"GlasshouseJohn" wrote in message
...
Could this lady have used that rod to land the 2 fish?

Sure, why not? That type of rod was very common for big game fish in that
era. Just because the equipment is different, it doesn't mean it wouldn't
work.

I remember when I first started musky fishing, a "good" musky rod was less
than five feet long and had all the action and weight of a pool cue.
Compare that to the equipment I'm using now and the rods are at minimum two
feet longer and probably one quarter the weight of the old school tackle.
Oddly enough, I caught fish on the old rods, but given the choice, I'll use
my new tackle every day.

The fish hooked to fish landed ration was probably much lower back then than
today, but there's no reason why it couldn't have worked. Take a look at
the equipment the famous author Zane Grey used to land numerous world record
marlin, it looked much the same.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com