"That goddam sonnabitch just tried to bite my goddam leg off!" From our vantage point on the fishing platform, dad and I peer nervously down into the main part of the boat, 8 inches below, where a 4 foot long brown and white blur is noisily thrashing around with clear aggressive intent while our captain attempts to grab it behind the gills. "Yeeeeeehaaaaaaa! Gotcha! Goddam sonnabitch!" he drawls as he finally picks up the understandably irate Blacktip Reef Shark. “That’s a nice fish, gotta be 80 or 90 pounds. Come here, get a picture!”
The rather unfortunately named Bill Bender is a fishing boat captain from the old school. With more than a hint of a physical similarity to an anorexic Marlon Brando, in character he resembles Robert Shaw’s legendary fishing captain from Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws”, albeit with a tropical twist. Had Captain Quint spent his days trolling the idyllic backcountry of the Florida Keys and the Everglades rather than the inhospitable depths off New England, he’d probably be something like Bill. Like Captain Quint, Captain Bender likes to tell politically incorrect jokes. “Why do homosexuals always check out of hotels early in the morning? Because they had their shit packed the night before, haha.” Like Captain Quint, Captain Bender has a store of tall stories about fish, fishing, and the ocean. And like Captain Quint, Captain Bender is frighteningly adept at finding sharks.
Like Hooper and Chief Brodie, however, my dad and are I not quite so skilled at catching them. Nevertheless, with Cap’n Bill’s expert guidance, we did manage to land nine man-eating fish, ranging in size from the 90lb “tiddler” thrashing around on the deck of the boat, to a 250lb, 9 foot nurse shark that kept my dad busy for close to an hour. I’ve always been of the opinion, however, that size isn’t everything, and given the fearsome reputation of the bull shark (more attacks on humans than any other), the 200lb specimen I brought in was the most impressive catch of the day. Photos are attached here – make up your own minds.
Leaving aside the tall fishing stories, it’s been a very relaxing week here in the Keys. My diving has been curtailed somewhat by an annoying ear infection, but there’s been lots of boating, eating and drinking to make up for it. I’m now tanned and blonde, and just about ready for the rigours of Colombia, where I head early tomorrow morning. I’ll write more from there, but for now it’s “hasta luego amigos” – I got to get my shit packed tonight. Oh, you know what I mean…
Me in Indiana Jones hat
Blacktip Reef Shark
Jaws
Man-eating 200lb Bull Shark
Me, Indy hat, Lemon Shark
