The big one that DIDN'T get away

[kleph]

Over the past few months I have been working on a story about The Cabo Blanco Fishing Club. The story is starting to get some momentum and I am scrambling to tie up a number of loose ends.

This thread is pretty much a repository of a lot of the data I have collected so I can get to it fast if I need it. Its also a chance to start sharing some of this really incredible tale with some folks that might be interested in reading it.

Also, I could use some help on the Australian end of this... but more on that in a sec.

[kleph]

This entry is now posted on my webpage (http://www.kleph.com/blog/2005/08/marlin-boulevard.html).

[kleph]

Alfred Glassell and his record fish...

[kleph]

cabo blanco, the fishing club and the first 1,000-pounder

[kleph]

In April 1956, Ernst Hemingway spent a month at the club fishing for marlin as part of the filming the movie version of "The Old Man and the Sea." Mario Saavedra-Pinón, a journalist with El Comercio, stayed at the club during that period and interviewed Hemingway numerous times. He recently released a book on the experience as part of the nearing 50th anniversary of the event.

Peru 21 (http://www.peru21.com/impreso/html/2005%2D08%2D03/entrevistaindex.html)

[kleph]

OK, flying monkeys, there is an Australian angle to this I could use some help with. A lot of the records set at the fishing club during the 1950s later fell to catches off the Great Barrier Reef.

I could use a contact with a billfishing expert, a record holder or something similar if anyone can manage it.

[Bifrost]

Actually druckfugged (http://forums.zgeek.com/member.php?u=913) is not an Aussie, but he does co-run a Kiwi fishing magazine - he may have a few contacts who could help.

[kleph]

Kip Farrington, Ted Williams and Alfred Glassell with record fish caught at Cabo Blanco.

[druckfugged]

Billfishing in New Zealand is huge; there's more IGFA registered fishing clubs here than there are McDonalds restaurants. I'm doing an article on the legacy of Zane Grey to the sport of billfishing in N.Z. and Australia anyway, so it's all relative research. I'll head down to the clubs sometime this week and have a chinwag with somebody about getting a chronological list of billfish records and anything about Glassell. As an aside, it might be of interest to you to note that the IGFA probably introduced 'line class' records because, even with the advances made in fishing gear in the last ten years, it's highly unlikely anyone will ever catch a marlin that big again.(don't quote me on that one yet, I'll need to verify it.) I'll try to get a couple of IGFA contacts for you which shouldn't be too difficult; fishermen love to tell stories. What's your timeframe for this?

[kleph]

I had a long talk with the folks at the International Game Fishing Association (http://www.igfa.org/) last week and they were a huge help. I have them working on a Cabo Blanco record list but they are a bit unsure about how far back their records go back and, obviously, we are talking about looking through archives since this stuff sure as hell ain't on the computer.

What they told me was, basically, there is a critical depopulation of fish the world over. After the era of Cabo Blanco, the big billfishermen all went west. Commercial fishers whose lines may stretch for 50 miles and trail 3,000 hooks have really taken their toll on the big fish (they have reported catching 2,600-pounders in the past but are believed to be underballing the numbers because of the backlash).

I am not on a deadline but the 50th anniversary of Hemingway's visit comes in April and that is a big selling point for me. Send me an email and we can swap notes for our mutual benefit.

[kleph]

How not to write a story about Cabo Blanco (http://www.entertainment-news.org/breaking/20460/peruvian-barman-recounts-32-days-with-don-ernesto-hemingway.html)

This story is not only crappily written, but it contains no less than 12 factual errors that I have been able to discover.

But Pedro Cordova was the barman at the club and he did serve Hemingway quite a few drinks when the writer was here. I had a long conversation with Cordova one afternoon in April as the sun set over the Pacific.

Like I mentioned before, I got served a beer by the man who served drinks to Hemingway. Which had a lot to do with my decision to quit... because if that ain't the top of the mountain, I sure as hell don't know what is.