AUSTRALIA 



The Lerner Expedition to Australia in 1939 helped pave 

 the way for the discovery of many interesting facts about 

 black marlin as well as other fish in those parts. It also served 

 to re-establish the entente cordiale with the inhabitants, some 

 of whom had been slightly irritated by the behavior of a 

 few American anglers who had been visitors in previous 

 years. 



One important result of the Lerner Expedition was the 

 founding of the International Game Fish Association. The 

 persuasive Clive Firth talked Mike Lerner into giving gener- 

 ously of his time and money to organize it with headquarters 

 at the American Museum of Natural History. The author 

 had talked to Lerner about the matter for some years and 

 did his best to support and strengthen some of the arguments 

 favoring the move, with which Firth had sought to con- 

 vince Mike. 



There is no angler I have ever met, and none who means 

 more to me than Clive Firth. We corresponded for years 

 before I went out to Australia and I felt that I knew him by 

 the time I arrived. I have never met a more genuinely sincere 

 man nor one more interested in fishing, or who has done 

 more for the sport. He is simply tops and I was proud to 

 dedicate my book Pacific Game Fishing to him along with 

 several others who have been preeminent in advancing the 

 cause of sport fishing. 



John Kelly, another distinguished angler, spent his en- 

 tire two weeks' vacation riding with Mrs. Farrington out 

 of Bermagui and never touched a rod the whole time he was 

 aboard. He insisted that she fish with two rods all the time. 

 John was a member of the British Empire Team at the Inter- 



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