Fought Big Fish

FOUGHT BIG FISH

Women Battle Desperately With a Monster of the Deep.

Huge Sea Elephant Succumbs to Their Valor After a Hard Three Hour Struggle.

A desperate three hour fight with a giant sunfish a mile from shore in the Pacific ocean and its final capture was the startling and strenuous experience of two women and a man a couple of weeks ago off the coast of California, adjacent to Los Angeles.

That the huge sea elephant, weighing over 1,800 pounds, was landed was due in a great measure to two women, Mrs. A. W. Barrett of Los Angeles and Mrs. Nellie Hall of Rochester, N. Y. They were out in the Pacific ocean with Skipper George Farnsworth in a launch after jewfish. While gazing over the calm surface of the channel about a mile from shore the ladies happened to look behind them and away off in the distance, about a half mile astern, saw a great black mass on the surface of the sea that shone up distinctly in the sun.

It was whale-like in size and appearance, and the boatman put his launch about to investigate the apparent derelict. As the boat drew near the occupants saw that it was a monster sunfish that was lolling about on the surface, warming itself in the morning sun. From its size the party knew that to venture too close might invite a fight and a wreck of the boat, but after a consultation the ladies decided that the big slimy lump of quivering flesh must be snared if possible. Accordingly Skipper Farnsworth selected his heaviest gaff hook and turned on full steam ahead for a charge on the fish mountain.

When close enough Farnsworth swung the gaff with all his force, and the hook went down deep into the quivering flesh of the sleeping fish.

It was a rude awakening, and when he fish felt the sharp pain it lashed out in every direction with great fury in the effort to free itself. The hook had taken a firm hold and could not be pulled out, and when the monster realized this it renewed its fierce efforts to escape.

It threw its great form around in the water, beat the waves with fins and tail, squirmed and lunged and twisted and dashed showers of salt water over the women and the man in the boat. The surface of the water was covered with the foam churned up, and the frail boat pitched and tossed and careened over to the danger point. Still Farnsworth braced himself and held on like grim death to the fighting fish mass, and the ladies assisted him as best they could.

This twisting and turning and thrashing continued for over an hour until relief came in the person of Boatman Elms, who bad seen the fight from a distance and instantly realized that something was doing. He also sunk his big gaff hook into the struggling sea elephant, and by taking turns the two men securely held it until it fought itself into complete exhaustion, the struggle going on for an hour and forty-five minutes after Elms arrived, or for about three hours after Farnsworth first gaffed it.

The task of bringing it to the beach took up another half hour. It was towed in by both launches, and a dozen men worked themselves tired dragging it up on the beach. Although the tackle at Avalon is ample for handling alI kinds of fish up to 1,000 pounds, it was inadequate for this one, for it was about twelve feet long and about five feet in diameter.

The entire population of Avalon turned out to see the big thing, which had been drawn up to a platform by means of a heavy block and tackle.

No scales on the island were large enough to weigh it, but the old fishermen estimated that it would weigh between 1,800 and 1,900 pounds.