FISH LANDS MAN

Waikato Independent, Volume XL, Issue 3669, 17 February 1940, Page 2

FISH LANDS MAN

BIG ONE THAT GOT AWAY ANGLER NOW IN HOSPITAL

A hooked fish so large that it pulls the fisherman into the water, and ultimately lands him in hospital, is perfect evidence of the size Of “the one that got away.”

Cliff Derby, a well-known resident of Perth, groper fishing east of Albany hooked a big fish which jerked him into the water from the rock on which he was standing. The coastline where he was fishing is rockbound and notoriously dangerous. Others of the party threw him a heavy line, which broke before he could be manoeuvred to a rescue place. The same thing happened with several other lines. Ultimately he was washed on to the rocks. He grasped an iron crabbing spear, with which he was dragged to safety as a huge wave washed over the rescuers. One rescuer, named Hassell, needed five stitches in his hand. Derby was taken to hospital with bruises and abrasions. , The groper, an edible tropical fish, grows to tremendous size. It is a voracious fish, and is feared by fishermen of the Great Barrier Reef where it abounds, and by skin pearl divers..• A groper has been known to swallow a man whole.