American Angler in Australia (1937) by Zane Grey Read Free Book Online Page A

found. He resembles a long strip of Brussels carpet. He lies fairl y flat on the bottom, almost like a flounder or halibut. He looks lik e seaweed and is a remarkable example of nature's protective coloration.
    But in his case it must be more a matter of hiding from the small fish h e preys upon than to be difficult to see for his larger enemies. From th e wobbegong's upper lip protrude a number of little colored bits of ski n which could easily be taken for seaweed or something else good to eat.
    Anyway, this cunning shark lies low, watching, and when small fish com e close to nibble at these deceitful lures the wobbegong snaps them up.
    This species of shark grows fairly large, and I'd give something unhear d of to catch a big one. The most remarkable feature of the wobbegong i s his teeth. They are like a nest of curved thorns. When the wobbegong get s his teeth in anything they cannot come free. They just bite out the piec e they have hold of.
    Sometimes when it was windy outside we ran in to fish around the island s or along the shoal west shore of the bay. Straight across from camp ther e was a high bluff covered with heavy growth of timber. From this a fla t rocky reef ran out into the bay. Our man, Bill Lawler, the marke t fisherman I had engaged, took us often to this particular spot to fis h for sharks. Some of the shark tales he told were incredible. But I l earned to credit all of them.
    Why a school of gray nurse sharks should hang around that shoal reef wa s a mystery to me. It cleared up, however, and seemed as natural as an y other thing pertaining to the sea. We went there several times an d chummed, (burley, they call this way of attracting sharks by cutting u p bait or fish), without getting a single bite. Bill said the cool rain y weather accounted for the lack of sharks, and I could well believe him.
    One warm still afternoon we hit it just right; and that afternoon must b e recorded in my memory and in my fishing notes as one never to forget.
    Fishing for sharks is one thing: fishing for man-eating sharks, one o f the most ferocious species, is entirely another.
    I had seen the two gray nurse sharks in the Aquarium at the Sydney Zoo. I h ad watched them for hours. They really had beauty, if line and contou r lending speed and savagery, can have such a thing. To my surprise th e gray nurse had a longer, sharper nose than even the mako. I made a be t with myself that he could move fast in the water. I found out, too. I wa s surprised, also, to see that the gray nurse had no gray color in th e water. He was a dark greenish tan.
    We anchored the Avalon over the ridge, about five hundred yards out fro m shore, and began to chum. We had a couple of boxes full of fish that fro m its odor should have attracted sharks all the way from Sydney. Our othe r boat, the camera outfit, chose a spot half a mile below us, not a ver y good place, Bill said.
    I put a bait over on my big tackle, and settled myself comfortably t o wait. It was very pleasant, and grew more beautiful as the afternoo n waned. Two hours passed, during which we chummed all the while, withou t having a strike. An oily slick drifted away from our boat for a mile. I h ad about decided there were no gray nurse sharks in the bay, when I ha d a bite. It was a gentle, slow pull, not at all what I expected from a notorious shark.
    "It's a gray nurse," avowed Bill.
    "Yeah?" I replied, doubtfully. "Okay! We'll hand it to him."
    Whereupon I laid back with my heavy tackle for all I was worth. I hooke d a fish, all right, and made ready for a run. But this one did not run. H e came toward the boat. The men hauled up anchor and started the engine. W e drifted while I most curiously applied myself to the task of whippin g this shark, if it were one. He was heavy and strong, and quick as a flash. But he did not try to go places. He kept around and under th e boat.
    In due course I hauled him up, and what was my surprise when I saw a lon g symmetrical silver-gray