FISHING THE PACIFIC 



son is one of our crack boat captains at Cabo Blanco. The 

 fish was evidently very old although it is difficult to estimate 

 the age of any of these fish— where they spawn or where 

 they are bound. Inside the fish was a harpoon dart, the wound 

 it had made completely healed over. Evidently he had been 

 struck by commercial fishermen many years before our fatal 

 encounter. Again I thought of Hemingway's Old Man and 

 the Sea and what he'd gone through. 



As I write this, August 25, 1953, no fish has been hit by 

 a shark at Cabo Blanco so there has been no problem of 

 mutilation of prizes taken in those waters. It was a little 

 over ten months before my record was surpassed. I wore 

 the same pair of gloves while taking all six fish, plus an extra 

 one for the left hand as the original wore out on the fourth 

 black. However, I kept the tattered glove in the chair 

 with me. I used the same reel I had used on the other fish. 

 I wore the same blue shorts, the same sneakers and the 

 same red silk handkerchief stuck in my shorts— and the next 

 time I go out you can be assured that I will be attired in 

 exactly the same manner. 



I got back to the States as old Johnny Mize was signalizing 

 his participation in the World Series by knocking out three 

 home runs. I must say that old man Farrington with those 

 three black marlin— all caught the same week— felt some- 

 what as he must have. 



98 



