Harpoonists Spear Flying Fish by Searchlight off Catalina (Nov, 1934)

Harpoonists Spear Flying Fish by Searchlight off Catalina
OFF Catalina Island, “where the flying fishes play,” outdoor men and women have invented a new and fascinating sport.

Powerful searchlights are mounted in the bows of sea-going speedboats. As the sturdy craft cleave the waves, huge swarms of flying fish rise like enormous sea moths into the rays of the brilliant lights which cut through the darkness.

Armed with short harpoons, to which a retrieving cord is attached, men and women crowd the rails of the speedboat. A quick thrust of the harpoon, and the flying quarry is bagged in mid air by the skill of the fisherman-hunter.

The fish are good eating and their filmy wings are used for a variety of decorative purposes.