Sharks on a Line 99 



the boat anchored, the same shark— the cut line still hooked in its tail- 

 reappeared. Dean tried again, and this time, after a fight of an hour and 

 a half, he landed the persistent shark. It weighed 2,536 pounds. Dean had 

 once more broken his own record. 



Dean broke his world record a fourth time, in 1959, when he landed 

 a 2,664-pounder. But Dean's biggest fish, Hke the biggest fish of all fisher- 

 men, was the one that got away. 



In Australia they call Alf Dean's biggest fish Barnacle Lil, for she is 

 a female and she has broken the heart of many a shark fisherman. Dean 

 met her one moonlit night in the Bight when she banged his boat and 

 tore off a seal carcass, a piece de resistance Dean often hangs over the 

 stern of his boat to lure sharks that follow his piquant wake. He got a 

 look at her as she lingered near the surface a few yards from the boat, 

 munching on the seal. He looked her over avidly and estimated her 

 measurements: more than 20 feet long and at least 4,000 pounds. 



He lowered a new seal lure over the side. Near it he dropped his line, 

 baited with his favorite shark bait, seal liver, skewered on two great 

 hooks. Barnacle Lil charged for the hooks, the lure, the liver— every- 

 thing, including part of the boat's transom. Through the spray churned 

 up by her explosive lunge, Dean could see that she had the hooks in her 

 mouth. He put his reel in gear and set the hooks. Time after time, she 

 fought the hooks by rocketing to the surface, lifting her huge, graceful 

 white body nearly out of the sea. Then she settled down, pitting her 

 4,000 pounds of controlled fury against Dean's straining arms and ever- 

 taut line. For two solid hours she fought. Then, slowly, foot by foot, 

 turn by turn, he began reeling her in. 



He got her to the side of the boat. A crewman reached his gloved 

 hands down to the wire leader attached to the end of the line. (Under 

 game fishing rules, in order to claim a record, the fisherman cannot be 

 aided until he brings his fish to gaff. At that time, another person can 

 grasp the leader, but not the line. During a fight, no part of the fishing 

 tackle may be touched by anyone except the fisherman.) But Barnacle 

 Lil was not through. She suddenly found new strength and whirled 

 seaward again, tearing the leader out of the boatman's hands. "Twenty 

 men could not have held it," Dean later reported. 



Dean's hands were turning to mush. Blisters erupted and broke on his 

 palms. His fingers, chafed raw by the constantly bobbing rod, were 

 stiff with pain. His legs were knotted with cramps. The aching muscles 

 in his back and arms seemed ready to burst. And the fight went on. 

 One hour . . . Two hours . . . Three times Dean brought the shark 

 to the boat. Three times the glistening leader cleared the water, and 

 three times Barnacle Lil dashed out to sea with new strength! 



As the fight went into its fifth hour, Dean was seized by a new 



