The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-08-12
Catching a Shark.

h'Vn III one dueSJOndDl0 SablHfactlOn OF
getting few blacklist too small to eat
and not big enough to jerk the line when
they bite, but if you go shark-fishing you
have reasonable chance of getting a
blte and almost as good a chance of
landing your fish, if you only keep as
cool as you can under a hot sun: and
when you get ope fairly baited he will
make it very lively for all on the boat
until you get another hook into his Jaw
or two or three balls into his head.
When 1t was proposed that we try our
luck in that direction the other after
noon, L for one was skeptical
and was not at all inclined to
wager on our success, but "Win"
made all preparations with as much
solemnity as if his reward was sure.
The shark line which he had in readi-
ness was about enough to fill a small
fruit basket. Ii was of cotton, about
half an inch thick, and on one cnd of it
was steel hook, a trifle 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 clock in
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
it through the eel until it was curved
more sharply than it 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 Conover set 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 as they
could on the cushions. The boys, how
ever, eagerly seized the lines and be-
gan posing for new statue of g Pa
tience." 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 for the
first half hour was that it would do to
bait the shark hook with if he should
get away with the eel The novice in
the party had hardly got about a tenth
of the information necessary for catch
ing fish before the float was drawn
under water, and Win sprang to the
rescue of the line. Unfortunately, it
was only bite. but it demonstrated the
presence of the fish for which we were
looking. 1IL "a .
The line was hauled in and the eel
found to be intact. To make it little
more enticing, however, a tom-cod was
added to the hook and the line thrown
out again. There was not so long to
wait this time, for in less than quar-
ter of an hour his sharkship made an
other lunge at the eel and the line was
hauled taut in jifiy Win jumped to
his feet and George sprang TO his as
sistance just in time to have bit of
flesh nipped out OF one finger as the
line was allowed to run rapidly out and
give the fish little play, while the
boys sprang from one end of the boat
70 the other, and twisted the fishing
lines into inextricable confusion. "Let
him have little more line," called out
Win, flushed and eager with excite
ment, and George returned with eau
ton to keep his feet off the line, for at
the rate the shark was pulling just at
that time he could have tripped one of
them into the water in a second if their
feet had caught in the slack. BY that
time they both had firm bold of the
line, and were permitting the fish to dash
in any direction that pleased him.
But sharks were never made for hard
work and they soon weary of trying to
drag boat, so he soon turned and
dove, only to come to the surface
quicker than before, and as his nose
was pulled up toward the bow he gave
a vicious flirt with his tail that delug ed
us all with water. This kept up about
ten minutes, when he began to show
signs of fatigue, and was brought near
enough to the side to receive two bull
lets in his head, which seemed to have
a depressing and even discouraging eff
feet upon his further activity. AS his
nose was turned up it was seen that the
hook had caught. not in the mouth, but
in the jaw, which accounted for his re-
markable gaminess. 1t was a 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 to say
that this shark was q man-eater, with
double rows of teeth, about eleven feet
long, and 300 pounds in weight. but
that regard for truth which is the last
requisite of really good fisherman
compels me to say that this particular
shark was of the blue-nose variety, and
only six feet and nine inches in length
weight unknown. atlantic CITY Cor.
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