Autograph manuscript fishing diary by Zane Grey, mostly in pencil, 43 pages, 8 x 10, many pages blindstamped "Zane Grey," recording a month-long fishing trip from August 2nd to August 29th, signed nine times with his initials, "Z.G." Grey's initials come at the heads of several pages, noting observations of big fish, e.g. "Sighted 1 swordfish—Z.G.," "4 swordfish sighted, Z.G.," "3 swordfish sighted, Z.G.," and "3 sighted by Z.G."
Grey's manuscript describes his fishing journey, with observations on weather, route, conditions, and catches. It begins, in small part: "Foggy cool morning—fine mist almost rain, falling. Sea smooth, like oil. Left dock at 9 a.m. Two miles out saw school of small tuna. Sighted a fish we mistook for swordfish. He made for the bait and took it. I hardly believed it was a sword-fish. I let him run. He was heavy, but not hard fighting. I had him near the boat in 10 minutes. It was a Bonito shark—about 150 lbs. We trolled up & down, and out 7 miles. Nothing. Now was no breeze. In the afternoon we saw birds (Sheerwater) by the hundreds, and they were resting over schools of tuna. By & by they began to feed on the anchovies (little minnows)." This entry is characteristic of the manuscript as a whole, which offers a day-by-day account of the trip.
Zane Grey, best known for his Western novels, was also an avid fisherman who considered the sport one of his greatest passions. He traveled the world in pursuit of game fish, from the rivers of the American West to the deep seas off New Zealand and Tahiti. Grey wrote extensively about his angling adventures in books like Tales of Fishes and Tales of Swordfish and Tuna, blending vivid storytelling with technical detail. His fishing writings not only reflected his love of nature but also helped popularize big-game fishing in the early 20th century.
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