On the Trail of Zane Grey

By Edwin Martin

Although I fished in the 1930s and ’40s with Calcutta cane poles with brass barrel guides and a knuckle-buster reel with linen line, I was never affluent enough to target big fish on private boats while the earlier tackle was still in use. However, much later, when I was in Australia, I thought it might be interesting to discover some of the problems facing those anglers of yesteryear, with their old tackle having patent dates spanning the 19th and 20th centuries.

I remember reading Zane Grey’s book “Fishing Australia,” where, in 1936, he packed up all of his tackle and headed for Bermagui, in the far south of New South Wales, a state on the southeast corner of the continent. Zane Gray was very impressed with the billfishing in Bermagui.

I called my good friend, Tim Simpson, the owner and editor of “Blue Water Magazine.” At the time, it was the premier sportfishing magazine of all of Australia. I asked Tim if he would like to joint-venture an article about fishing in Bermagui with 100-plus-year-old tackle. It did not take Tim long to