<strong>Bluefin Tuna: reference material</strong><br />
This photo was used as reference for a story featuring boxer Gene Tunney in a Nova Scotia tuna tournament. It shows in detail the tackle used to catch bluefin and was apparently used by the editors as reference from which to gauge the accuracy of the text. The patch on the man's jacket reads "British Empire Tuna Team." Some text attached to the print reads, "Tom Wheeler follows the movements of his fish. Nova Scotia Bureau of Information photo."
Bluefin Tuna: reference material
This photo was used as reference for a story featuring boxer Gene Tunney in a Nova Scotia tuna tournament. It shows in detail the tackle used to catch bluefin and was apparently used by the editors as reference from which to gauge the accuracy of the text. The patch on the man's jacket reads "British Empire Tuna Team." Some text attached to the print reads, "Tom Wheeler follows the movements of his fish. Nova Scotia Bureau of Information photo.". Field & Stream Online Editors
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My Toughest Fight
This photo (and the photo in the following slide) did appear in the Tunney story, published in November 1954. Tunney was a famous boxer who twice defeated Jack Dempsey in the 1920’s. Titled “My Toughest Fight,” it describes his battle against giant bluefin tuna during an International Tuna Cup match held off of Nova Scotia. Field & Stream Online Editors
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My Toughest Fight, Part II
The fight lasted one hour and thirty-seven minutes. After the fish was gaffed and weighed in at 608 pounds, Tunney, now in his 50s, called the battle “by far the hardest contest I ever had either in or out of the ring with any kind of adversary. Field & Stream Online Editors
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“The white spots lining the walls of the Useppa Inn are tarpon scales. On each of the 9,000 scales is recorded the weight of the fish, date taken, and the name of the fisherman. Photo: Seaboard Air Line Railway.” Field & Stream Online Editors
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McClane
A.J. McClane was Field & Stream’s most famous fishing editor. This photo of him with a Bahamas bonefish is most noteworthy for the comments written on the back of the print. Apparently some poor intern labeled the fish in the photo as a “striped bass,” and an irate editor, possibly McClane himself, slashed the label out and in its place wrote, “Bonefish you idiot.” The article the photo appears in is a profile of McClane, written by Arnold Gingrich, who was at that time the publisher of Esquire Magazine. Field & Stream Online Editors
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In Search of El Dorado
The two fish pictured here are golden dorado, a South American salmonid fish that has become a staple target of the adventure fishing industry. This article, by A.J. McClane, was published in 1969, back when the fish was first catching on as a game species. According to McClane, the locals had trouble making sense of his gringo style of fishing: “Toward the end of our drift we passed four Indians taking a bath in the river. They were babbling like fishwives in the Guarini language, and (my guide) broke into a fit of laughter. ‘You know what they say?’ he asked. ‘They say he throw it out and pull it in, throw it out and pull it in, then when the fish finally catches the bait, they throw him out too. All Gringos are crazy!'” The caption for this photo reads: “Dorado school by size, so if you catch one, chances are good that the next fish you take will weigh about the same. This means you may be in for some hot and heavy fishing before the action is over.” Field & Stream Online Editors
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Faded pencil on the back of this print reads: “Stef Frood of East Hampton, with the largest bass of the 1950 season. 50 pounds. Taken at night with an eel. Note wader belt around waist, felts on boots, gaff hand behind fish and (atom?) plug on rod.” Field & Stream Online Editors
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Mission to Cape Romain
This photo of a 38 pound channel bass appeared in the March 1967 issue. The article, a where-to-go piece on South Carolina’s Cape Romain national wildlife refuge, was written by Karl Osborne. Field & Stream Online Editors
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This photo appeared in the June 1932 issue, in a teaser to Field & Stream’s Annual Prize Fishing Contest. The caption reads “Boy–look what a shark did to this tarpon! And it’s no baby tarpon, either” Field & Stream Online Editors
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A Five-Minute Marlin
Published in 1931, this is the oldest photo in the gallery. The story it appears in details author Eastham Guild’s adventure with a green billfish hauled into the boat after only a five minute fight. “This (the easy fight which brought the strangely calm fish to the boat) had all happened so suddenly that neither my boatman nor I could realize what it was all about. However, the men were all ready to make a quick end to this stupid and rather uninteresting catch. As soon as the wire leader was within reach Tihoti nonchalantly reached out for it, hauled the fish in, and gaffed him. Then the fun began! What had been, a second previous, one hundred and eighty pounds of inanimate animal matter turned into a ton of dynamite!” Field & Stream Online Editors
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Issue, date unavailable
A 36 1/2-pound striper that took a surface plug Field & Stream Online Editors
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Issue, date unavailable
No caption, but check out that stringer of snook! Also, take a close look at the plugs on the angler’s hat. Field & Stream Online Editors
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Issue, date unavailable
An 862-pound black marlin. The sign in the picture says. C.G.F.C weighing station
Lizard Island
Angler: Steve Sloan
Fish: Black Marlin
Weight: 862 pounds
Launch: Cervantes
Date: 10-11-78 Field & Stream Online Editors
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Meet Mr. Fish
This photo appeared in a story by A.J. McClane titled: “Meet Mr. Fish.” It was published in November 1954. Pictured are employees of Al Pfleuger’s taxidermy shop, the subject of the article. Pflueger’s shop apparently served a well-heeled clientele. “The Pflueger billing runs the gamut from John Smith through Herbert Hoover, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Ernest Hemingway, Van Johnson, Gary Cooper, and, of course, President Dwight D. Eisenhower.” Field & Stream Online Editors
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Nov 1954 Online Editors
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“The fish is a prize, and so is the picture, made at the height of the action” Online Editors
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“fishing scene, saltwater” – published Feb. 1968 Online Editors
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No info — Sept. 1960 Online Editors
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Feb. 1935 C.V. O’Brien Bluefish Entry
Photo by H.D. Lynn, Ship Bottom, NJ Online Editors
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April 1967
“Fishing scene” Online Editors
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“Too much for my plate!” thinks little Diane Armstrong, posed beside Bill Borry’s 37.5-lb catch, in a Christchurch shop. Quinnet salmon, some weighing upwards of 50 lb, make the snow-fed rivers of New Zealand’s South Island an angler’s Mecca.”
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Sept. 1941

Check out this gallery of classic salt water fishing prints from the 30s through the 60s, dug out of some old file cabinets in the New York office. We’ve re-scanned them to fit our site’s new larger format, and this time included scans of their backs, on which past editors of the magazine sometimes scribbled notes to each other.