AN OTAGO FISHERMAN.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16876, 25 October 1920, Page 3

AN OTAGO FISHERMAN.

HAS TROUBLE WITH SHARK. One of our local fishermen (says the Otago Daily Times) tells of an exciting and unusual experience the other day with a big shark at the entrance of 'the harbour. The wind was freshening inshore and setting up a rather nasty jobble, but the fisherman delayed the lifting of his moki net at the mole end, because fish were scarce and the tide that day was favourable for moki. At length ho went along and started to haul in the net. It proved rather difficult for ho was single-handed, and he had to hold the boat in position with the oars while lifting the not. But lie managed fairly well until half the net was in. Then a big shark, almost as long as the boat, rose close to the surface and started nibbling the fish from the mesh of the net. This was the more disconcerting because the shark kept working nearer and nearer to the boat. With his knife in readiness the fisherman kept alert lest the shark got entangled in the upt and in his struggles upset the boat, which was rolling and pitching uncomfortably as it was. The shark was very determined. Presently the boat rolled suddenly and jerked the unhauled portion of the net towards the surface. This entangled the shark in the net. A desperate struggle ensued, but it merely lasted for the moment it took the sharp knife to sever the net. The shark disappeared hurriedly. Having other nets to haul, some little time elapsed before the fisherman rounded the tide gauge, at the Spit, homeward bound. There he met some fishermen who had just come down the harbour. They called to him to keep a good look-out as he was passing Pulling Point, because a big shark was tearing round there in a very unusual way. It seemed to think it ought to be a flying fish or an aeroplane. And every time it leapt out of the water you could see something fastened to its tail, like a trail of seaweed. “Seaweed bo biowed,” replied the single-handed fisherman, “I’ll fay a reef groper to a cockahully, the blighter is playing the giddy goat with the half of ray new moki net I had to cut adrift at tlie Mole half an hour agq.”