FISHING THE PACIFIC 



a great privilege to catch a looo-pound fish after my many 

 years of fishing. 



After three weighings this splendid marlin was still 1 1 3 5 

 pounds and that was his final and official weight. He measured 

 14^8'' long, had a 6' girth and the great tail a width of 4' 10". 

 The crew paddled in aboard their balsa raft and looked up 

 at me inquiringly. I called down, "t/wo uno tres cinco^ I'll 

 never forget their expressions. Norris and Bates congratu- 

 lated me, of course, and then took me up to the El Alto Club 

 for a drink and I must stay that I drank three beers with 

 great relish. Peruvian beer is really good. 



I then drove back the thirty-two miles to Talara, dined 

 with the Bates and gradually became aware of the frenetic 

 excitement my catch had kindled in Talara. Next morning I 

 was back up again for the pictures but my luck had run out. 

 At 2: 30 that afternoon I hooked another fine fish with a blind 

 strike, one of the fastest I have ever encountered. He jumped 

 twenty-five feet in the air, twenty-five feet astern— doubled 

 back and forth around the boat with his beautiful grey- 

 hounding leaps, rolling and turning and twisting the line all 

 around him so that of course it could not stand up under 

 such terrific strain and, after seven minutes, parted. 



The following day, my last, I lost another fine fish after 

 twenty-five minutes, when the hook pulled out. Thus ended 

 two nine-day trips to Cabo Blanco with a total of sixteen 

 black marlin sighted, ten strikes, nine hooked, and six caught. 

 In that nine days I had accomplished the two things I wanted 

 most to do: take a black marUn over 800 pounds and take two 

 in one day. But on top of that I was winding up with the 

 largest fish of any kind ever caught on rod and reel at that 



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