A strange catch at sea turned into a small treasure mystery in 1907 when Captain Billy Graves opened a 22-pound yellowtail and found gold inside.
The fish had been caught about ten miles offshore, but in its stomach was a piece of rich ore believed to contain about two dollars’ worth of gold. How the nugget ended up inside the yellowtail was unknown.
The discovery was unusual enough to stir the imagination of local fishermen. For some time afterward, it was expected that every large fish brought in from those waters would be examined carefully, just in case another one had swallowed treasure.
Fish With a Gold Nugget
A gold nugget weighing several ounces and thought to contain about two dollars worth of gold was found in the stomach of a yellowtail caught by Captain Billy Graves Friday about ten miles out at sea.
The nugget is really a piece of rich ore, but how it came to be lodged in the stomach of the fish is a mystery.
The fish weighed 22 pounds and it is expected that every large fish caught here for some time to come will be examined with the greatest care by the fisherman.
Source: The Sun. New York, N.Y. June 9, 1907.
