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THRILLING BATTLE WITH A SHARK That surf fisherman has not had his reveries rudely dispersed by the enervating appearance of one or more sharks lolling along in the undertow favoring him with malevolent glances out of the eyes that are the embodiment of sinister devilish ness Surely it is not fear that causes his flesh to creep and a shiver to pass along his spine not with such a hot sun broiling down upon his back backMore More likely it is the working of inherent forces over which he has no control or perhaps he is thinking of that plunge he took only that morning swimming 00 yards off shore and resembling noth ¬ ing o much as a fine fat but animated pork chunk Or mayhap especially if 1Q were using fresh bunker as bait his reveries were interrupt ¬ ed by a quick solid strike strikeHis His idea of what occurs in the next instant is rather vague but he remembers seeing a dark form hurtle into view to disappear with a swirl beneath the surface headed straight to sea seaThen Then if his leader be of gut he experiences a sudden relaxation of his line and reeling in dis ¬ covers that his leader has been cleanly cut where ¬ upon he casts a thousand maledictions upon sharks in general and that fast fleeting shark in par ¬ ticular ticularIt It is a regrettable circumstance that sharks are held in such contempt by nearly all fishermen and in my opinion that this attitude exists is due to the manner in which smaller sharks weighing up to fifty pounds quickly cease giving battle after the lirst furious but short rush rushA A striped bass or channel weighing from fifteen pounds to fifty will fight a varying length of time lasting from a half hour to an hour much depending uiou conditions tide rips placement of hook surf and yes even in the individuality of the Jish JishSharks Sharks range far and wide in their quest for food and their appetites are insatiable If you would fain give battle to one of these tigers of the sea go to a spot on the shore where a fish company is disposing of the offal taken from the tons of fish which they catch in their pounds poundsThese These guts thrown into the undertow are milled around by the varying tides until they settle into the holes and channels which usually exist It was to such a spot one fine July morning that several kindred pirits myself among them sallied forth to slay a shark armed with the average surf fisher ¬ mens weapons namely fifteen ounce rods two ought reels and about 800 feet of new twelve thread line lineThe The shark fisherman utilizes piano wire in two foot lengths as leaders two lengths connected by a barrel swivel in the center and an eyed hand forged hook from seven degrees u at one end being the proper arrangement arrangementArrived Arrived at the battle front we fasten with white cotton thread about onehalf of a menhaden moss hunker to cur hooks hooksTo To make a cast of sufficient length hammered by the length of leader idus the heavy and bulky barb is a trick not easily turned and one must needs wade out to the armpits in order to reach the re ¬ quired distance distanceTliis Tliis feature djd not bother me however as I was in my bathing suit and what followed a few minutes later can best be illustrated by a story of our well worn friends from the Ould Country CountryPat Pat and Mike were out hunting when they dis ¬ covered a wildcat up in a tree and Pat immediately ascended A sudden hard shake succeeded in dis ¬ lodging the cat whence it fell to earth At least it would have so fallen if Mike had not interposed receiving wild Thomas athwart the shoulders shouldersThe The disturbance which immediately followed was anything but mild and Pat called down Shall I coom doon an help yez hould Mm MmXo Xo gasped Michael cooni doou an help me let go goThat That was my case exactly for the first few minutes of my fight with a shark weighing 105 pounds and measuring 7 feet and 10 inches in length lengthSpartan Spartan youth with fox beneath his shirt neer spent a more interesting session than that which befell me the few seconds it required that killer of men to tear off iOO feet of line lineMy My reel was like a live coal and while surgeons plaster protected one thumb at the start this burned through in a flash and from then on pres ¬ sing my thumbs against a redhot stove would have been just as enjoyable enjoyableNaturally Naturally the general trend of action wended surfward and it was without reluctance I allowed myself to ba submerged outfit and all allSome Some one waded out and jammed on a thumb stall for me when the creatures first mad rush was stopped with but 00 feet of line still on the reel Short irrcsitible plunges still straight to sea now followed each one tearing off iiO or 30 feet of coveted line and my nerves and thoughts were en ¬ tirely stampeded stampededThe The slightest relaxation on the part of the shark at his end of the line was the signal for me to fight like mad at mine My entire being was cen ¬ tered on one object to undermine the strength of my foe as much as possible before he started his second furious rush to sea seaSo So greatly had he impressed his power upon me I did not doubt for a moment there would be a sec ¬ ond rush It was impossible to realize that having thrown every ounce of strain upon my outfit that the tackle would stand I had sapped that tremen ¬ dous strength of which I was now afraid afraidWorking Working to the north with every muscle aching and quivering from the strain my friend the enemy was at last induced to turn and swim parallel with the shore His movements now were not so swift as formerly but he proceeded forward with a power that compelled respect and was well nigh irre ¬ sistible sistibleKeeping Keeping abreast of him and fighting frantically at every step we proceeded up the beach forty yards sixty yards 100 yards then a cry arose from those present for 700 feet to the sea the large dorsal fill of the shark was cleaving the surface like the periscope of a submarine submarineBack Back and forth the battle waged until it became apparent that if the shark did not soon succumb at his end of the line I needs must succumb at mine mineAfter After fortyseven minutes of such gruelling work the shark made an unconditional surrender for like his smaller brothers when he did give up he jjave up completely completelySwimming Swimming rapidly into the undertow he was quickly pounced upon by a reception committee of two each armed with a gaff and a minute later he was lying on the sand all in So was I IIt It was three days before the effects of the ter ¬ rible strain on all my muscles wore off and is there any reason then why I should agree with any man who holds the shark in contempt New York Sun
