54 ALBACORA 



walls and the fish I was not going to be able to catch. 

 First it was soap, but before long we were all talking of 

 old catches. 



"Every so often," Lou said to Jo and me, "I like to 

 have a battle with a tuna." 



"Not me," I said. "I don't care for long fights. I know 

 a man named Harry Ross who once spent a whole night 

 bringing in a tuna. The tuna weighed 567 pounds from 

 start to finish, but when the struggle was over Harry was 

 seven pounds lighter than he had been when he started. 

 I'd rather try a high-protein diet myself." 



Lou laughed. "After the marlin," he said, "tuna are a 

 wonderful change of pace." 



"Change of pace?" I said. Then I turned to Jo. "He 

 once foul-hooked a tuna near Bimini," I told her, "on a 

 day when the tropical heat was terrific. He was using 

 heavy tackle and the tuna, we later found out, weighed 

 600 pounds." 



Lou interrupted. "It weighed 662 pounds," he said. 



"Anyway," I said, "the fish went deep and Lou had 

 to raise him up with brute force. He strained so hard the 

 cords on his neck were standing out like hawser ropes. 

 That was the only time I can remember being afraid to 

 watch Lou fish. Then the rod snapped off and Lou had 

 to hand-line the fish. The tackle cut and burned his 

 hands but he kept at it. I think it was well over two 

 hours when he finally whipped that tuna and, frankly, I 

 don't think it was worth the struggle." 



