The bait of choice at the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club was Bonito, Mackerel, and Squid.

There’s a tantalizingly tasty new book trailing through the oceans of big game fishing stories.

It is When No One Else Would Fly, the aviation pioneering biography of Colonel C. J. Tippett, who did amazing things not only in aviation, but also with black marlin fishing at the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in the 1950s.

The details, both researched and in his own words, are a must-read for anyone interested in the history of big game sport fishing.

Cabo Blanco, Peru was a small fishing village named for the white cliffs above blonde beaches. It was a long car ride from Lima, the capital of Peru, and an even longer flight from the USA.

But that didn’t deter the richest and most famous big game fisherman of the time from coming to Cabo Blanco to fish for black marlin and bluefin tuna.

The way these men fished was strictly regulated, because they were fishing for more than just the catch; they were fishing for world records, overseen and awarded by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA).

Lines, hooks, rods, and reels were all critically important to hooking the fish and setting the record.

And the bait… the bait was the thing.

Well, actually, it wasn’t always that important. There are some accounts that I found in my research on the fishing details of Marlin Boulevard that describe how marlin, warming at the surface after hunting in the deeps, would strike at the bait thrown in front of them with no hesitation. Other stories describe hours of trolling with a live fish threaded on the lure with no results at all.

Bonito was a favorite bait, as was Mackerel.
Squid were very effective, and the Humboldt Squid hunts at The Club filled were widely enjoyed and anticipated.

Tip didn’t always fish for his own bait as he prepared to fish for black marlin, but others at the Club often did. Tip’s daughter, Sue, remembers fishing for bait that, to her, were as big as the granders her father was hooking.

The book is available on Amazon.com. It’s as close as you can get to being there nowdays.. plus, it’s really good.

This used to be the world record Roosterfish catch, back in 1954. Col. C. J. Tippett pulled in this 80 lb fish on a 50 lb line at the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club.

The Cabo Blanco Fishing Club on the Peruvian coast was the most famous big game sportfishing location in the world in the 1950s, and Col. C. J. Tippett was the Club’s Director during the height of the Club’s fame.

He caught many huge and amazing fish, and he was present when many more were hooked – by famous and amazing people.

Among those remarkable fish is his own world record catch – a fish that may seem, at first glance, a little less remarkable than the rest, but it was a true world record catch, and it was Tip’s.

This 80 lb Roosterfish, caught on a 50 lb line, was taken at the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in, I think, 1954.

I’m sure that Tip hooked it, and I’m sure that it was 80 lbs, and a Roosterfish, and on a 50 lb line… but I’m not sure of the date. Because Tip faithfully recorded everything except the date. sigh. So based on how he looks, I’m pretty sure it was between 1953 and 1956… and I’ve picked 1954 as my best guess.

Tip’s adventures at the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club are detailed in several chapters of his biography, “When No One Else Would Fly” now available on Amazon.com.

The Roosterfish, Nematistius Pectoralis, is a member of the Jack Family. I’m taking another wild guess that it is named for that wicked spiny fringe on its back. Roosterfish live only in the Pacific Ocean and like rocky areas right behind the surf line. They can be caught from shore. Today, it is a good candidate for catch and release as it is not considered a delicacy, although it is edible. They are usually about 15 – 20 lbs, so an 80 lb fish was something special. The world record today is 114 lbs, caught off Baja California. There have probably been quite a few bigger catches but because the fish has to be killed to be weighed to qualify for a record, some fisherman decide to let it go; both the record and the fish.

Roosterfish fishing has it’s own big fan base; anglers with an angle of their own on fishing for this dramatic looking fish. Tip would have fit right in!