TWO BITES BUT ONE FISH

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1933, Page 6

TWO BITES BUT ONE FISH

AN EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENT BOYS HOOK 21-POUND SCHNAPPER. SURPRISING SEQUEL RECORDED. Two boys, one aged 12 and the other a little older, leaned over the edge of the wharf at the port of New Plymouth a few days ago, their fishing lines loose in their hands- Suddenly both felt a bite simultaneously. Each appeared to have landed something big. There was keen competition to haul in to see which had caught the bigger fish, but neither had, for it was one fish which had taken the bait of both—and it was a 211 b schnapper. The fish caused no slight effort on the part of the two boys before he was hauled to the wharf, but when they did succeed they found that it had completely swallowed the bait and hook on one line, while the hook on the other line was firmly embedded in its mouth- Upon being weighed it was found that the fish was one of the heaviest that had ever been caught on a line at the port. It sounds like a real fish story, but what ensued is as true as it is remarkable. As already mentioned, one of the boys is older than the other. When there was a dispute as to whom the fish which both had caught belonged the smaller boy came off the second best. The bigger boy took the fish, and all the smaller boy received was the honour of being able to tell the story. The smaller boy was not to be outdone, however. To show it was possible he fished from the rocks near the New Plymouth railway station yesterday, and late in the afternoon landed a schnapper which, when weighed in the presence of a News reporter, turned the scale at over 201 b. Shades of Zane Grey!