shed light 
upon the purpose of these six-six clubs and 
should enlist the sympathies of every angler. 
They are entirely honorary, neither dues nor 
fee, and membership is qualified to those taking 
an eighteen-pounder on six-thread tackle only. 
The first card in the Catalina club was issued 
by courtesy for this thirteen-pounder, which is, 
so far as known, the first yellowtail ever taken 
on a six-thread line. 
Among the other difficulties which the six- 
threaders are now solving is the problem of 
preventing the lines from unlaying, or twisting 
up from the slow spin of trolling. Most of the 
swivel-compelling devices are too heavy for such 
frail tackle. 
At the April meeting of the Southern Cali¬ 
fornia Rod and Reel Club tournament arrange¬ 
ments were delegated to a committee consisting 
of President Iledderly and Secretary Shaver, 
who will work upon the same lines as last year, 
the use of a nine-thread line or smaller being 
required, and any rod of not less than six feet 
over all being permitted. The same classes will 
be made and fishing tackle of high quality will 
be offered by the local trade as prizes for the 
largest catches in each division. The classes 
are: 1, tuna, 2, yellowtail; 3, white sea bass; 
4, black sea bass; 5, albacore; 6, striped bass; 
7, spotfin croaker; 8, corbina; 9, rock bass; 10, 
yellowfin; 11, mullet; 12, halibut. In addition 
there will be a free-for-all prize for the largest 
fish of any of these varieties taken upon any 
kind of rod and reel tackle. 
This club has taken hold of the boatmen propo¬ 
sition vigorously and proposes to correct some 
of the most flagrant abuses. A list is being 
established by the secretary, who records each 
complaint against the culprit, and credits each 
launchman of whom is told good report. It is 
expected several months will be needed to weed 
out the undesirables, but by the end of the sum¬ 
mer they will get precious little club business, 
for all the members will be warned regularly 
by receiving copies of each list. This is certain 
eventually to convince the boatmen that square 
treatment only is profitable. 
Work on the clubhouse project is slowly tak¬ 
ing definite form, and by the opening of the 
season it is thought probable that the club will 
have at least temporary headquarters at some 
of the beaches, and in another year, by the for¬ 
mation of a stock company, may proceed with 
the erection of permanent quarters. The chief 
drawback is the difficulty of coming to an agree¬ 
ment on any particular point. From Port Los 
Angeles to Balboa is a stretch of some seventy 
miles of coast line, all easily accessible by electric 
car service at frequent intervals with resorts 
