Recently, a reader contacted us regarding a story from our archives. The archived piece was from the Crow’s Nest section of the July 1946 issue of The Bermudian and told of how once, a shark was spotted in Hamilton Harbour. Dick Christensen wrote to us, saying: “That one got away but the picture I am sending [is of one that] did not get away.  I caught this shark in the summer of 1941 off the North Dock of Grace Island then towed the shark to White’s Island in order to have this picture taken.” As promised, Dick sent us the photograph and as you can see from above, the picture is of Dick (then a young boy) next to his prized catch. Intrigued, we asked Dick to tell us the tale of the day he caught his shark and written below is his story…

 

“Grace Island was our family camping location for the summer and fishing was my pastime. I used to fish off the north dock as it had the deepest water. Most evenings you would find me on the dock waiting for the big one to bite on my line. At the end of the evening, I would set my line in hopes of finding a big fish in the morning but most mornings, my line was cut or missing. I started setting larger lines at the end of the evening but still, the same thing every morning: a line broken or gone. I asked my dad to please bring some shark cord home with him one evening, which he did. That evening, I put a large hook on the end of the shash cord and one good sized fish. I set the line and said, “See if you can break this!”

“In the morning, I raced to the dock in hopes of finding a good catch, only to discover that my line was stuck and I was unable to pull it in. So on with my swim trunks and mask and overboard I went, swimming to the end of where the line seemed to be hooked in some rocks. When I arrived near the end of my line, to my shock was the biggest shark I have ever seen in my life. Not knowing whether it was still alive or not, I made a mad dash for the dock, almost walking on water! With some help from the rest of the family and using a boat, we were able to free the line and drag the shark to the south side boat slip and pull it up to take a closer look at what I had caught. It seemed that a smaller shark (estimated at about four feet long) took the bait I had set at the end of my line. When the larger shark game along, it ate the smaller shark in three bites. When it bit the head of the smaller shark, the larger one got caught in the hook and died. Later that day, we towed the shark to White’s Island where we were able to hoist it out of the water. It’s weight was not taken but estimates range from 400 to 500 pounds. The shark was measured – its length was recorded at about 11-feet. It was an exciting experience and one of many growing up in Bermuda.”