ALBACORA 187 



Still far off, fighting to get free of my line. I managed 

 to haul him closer but eventually, when he was almost 

 at the leader wire and was thrashing wildly for his life, 

 the marlin got away. Charlie, of course, remained with 

 us. 



In light-tackle fishing, the chair is not as important 

 as it is when you work with stronger line. The light- 

 tackle angler has to stand a good deal and run back 

 and forth across the stern of the boat, pumping the reel 

 as he goes. As the boat pitches, balance becomes a prob- 

 lem, and a five-footer like myself is only slightly as- 

 sisted by the advantage of a low center of gravity. But 

 I don't think the angler, for all this, has a task any 

 more difficult than that of the leader wire man. 



To help hold a huge, heavy fish close to a boat, the 

 leader man wraps the wire around his hands firmly 

 enough to handle thrashings, but not so firmly that he 

 cannot release the wire in an emergency and let the fish 

 run free without taking the hands with him. Errors 

 have cost leader wire men arms, hands and fingers. 

 Once off Bimini I even saw a leader wire man come 

 within inches and seconds of death. The man was 

 named Gene Wall and he was working with his father, 

 Eddie Wall, an unsurpassable guide. Lou was landing 

 a 655-pound tuna, still green and hard to hold, and 

 Eddie was doing a fine job with the wire when the ac- 

 cident happened. Gene brought the fish in, pulling the 

 leader wire to him, hand over hand, with all his strength 



