INCIDENTS IN TUNA FISHING 71 



and tournaments will be found in the chapter on the 

 Tuna Club. 



We often read of the woman in fiction who skilfully 

 lands her salmon after a long and strenuous contest 

 which takes her up and down, and out into the stream, 

 always winning the heart of her companion; and both 

 are happy ever after. It is not always in novels and 

 romances that women are successful, as in both Eng- 

 land and America there are women anglers who have 

 brought all kinds of game to gaff or net. At Santa 

 Catalina Island it is a daily occurrence to see women 

 take fishes running up to twenty pounds with rod 

 and reel, and not a few have taken the elusive and 

 gamy tuna and the omnipresent black sea bass. 



The first lady to take a tuna was Mrs. Walter Ray- 

 mond, of Pasadena, who took a one-hundred-and-fifty- 

 pound fish after a struggle of several hours, during 

 which she played the great game with the skill of a 

 man and with additional cleverness. 



One of the longest contests by a woman, and with- 

 out doubt the most extraordinary catch ever made 

 by one, was that of Mrs. E. L. Dickinson, of New 

 York, who killed after a long fight the second largest 

 tuna ever taken. It weighed two hundred and sixteen 

 pounds — a seemingly impossible feat, as smaller tunas 

 have worn out and utterly demoralized strong men. 



The extraordinary nature of these catches cannot 

 be realized by the mere contemplation of a realistic 

 photograph. The fishes look large, but they do not 

 tell the story of hours of battling, the nervous and 

 physical strain. Mrs. A. W. Barrett, wife of General 

 Barrett, hooked a tuna off Long Point, and was towed 

 about for seven hours before the fish was brought to 



