BajaNomad - Zane Grey's Tales of Fishes

Zane Grey's Tales of Fishes

tripledigitken - 5-11-2012 at 01:30 PM

some selected vintage photos pre 1919..............

bufeo - 5-11-2012 at 02:16 PM

Fascinating photos. Thanks for posting them.

Allen R

Skipjack Joe - 5-11-2012 at 03:06 PM

Great images, Ken. I know what the originals look like and you have a very fine scanner.

Each of those images reminds me of the story behind it.

Perhaps the most interesting is how he and RC developed the sport of fishing for bonefish. I believe they initially crossed the flats in freshwater canoes. Then they went through a period when the only sign of the bonefish was bait missing from the hook. The first fish was hooked by accident when he took a chance and struck when the line barely slackened. Bit by bit they figured it out. The tides and fish movement.

The picture of Captain Dan and the bluefin tuna was another favorite. The sea around catalina was alive with bluefin that day. He had never seen anything like it. Alas there was no wind and he couldn't fly the kite with the bait over the tuna. It kept crashing into the water. Finally a small breeze came up and they were in business, 250+lb tuna busting all around. He finally did hook one, the one in the picture, but felt he missed a great opportunity that day on some toads. He said big schools like that never showed up agains. Blamed it on the japanese.

The book was written shortly after WWI. He keeps refering to the germans as the 'huns' in the book. I could never figure that out. Krauts, I understand.

[Edited on 5-11-2012 by Skipjack Joe]

bufeo - 5-11-2012 at 06:03 PM

Skipjack, I believe that you can go back to The Kaiser (i.e. Kaiser Wilhelm II) for that beginning. At some point during the Boxer Rebellion (China, 1900) the Kaiser issued a warning that no prisoners would be taken and and used Attila as a model. ZG picked up on that for a number of reasons.

Allen R

tripledigitken - 5-12-2012 at 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Great images, Ken. I know what the originals look like and you have a very fine scanner.
[Edited on 5-11-2012 by Skipjack Joe]

Igor,

Actually my scanner/printer combo is a budget Canon which does a decent job. These turned out pretty flat so I "Photoshopped" them using Adobe Camera Raw by adding contrast, clarity and some toning to bring back some detail.

Ken

watizname - 5-12-2012 at 09:30 AM

Cool stuff. I have a spilt bamboo rod that my dad gave me, that looks like the "broomstick" that is bent in one of the photos. Keep it in a special place by my desk. :yes:

tripledigitken - 5-12-2012 at 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by watizname
Cool stuff. I have a spilt bamboo rod that my dad gave me, that looks like the "broomstick" that is bent in one of the photos. Keep it in a special place by my desk. :yes:

watizname,

Their idea of light tackle in 1919 was a little different than our world.

:lol:

Marc - 5-14-2012 at 06:33 PM

OH GOD! I was born to late!

[Edited on 5-15-2012 by Marc]

Skipjack Joe - 5-15-2012 at 10:32 AM

Apparently some writers felt that Zane Grey was fabricating some of his stories.

One writes:

"If you went out with a mosquito net to catch a mess of minnows your story would read like Roman gladiators seining the Tigris for whales"

and later:

"You say 'the hard, diving fight of a tuna liberates the brute instincts of a man'. Well, Zane, it also liberates the qualities of a liar!"

Marc - 5-16-2012 at 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Apparently some writers felt that Zane Grey was fabricating some of his stories.

One writes:

"If you went out with a mosquito net to catch a mess of minnows your story would read like Roman gladiators seining the Tigris for whales"

and later:

"You say 'the hard, diving fight of a tuna liberates the brute instincts of a man'. Well, Zane, it also liberates the qualities of a liar!"

Well...he did write FICTION!

Skipjack Joe - 5-16-2012 at 08:20 PM

The novels he made most of his money (Riders of the Purple Sage) were fiction.

But the books he wrote about his fishing adventures were non-fiction. There were several of them. There was one that centered around the South Seas marlin fishing and New Zealand trout. His appetite for big fish grew as did his wealth. By the 30's he had his own yacht. He was trying to break all fish records. I think he owned 9 of them at one time. He was the first to catch a marlin over 1000 lbs.

I believe there was another book that contained mostly stories of steelhead on the Rogue and Umpqua. He loved the Rogue.

My favorite, though, remained "Tales of Fishes".

[Edited on 5-17-2012 by Skipjack Joe]

virginseas.jpg - 15kB

Phil S - 5-17-2012 at 09:50 AM

Anyone know the title of Zane Greys fishing experiences on the Rogue & Umpqua? I have 68 of his "novels" in hardback. I'd like to add this one of the Rogue & Umpqua fishing experiences. My father used to talk of meeting Zane at "Steamboat" on the North Umpqua many times when my dad would "run up to Steamboat on his 'Indian' for a day of fly fishing & then return home to Roseburg by dark." Many trips he would tell of finding Zane Grey fishing his favorite 'steelhead hole'...........Poke around your old libraries & see what you might find. Thanks.

[Edited on 5-17-2012 by Phil S]

tripledigitken - 5-17-2012 at 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Phil S
Anyone know the title of Zane Greys fishing experiences on the Rogue & Umpqua? I have 68 of his "novels" in hardback. I'd like to add this one of the Rogue & Umpqua fishing experiences. My father used to talk of meeting Zane at "Steamboat" on the North Umpqua many times when my dad would "run up to Steamboat on his 'Indian' for a day of fly fishing & then return home to Roseburg by dark." Many trips he would tell of finding Zane Grey fishing his favorite 'steelhead hole'...........Poke around your old libraries & see what you might find. Thanks.

[Edited on 5-17-2012 by Phil S]

Phil,

Though I haven't read it, I think this might be what you're after.

Tales of Fresh Water Fishing

a brief description...........

"In Tales of Freshwater Fishing, Grey recounts sixteen individual fresh-water fishing adventures from 1906 through 1926, including fishing for black bass on the Delaware River; steel-head at Deer Creek in Washington; king salmon in British Columbia and at mouth of Klamath River in California; trout in Crater Lake and Klamath Lake, Oregon; and steel-head in Rogue River, Oregon. Also included are freshwater fishing adventures on the Lacakwaxen Creek, Mast Hope Brook, Tyree, Pelican Bay, Rocky Riffle, Down River, and Winkle Bar. These tales are illustrated with 100 black and white photographs, mostly taken by Zane Grey himself. "

Ken

Skipjack Joe - 5-17-2012 at 10:26 AM

It's likely this book.

zgrey.jpg - 25kB

Phil S - 5-19-2012 at 08:50 AM

Ken & Joe. Thanks. I'll take a check on Amazon to see if that might be 'lurking' out there somewhere.
Nopolo Phil

baitcast - 5-29-2012 at 01:02 PM

Just ran into this,my favorite master fishing story teller of all time,what was great was he could always back up a story with a picture to help quite his critics of course he had many but anyone successful has the same problem.

Of Swordfish and Tuna was probably my favorite,living where I grew up in trout country and having a father who said" son if it ain't a trout its just not worth your time or your effort" :lol:

Having a huge swordfish hooked up from 10:30 am to 11:30 Pm and not finishing the job fired my imagination how could there be such a fish?

Had two of his books but my X managed to lose both when we split up,she knew what they ment to me :mad:

starting to ramble so must close.
Rob

Skipjack Joe - 5-29-2012 at 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by baitcast

Had two of his books but my X managed to lose both when we split up,she knew what they ment to me :mad:

starting to ramble so must close.
Rob

For some reason that reminded me of Richard Burton, the famous explorer of Africa's interior.

He had the finest collection of pornographic art in the world at the time. Pieces from all over the planet. India, Japan, you name it. He spent a lifetime collecting them. His wife burned it all posthumously because it was 'sinful'.

-----------------------

Some compare it to the burning of the library in Alexandria. :lol:

Aw, all right, I made that up.

[Edited on 5-29-2012 by Skipjack Joe]

Cypress - 5-29-2012 at 03:48 PM

What the heck! Anybody got some more of those old fish pictures? They sure are neat! Thanks!

Skipjack Joe - 5-29-2012 at 04:43 PM

I'm getting my scanner delivered in an hour. Stay tuned for more Zane Grey.

baitcast - 5-29-2012 at 05:46 PM

:lol:

Igor that is just to funny :lol:

Rob

baitcast - 5-29-2012 at 05:59 PM

My contribution,1963 on the first Red Rooster at Guadalupe Island,note the old cane rod without a set in it,that old boy caught a 350 BSB,I watched him do it!!!!!!!!!!

Skipjack Joe - 5-29-2012 at 07:57 PM

As promised ...

zanegrey.jpg - 47kB