On Six-thread Line

Many a brawny fisherman felt like a minnow last week as he read about the feat of a handsome Miami girl named Frances Laidlaw. With a 3-ounce bait-casting rod and a small bait-casting reel which held 85 yards of No. 6-thread linen line--about the same tackle appropriate to sporty bass fishing--loa-lb. Frankie Laidlaw had landed a tarpon weighing 102-Hb.

Frankie had gone out off the Florida Keys in a rowboat by moonlight, fishing for ladyfish. She had caught a few when a sudden lunge at her line warned her that she had hooked no ladyfish. In a split second a huge tarpon vaulted out of the inky sea, "his eyes glaring like the headlights of an automobile and his body shining like an electric sign." For 55 minutes they struggled--the big "silver king" making 27 frenzied leaps before he was finally brought to gaff.

Miss Laidlaw's catch not only put to shame the heavy-tackle anglers who think they have accomplished something when they land a tarpon with 24-thread line, but also went on record as the outstanding achievement of this year's 99-day Miami Fishing Tournament. Deep-sea angling experts could not remember a more remarkable feat in Atlantic waters.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.