The Iola register., 1882-07-07
How to Catch Sharks.

YORK Bay last summer, all attempts at
catching the very large ones failed. This
year the trial is to be renewed. Shark
fishers are preparing their lines and
hooks. and with last years experience
to guide them they hope to succeed in
landing some monsters. 1t is very diff
ticult to exhaust shark on a line. Cen
orally the fishermen get tired first, for
in this sort of sport there is little oppor-
tunity for the exercise of skill, but there
is great demand for strength. To fish
for sharks successfully it is necessary to
have long line and chain leader at
tached to the hooks. which should be
baited with fresh bluefish or couple
of weak fish. A large block of wood is
used for Hoater, and is anchored by a
stone fastened to a piece of common
fishing-line. In this wav the bait is kept
in the desired position. When the big
fioater goes down the fishermen jump
and grab the line. If there is spile or
anything to take a turn around, SO much
the better; but if there is nothing of
the kind, as is usually the case when
fishing on beach, tug of war is inn
mediately commenced between the
sportsmen and the shark. The latter
always gets the start, and the difficulty
is to turn him. Once turned, the haul
ing becomes less difficult, until the
shark finds himself getting into shallow
water. Then, if he is very big fellow
and his opponents are not sufficiently
numerous, there are ten chances to one
that he will manage to turn again. This
is the critical moment. If he is strong
enough to turn he should get line and
be permitted to run a reasonable dis
tance, when the chance of turning him
again becomes far better than when he
is in shallow water. Then the work of
hauling is resumed, and sore hands be-
come prevalent.
Painting, almost exhausted, and bathed
in perspiration, three stout men hauling
on line hailed boatman one day last
fall from the Staten Island shore, near
the mouth of the Narrows: "Come
ashore, boss, and give us pull; we've
got a sharkr' they shouted. The boat
man lost no time in going to their re-
lief. He was powerful man, and the
pull that he gave the line turned the
shark head on for the beach and he be-
gan to come quietly.
''He has given up the game" one of
the party said. '.He thinks it amt a
square deal, and that we had no right to
call for help.'
Keep him comingr' said the boat
man. Don't give him chance to
change his mind''
''Now, Pat" one of the party shout
ed, 1.-the moment we pull him out you
must go and take the hook out of his
mouth!''
"Ehr' said Pat. ..Be COB, you can
60 and do it yourself! I don't banker
after the job
The four men pulled the monster
easily enough until he reached the shall
low water. There he refused positively
to go any further. They tugged and
strained. He plunged furiously. Just
at this critical iuncture there was dis
union among the men, some favoring
concession, others coercion.
"Give him liAer' the boatman
shouted.
"Not an inch!" said the coercionist.
"Now, boys, all togetherr'
"No, no; he's too strong yet"'
"Pullr'
"Don't pull!''
Taking advantage of this want of unity
the shark made a terrific plunge and
turned again. Then he darted of,
making the line whistle through the
water. Coming near the end of the
line. which was six hundred feet in
length, he showed no disposition to
slacken his speed. So the men braced
themselves for another effort. Planting
their heels in the sand they began to
haul; but the big fellow was too much
for them. Step by step he compelled
them to advance to the edge of the
water. They declined to 60 in, and the
shark would not come out. A renewed
struggle of the most desperate charac-
ter was Immediately commenced. Sud-
denly the four men fell all in heap in
the sand. The shark was gone.
"Well. we had sport with him, any
way" one said.
DO you call it sport" another said,
" to be dragged up and down the sand
for an hour, and then to get nothing for
it but sore hands?''
That's what call powerful sport"
the first speaker replied.
"Well.'' his companion said, "rn
never play tug of war with that old shark
AGAR" y San.