PERU 



yanked right around the stern. My heart was in my throat 

 at this juncture for these are the crucial moments. It was 

 terribly rough and the tremendous weight of the fish was 

 exerting an appalling strain. Suddenly he broke loose again. 

 Five minutes later the leader again came out and this time 

 I put both Louis and McGill on it, with Tom Bates as the 

 gaffer. The fish went under the stern once and I thought it 

 was good-bye. I feared the cable leader would break across 

 the stern but it went clear by some miracle. The boys held 

 the fish off and began to lift him. (The leader was lo' a^' 

 long— I o' under that specified by the rules of the Interna- 

 tional Game Fish Association.) Steadily they worked the 

 fish up inch by inch. The terrific weight and the turbulent 

 sea made it a very tickhsh job. Marhn roll like crazy at that 

 weight. Anxiously I looked shoreward. Should I tell the boys 

 to let go? I was in a position to lead the fish in now and take 

 it much more easily and safely in the calmer water close in to 

 the beach. I could run him in as we do at Wedgeport on 

 certain tides when the fish can only go in one direction in 

 the shallow water. 



Why try to take him in seven or eight hundred fathoms 

 of water, I thought? The crew seemed to have control and 

 to be anxious to do so, but— just then someone said to 

 Bates, "Why don't you take the leader?" I didn't want 

 him lending a hand because it might affect the crew's 

 morale for the future, but I was more than willing to let him 

 do the gaffing. Finally, inch by inch the leader was brought 

 up and McGill and Louis grimly held on. We were all soaked 

 to the skin by heavy water and the wind was still increasing. 

 Up, up, the huge fish came. I can see Tom Bates now— waiting, 



93 



