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GIANT ACROBAT OF THE SEA Marlin Swordfishing Full of Thrills, but Is Fine Sport. Story of. Itecord Holder Jump . "Who Landed the Tlircc Hundred and Fourteen-Pound Monster. AVALON! Cal., January 1. So many queries have readied me directly and indirectly regarding my catcli at Catalina last summer of a 314-pound, marlin swordfish on light tackle six-ounce tip and nine-thread line that I have taken this way of answering, writes James W. Jump, the record holder. Several inquirers seemed quite uninformed to say the least, not only regarding fishing for leaping tuna and swordfish, but as to all manner of deep sea angling with rod and reel. But one man who. I should judge, has at least read about fishing for tuna off the Jersey coast, has politely but strenuously voiced his belief that taking a swordfish of several hundred pounds on the described tackle is a sheer impossibility. Another wishes to know whether the swordfish of southern California waters is identical with the swordfisli of the Atlantic Ocean. So I will put all these eggs in one basket and then try to stand them on end. Both the marlin swordfish and the broadbill swordfish the latter being the same fish that is found in Atlantic waters are found here and both are taken here with rod and reel. The latter reaches the larger size. The Tuna Club record broadbill swordfish taken, on heavy tackle weighed 403 pounds; the heavy tackle" marlin 340 pounds. The broadbill and the marlin fight differently after being hooked. The broadbill seldom" jumps from the water; the marlin jumps frequently in a most spectacular fashion, keeping the angler on edge all the time. One marlin caught by me left the water seventy-four times by actual count before being brought to gaff; but tills, of course, was exceptional. The marlin is much more numerous than the broadbill in local waters as a rule. It should be explained that up to fifteen years ago no swordfish had been taken on rod and reel; and it is onlv within the last six or eight years that the sportsmen anglers of the Tuna Club have made a practice of going after them. It was at first thought to be too dangerous; an impression which some anglers, for obvious reasons, have seen fit to encourage; nevertheless, no Catalina boat, boatman or angler has thus far suffered anv casualties while fighting the. "tiger of the sea." The first swordfish regularly caught on light tackle was taken in 1913 by President J. A. Coxe of the Tuna Club. It weighed 175 pounds, and this remained the record until 1917, when it was mj good fortune to take eight marlin on light tackle, the largest of which weighed 1S5 pounds. GREAT SPORT WITH LIGHT TACKLE. Mv exnerience that season thoroughbly convinced me that "not only could the sea tiger be caught on light tackle, but that there is much more sport and pleasure to be had than in angling for them with heavy tackle. Earlv in the summer of 1918 I caught two marlin on heavy tackle while fishing with a kite fo, leaping tuna of large size. I should perhaps explain that the leaping tuna season usually begins in June and ends in August, while the marlin season is August and September, although occasional specimens of both are taken in other summer and .fall months. , .. , As soon as the leaping tuna left I used light tackle exclusively, catching in all nine marlin, the largest of which weighed 314 pounds, the recoru light tackle swordfish thus far. Now, allow me to explain, if I can, to my doubting friend of the Jersey coast how it is not only possible but not overly difficult to take marlin swordfish weighing several hundred iounds on light tackle. . . In the first place, the sea is not so rough in the lee of Santa Catalina and San Clcmente Islands as it is off the Jersey coast. This, of course, lessens the size of the job to that extent; nevertheless, a degree of expertness is required which brings intelligent skill and quickness of thjjught and hand into, busy co-ordinate use. A-nine-thread line is strong enough, other things being equal. It has a breaking strain, when dry, of from eighteen to twenty-three pounds. It may not le generally known that the strongest man cannot lift a twenty-five-nound weight from the floor, using a heavy tackle rod and line of twenty-four threads. Neither rod nor line will break, but the weight will remain on the floor. . On the other hand, it is not only possible t but ludicrously easy to break even a twenty-four thread line with a big fish on the other end by giving direct tension. But the resiliency of the rod protects the line and in the hands of an expert angler the breaking point is seldom reached. This being the case, even with a light tackle line it is onlv a question of skillful handling of the rod, reel and line and of the launch, and the handling of the launch is a most important factor. NECESSARY TACKLE FOR SWORDFISH. I caught in all last summer nine swordfish on light tackle. Tlie rod was a "J. A. C. Special," presented to me by President J. A. Coxe of the Tuna Clnb for beating his own light tackle record. This rod was measured, weighed and stamped by T-. S. Manning, the secretary of tlie Tuna Club. The line was a "Mermaid" brand, guaranteed to conform to the requirements of the Tuna Club. It was tested for strength by J. G. Murphy of the Tuna Club, breaking at twenty-one pounds, when "riie leader Mas twelve feet, long fifteen feet is permissible under the rules and was examined and measured by Ralph Bandini, a director of the Tuna . ,,",, The reel was a 4-0 Julius vom Hofe make known as the Boeean. On September 10 I was fishing from my forty-one foot launch Ranger at San Clementc for swordfish. The fish were scarce that is to say, they were there, but hard to locate. Late in the afternoon, however, we had caught two swordfish and had run up a flag which told two or three other boats several miles away that wo had found the fish. . They came toward us with all speed, but by the time they arrived 1 had hooked a fish which subsequently proved to be the record light tackle swordfish. , The first to arrive were Messrs. Earlscliffe and Reed, members of the Tuna Club, in the launch Sliortv, Captain Stoughton. They, came close. enough to see every move in the fight. A little farther awav were Frank Chance, the famous Chicago Cub, and A. C. Brode and F. B. Silverwood of the Tuna Club, in Captain Danielsons launch Leta D. This was the hardest and most spectacular fight of all mv experience. There was scarcely a moment that the fish was not either on top of the water or leaping out of it. He literally fought himself to death, which in great measure accounts for the comnaratively short time twenty-eight minutes taken to bring the fish to gaff.
