Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-08-11
Catching q SHARK.

There is . great deal worse fun than
fishing for sharks. You might go out
pad sit in the broiling sun al the fore
noon for the questionable satisfaction of
getting few Blacklist too small to eat
and not big enough to jerk the line when
they bite, but If yougo Establishing YOU
have a reasonable chance of getting a
bite and almost as good a chance of
landing your fish. If You only keep as
cool as You can under a hot SUM- and
when you get one fairly baited he will
make 1t very lively for all on the boat
until you get another hook into his Jaw
or two or three balls into his head.
When it was proposed that we try our
luck in that direction the other after
noon, 1 for one was skeptical
and was not ut all inclined to
wager on our success. but win
made all preparations with as much
solemnity as il his reward was sure.
The shark line which he had in readi-
ness was about enough to fill small
fruit basket. IL was of cotton, about
half an inch thick, and on one end of it
was steel hook, a trife smaller than
the cord itself, and nine or ten inches
IN length, attached to the line by short
piece OF chain, for the teeth of the fish
are quite sharp enough to cut a good
rope If he only has fair chance. We
left the inlet at about three o'clockiSr
the afternoon, and within fifteen min
utes were anchored close to the bank.
about mile up the thoroughfare, where
the water was fifteen to twenty feet
close to the shore. Win had previously
secured dead eel, with which he pro-
ceeded to ornament the hook, putting
1T through the eel until it was curved
more sharply than IL ever was in life.
A stick of wood about two feet in length
was attached to the cord about fifteen
feet from the hook. and it was thrown
| overheard.
| Captain Conover5et about batting the
hooks for the small lines, but the ladies
concluded they would not fish, and
taking out their novels proceeded to
make themselves as comfortable sas thew
could on the cushions. The boys, how
ever, eagerly seized the lines and be-
| gan posing fora new statue of PA
thence. The Captain caught the first
fish, and Brent was rewarded with a
little dog-shark. There certainly was
not luck enough to seduce the shark
fisher away from his post, for the best
that could be said of the catch fer the
first half hour was that il would do to
bait the shark hook with if he should
| get away with tire eel. The novice in
the party had hardly got aboutu& tenth
OF the information necessary for catch
ing fish before the float was drawn
under water. ana Win sprang 80 the
rescue of the line. Unfortunately, it
was only bite but it demonstrated the
| presence of the fish for which we were
! looking.
The line was hauled in and She eel
found to be intact. To make it a little
more enticing. however, a tom-ecd was
added to the hook and the line thrown
out again. TheIs was not so bong to
wait this time, for in less than a quar-
ter of an holr his sharkship made an
other lunge at the eel and the line was
hauled taut in Il 5ifiv. Win jumped to
his feet and George sprang TO his as
| slStance Just in time to have a hit of
flesh nipped outaf one finger rs the
line was allowed to run rapidly out and
give the fish little play, while the
( boys Sprang frOm. one end of the gboat
to the other, and twisted the fishing
/ lines into inextrieable confusion. LET
him have little MORE line" called out
\ Win, flushed and eager with excite
/ ment, and George returned with a eau
! ton TO keep his feet off the line, for at
: the rate the shark @as pulling just at
that time he could dave tripped one of
4 them into the waterin a second if their
Seet had caught in the slack. By that
slime they both hail firm bold of 81 e
Zine, and were permitting the fish to dash
A. any direction that pleased him.
! but sharks were never made for hart
work and they soon weary of trying to
| dag boat, so he ssoOn turned and
dove, only to come to the surface
quicker than before, land as his nose
was pulled up toward the bow he gave
a vicious tlirt with his tail that delnged
us al with water. This kept up about
ten&Ininutes, when he began to show
| signs OF fatigue, and was drought near
enoHnh to the side to recRiTe two bull
lets III his head, which seemed to have
depressing and even discouragino eff
fect'npon his further activity. AS his
noseMGs turned up il was seen that the
hOokIhad caught. not In. the tRouth, but
i'm the jaw, which accounted for his re-
markahle gaminess. 1t was q pretty
good tug to lift him on board. but he
was finally secured Just behind the
mast and his jugular vein cut, just to
keep him quiet
Proper regard for the tradition of
fish stories would require me - say
that this shark was a man-eater, with
double rosys of teeth, about eleven feet
long. and 300 pounds in weight. but
that regard for truth which is the last
requisite of a really good fisherman
compeis metto say that this particular
shark was of the blue-nose variety, end
only six iceland nine inches in length
weight nnlxnown.-AtGntic CIy, CIR.
Philadelphia tEreSS.