Free American Angler in Australia (1937) by Zane Grey Page B

the sea was ridged blue and white; the boat tipped an d rolled and dived until I was weary of hanging on to my seat and the rod.
    We trolled all over the ocean for hours, until afternoon, then came in t o drift off the Heads. Still, somehow, despite all this misery there wa s that thing which holds a fisherman to his task. When I climbed up on th e dock I had the blind staggers and the floor came up to meet me. The usua l crowd was there to see me, but I could not sign any autographs tha t night.
    The third morning dawned warm and still, with a calm ocean and blue sky.
    Starting early, we trolled for bait along the bluffs as far south a s Point Bondi. I had engaged the services of Billy Love, market fisherma n and shark-catcher of Watson's Bay, to go with us as guide to the shar k reefs. We caught no end of bait, and soon were trolling off Bondi. We ra n ten miles out, and then turned north and ran on until opposite Manl y Beach, where we headed in again to run past that famous bathing-beac h where so many bathers had been attacked by sharks, and on down to Love' s shark-grounds directly opposite the harbor entrance between the Heads , and scarcely more than a mile outside the Heads.
    We put down an anchor, or "killick," as our guide called it, in about tw o hundred feet of water. A gentle swell was moving the surface of the sea.
    The sun felt hot and good. Putting cut bait overboard, we had scarcel y settled down to fishing when we had a strike from a small shark. I t turned out to be a whaler of about three hundred pounds.
    Love was jubilant over its capture.
    "Shark meat best for sharks," he avowed, enthusiastically. "Now we'l l catch a tiger sure!"
    That sharks were cannibals was no news to me, but in this instance th e fact was more interesting. Emil put a bonito bait over and Love attache d a little red balloon to the line a fathom or two above the leader. Thi s was Mr. Bullen's method, except that he tied the float about one hundre d and fifty feet above the bait, and if a strong current was running h e used lead.
    For my bait Love tied on a well-cut piece of shark, about two pounds i n weight, and added what he called a fillet to hang from the point of th e hook. I was an expert in baits and I remarked that this one looked almos t good enough to eat.
    Then he let my bait down twenty-five fathoms without float or sinker.
    This occurred at noon, after which we had lunch, and presently I settle d down comfortably to fish and absorb my surroundings.
    The sun was hot, the gentle motion of the boat lulling, the breez e scarcely perceptible, the sea beautiful and compelling, and there was n o moment that I could not see craft of all kinds, from great liners t o small fishing-boats. I sat in my fishing-chair, feet on the gunwale, th e line in my hand, and the passage of time was unnoticeable. In fact, tim e seemed to stand still.
    The hours passed, until about mid-afternoon, and conversation lagged.
    Emil went to sleep, so that I had to watch his float. Peter smoke d innumerable cigarettes, and then he went to sleep. Love's hopes of a strike began perceptibly to fail. He kept repeating about every hour tha t the sharks must be having an off day. But I was quite happy an d satisfied.
    I watched three albatross hanging around a market boat some distanc e away. Finally this boat ran in, and the huge white-and-black bird s floated over our way. I told Love to throw some pieces of bait in. He di d so, one of which was a whole bonito with its sides sliced off.
    The albatross flew towards us, landed on their feet a dozen rods away, an d then ran across the water to us. One was shy and distrustful. The other s were tame. It happened, however, that the suspicious albatross got th e whole bonito, which he proceeded to gulp down, and it stuck in hi s throat.
    He drifted away, making a great to-do over the trouble his gluttony ha d brought him. He beat the water with his wings and ducked his head unde r to shake it violently.
    Meanwhile