[nicollo]

The story of Hemingway shooting a marlin that I remember involved his artist friend Henry Strater. They were days or more into a tournament with little success, most of which time Hemingway spent drinking. Strater finally snagged a serious bite and fought it in. After wearing down the giant fish and bringing it near, Hemingway appeared from below deck with his gun, screaming "sharks! sharks!" and pegged the fish, which, bleeding, attracted sharks.

Strater never forgave him:

Nice fish -- and would have weighed in the winner...

Dunno the veracity, but that's the story as I know it. Here, btw, is Strater's portrait of Poppa:

Sam, the Strater marlin pic is from the same site you drew those other pics from: AntiqueFishingReels.com

[Sam Cree]

I've read that story somewhere. I remember that Hemingway came on deck with his Tommygun and started shooting, but can't remember whether he shot sharks and set them into a frenzy or shot the marlin. I do remember that Strater was ticked about it.

That's a very nice portrait in my view, thanks for posting it.

The scene at Bimini of drinking hard and fishing hard in a tiny tropical setting went unchanged until the last couple of years. Now, sadly, the island is being developed. The drinking and fishing is still going on, but the setting is going to be different.