FISHING WITH ZANE GREY.

Shannon News, 27 May 1927, Page 3

FISHING WITH ZANE GREY.

A VIVID NARRATIVE. SUCCESSFUL PROSPECTING AT GREAT BARRIER. , A graphic account of a fishing trip with Mr. Zane Grey is contained in a letter written to Mr. D. Smart, of Levin, by his son-in-law, Mr. Robert Wilson, officer-in-charge of the Cape Brett lighthouse, who recently accompanied Mr. Grey on a cruise in his yacht The Fisherman, in quest of swordfish and mako shark. Mr. Wilson had been asked by the famous author to go with him and pilot' the party around the Great Barrier Island and Mokohinau RUNNING. TO WHANGAROA. On Thursday,'March 17th Mr. Grey’s launch The Sky Blue, called for Mr. Wilson at Cape Brett. The crew-of the launch comprised Captain Mitchell, his son and Mr. Wilson, and they went off Peircy Island, near the Cape, and trolled for swordfish. It was arranged that when the yacht Fisherman came along the launches should accompany her into Whangaroa Haibour. Tn addition to the Sky Blue, there were the launches Alma G. (from which Mr. Grey was fishing), liis brother’s launch, the Zane Grey, and No. 4 launch, the Red. A fresh south-east breeze was experienced, with a fair sea running, but they got into harbour about 4 p.m. On the Saturday morning the wind dropped to a flat calm, and .three of Mr Grey’s boats were got ready, and at 8 a.m. they set out for the Poor Knights Group, which lay 25 miles to the south-east of where they left the yacht-or, rather, schooner. LURING THE BIG FELLOWS.

Describing the ensuing operations, Mr. Wilson says: “We put out the teasers, nown on the American coast as tarporeanrrs. These are trolled astern about 2'6 feet away, and they arc so made that they resetiible small fish whe n in motion. These the swordfish and mako shark ftome after; alongside—that is, between them—trolls the kawhai, which is the live bait, fasten ed on to a 30ft trace, which is -a ste~-l wire aout Jin. thick. On this the line is fast, being 500 yards in length, and one-sixteenth of an inch thick, and of enormous strength. This is on a reel, and that one rol. The angler sits in a, swivel chair; then all is ready for Mr. Swordfish and Mr. Shark, should they make an - appearance. ‘‘As soon as they come after the teasers, we pull them in. and only the baited line remains; so the swordfish takes the bait, and the fight begins. Often they jump 30 feet in the air to free themselves of the hook, and this goes on for two or three hours, sometimes more, until the fish is spent, and then lie is hauled alongside and killed. “We made the Poor Knights, 'and four or five malto shark came after the teasers, but they either threw the bait or missed. At times they came so close to the launch that I could have gaffed ■them; but that is not in the programme. We had a bad day as far as fishing went, so we got back to the vessel at 6 p.m., all ready for a good dinner. I had a cabin to myself,, and after dinner we used to repair to the saloon and play bridge with My Grey’s son Romer, his secretary, Captain Mitchell, and his wife. v. “On .Sunday the wind was fresn from the south-west, with lain squalls, so. the schooner lay at anchor in the bay; but our launch, the Sky Blue, w r ent out. We had one or two' strikes; bur they were not biting well. On the Monday, although the day looked threatening, we set sail for the Great Barrie! —the schooner and four launches. The wind began to freshen shortly after we left and increased to a howling gale. She did pipe; and our little boat, only 20ft long, got the full force. We had about 120 miles to run, and got there at dark; and I can assure you we were not sorry. We all were wet through to the skin. But after a plate of good soup and a good hot dinner, all our troubles were ended, and everyone was ’U high spirits for the day’s fishing m the morning (Tuesday). CASTAWAYS PICKED UP.

“We caught our bait early and set off past Miner’s Head (where the s.s. Wairarapu was wrecked) right? on to the Needle Rocks. Here the keen eyes cf Zane Grey espied a smoke signal from the rocks. We looked, and wondered What Mr Grey’s boat w r as mating inlo the rocks for. By-and-bye there appeared another boat. ‘Goodness me,’ I said, 4 what is that, and where did she come front?’ Well, we saw then the Alma G. (Mr Zane Grey ’s boat) take this boat in tow, and the other launch (Mr R. C. Grey’s boat) follow, bo Captain Mitchell, who was in charge of our boat, followed them. On reaching our party we found that Mr Grey had picked up three castaways from off the Needle Itocks and latterly res ■ cued*their boat.” (These were members of a fishing party from Auckland, whose launch-engine had gone out of action). On the Wednesday and Thursday we fished over the same ground and had some rare sport with mako shark and swordfish. We caught two mako shark, but the swordfish got away. Our expedition was one of prospecting for new grounds, and our object was gained. We found the big game fish were in easy reach from Auckland, the Great Barrier Island being only 50-odd miles from Auckland. “We worked Mokohinau, and there found the grounds teeming with shoal fish; but bad weather frustrated our fishing, so we had another hard punch with the launches to get back to port. So bad the sea,got that they in the big launches took W moving picture of us, so you will see me in the moving pictures when Zane Grey’s next fish picture comes around. “We got back to Port Fitzroy about 3 p.m., after spending a night at Mokohinau on the launches. In the morning Zane Grey gave orders to up-anchor and proceed to Auckland. Bad weather beat him. In Auckland he took us all to the pictures, and I was also at the captain’s wedding on his vessel. Our trip lasted 10 days, but would have lasted three weeks or a month had the weather been favourable.” '