Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1923-04-02
Fish Weighed
10000 Pounds q
Charley Thompson Great
est Fisherman of the
World they Say Il
,By Isaes Press,

ON VACATION, WITH PRES
IpENT HARDING (By mail to-
United Press).-There' arr. SEQ,
known varieties of fish Elifea sn
the waters Of Florida Captain
Charley Thompson knows them.
all. He has eaught most of
them. $50 FfilS gixlsi{ SO
That abolt Sizes UP one Of the
most famous men in the world,
Of whom the world at large hears
little, as such things 20. But
say "Tho1lpsons to a; fisherman,
and he will say ssiSho Charley
Thompsen?s They all know him
and cali him the worlds greatest
fisherman.
Out where the dun colored
shaft of the old Spanish light
house rears it's head, over Bis
cayne Bay, Charley Thompson
was born, some fifty years ago.
His grandfather was keeper. Of
that old light, which was sending
its beams over the shallow wa
tiers of Biscayne Bay when the
Spanish sold Florida. Thompson
was born on Soldiers Cay, an is
land that looks 10 the passerby
down the BiScayue channel to be
about as big as gingersnap,
and about as interesting.
They call it Soldiers Cay be-
cause in the Seminole insurrec-
ton, along in 1857 the soldiers
were quartered there. and there
too occurred massacre of whites
by the Seminoles. who were re-
belling against white domination.
Thompson learned about FISH
and fishing before he learned
much else, and he has gone on
learning and teaching some of
his own high art to others, ever
since. To see him land. fight
ing sail6sh is a. living propf OF
the triumph of mind over mat
ter. For your, sailfish is a fight
ing demQn who must be- caught
more by strategy and skill than
by main strength. You dangle
your bait ont there for him-a
nice eight inch ballyhOo fish. say
and the 2sailfsh noSing along
hits the bait with his peculiar
snout. Right there plenty OF
green fishermen lose Mr.. Sail
fish, for they think he has struck
and taken the bait, But he +,
hasn't. Charley Thompson's way |
is to slack off a bit when the !
sailfish hits the bait, and that
makes, the fish think he has
killed the ballyhoo. Then he
will take it into his mouth, and
that begins the battle. in real ear
nest. g., &A .t
These sailfiSh are big fellows.
One Biscayne Bay skipper said
he knew Of 90 FOUNDERS. and had
heard tell of some that ranged
up to 100 pounds, though he had
never Seen any A fifteen pound
one is plenty big enough for I
most fishermen and it is admit ,
ted by fishermen that more Of
them get away than are cap ,
tTed.
1t was CAPTAIN Thompson who .
some five or six years ago caught ,
the grea; what is it? that no.
body has since been able to ident-
ify. This monster of the deep f
weighed about 10000 pounds and ,
had a. mouth and throat YOU .
could throw Il barrel down. His
hide was inches thick. and though !
he was half dead when Thomp-
son came upon him, il took three (
days to capture him. /,
More than TOO shots from
rifle were fired into him, but 4
the expanding bullets did,- aot +
seem TO bother him. He got an
CRY once Sand with a film Of hisE,
enormous tail demolished about
30 feet of dock. +
To prove that this is not al
fish story, Thompson had the
huge carcass mounted, Sand Rad
exhibited it in several places /,
The theory Is that the monster. ,
was wounded by some volcanic
eruption ON the ocean floor. miles
down, and came to the surface ,
and then could not get back I
again. a
On Cocolobo Cay. where Pres
dent Harding went fishing, arc {
the bones Of another monster of IL
the deep, 50 huge that his size Il
is almost unbelievable. This hinge