Evening star., 1941-07-22

~@AoA~A q oNSOIllkJ
Whenever a man drops a hook
into the water around here he runs
the risk of catching a tuna. 1t is
no mean risk either, but ranks right
along with raising blooded black
widow spiders and playing drop the
handkerchief. There are all sorts
OF stories concerning what has hap
pened to those unfortunate enough
to hook into tuna.
There is the story of the Danish
prince who was caught by tuna.
He was seated in swivel chair,
which was riveted TO the deck of the
boat. He was strapped in the chair
and wore a stout leather harness
to which his rod was locked.
The fish struck. Up from the
deck came the chair Up with the
chair came the prince He tried to
let loose, but couldn't He had be-
/ come one with the fish So. chair.
prince, harness, rod and reel went
.
toward the bottom they all went.
and efforts to cut the line and re-
lease the prince would undoubtedly
have proved futile, had not the
fish. perhaps from surprise at CATCH
ing his first bit Of Danish royalty.
quit his plunge for the bottom and
surfaced.
There are numerous cases on rec
ord of where nurses married sports
men they had cared for during
disqualification following a tuna ex-
pedition, and natives will tell you
OF the time taXidermist was hard
put to decide which to stuff and
mount-the tuna or the man who
caught him.
l came here determined to expert
ence the thrill of not catching a
tuna. I realized, however, that to
make my not catching one worth
while I must give the tuna every
sporting chance TO get on my line.
So engaged a ranking guide with
] capital boat and a mate whose
long association with tuna had
caused him TO take on the charac-
teristics of the fish to such an ex-
tent that one could easily visualize
him chopped up with a bit of celery
ard mayonnaise and stuffed into a
chilleddomato.
My fishing equipment was Of the
very latest and heaviest make. The
rod lacked only one more ring of
growth TO attain young redwood
hood, and the reel was bigger than
even Virginia reel, which is very
large.
From dawn until dusk We patrolled
the front yard of the home of the
tuna, with me sitting in the same
sort of chair that the Danish prince
had employed. The captain, who
knew each wave by its first name.
called at the homes of all the tuna.
and the mate dropped calling cards
IN the form of live herring
( Occasionally tuna would come
to the surface and churn a minia-
ture seyser with a lash of his tail.
Would he take the herring on nv
line or one dropped overheard BY
/ the mate? The suspense was terri
f1c. I felt like man sitting on the
edge of Vesuvius and calling down
to the crater, Il double dare you, l
double dare you"
Twice, tuna the size of a barrel
nlobled at my bait like a producer
nibbling at herring in Lindys or
the Brown Derby, and my heart
stood still. Would he strike, and
spoil my dream of not catching one?
I lifted silent prayer to Father
Neptune to poke him with his
trident and scare him away. MY
muscles, hardened by years of sit
ting in press boxes and watching
other men play at games, echoed nv
prayer.
The hours passed. The sun
dropped lower and lower. NV
courage grew as the time for us TO
turn toward shore approached. I
found myself haunting the tuna.
Bite, you siSsies, you" called.
When the captain told me that
the tide had turned and that there
was no possible chance of hooking
one, grew downright sassy toward
the fish and issued a direct chal-
lenge to them to do their worst.
did my best not to strut when
we docked and was pointed out as
the man who had faced the tuna in
its own backyard and come out
alive
He didn't catch a thing" heard
more than one native say with a
touch of awe in his voice as passed.
He escaped EN- another said.
Only the taxidermist, who had
measured me for mahogany
plaque when sailed in the morn
ing, seemed sad.
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