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Too bad a couple of Great Whites don't swim our way for a few weeks.....maybe our Seal problem would be solved! Check out this story from the eastern US: -------------------------------------------------------------- --------- Shark terrorizes tourists: Beast batters boat, bites bass off fishing line by Jessica Heslam Monday, July 23, A shark believed to be a man-eating great white terrorized a 20-foot fishing boat carrying six tourists off the coast of Chatham Saturday afternoon, chomping two bass off fishing lines and smashing its near-700 pound body against the vessel, according to the boat's captain. ``He was thrashing and banging it with his head, and slapping the side with his back. We all got drenched,'' said Capt. Joe Fitzback, who came within a foot of the fish, which he estimated was at least 14 feet long and described as ``aggressive.'' Fitzback, who owns Top Rod Custom Charters, and his six adult passengers were nearing the end of a five-hour fishing tour when the shark surfaced 20 feet from the boat about 2:45 p.m. The shark encounter occurred close to the Chatham inlet and Monomoy Island, about one mile offshore near South Beach, Fitzback said. Two of the passengers, who were reeling in striped bass, yelled out to Fitzback, who looked up and saw what he first thought was a pilot whale, which can grow up to 20 feet but are not a threat to humans. ``It went over toward the striped bass, and half of it came out of the water and landed on top of the bass,'' recalled the 54-year-old longtime fisherman yesterday. ``It shook its body violently and all of a sudden we just had the head of the striped bass. ``I grabbed the rod and reeled the head back in. I looked at it and said, `My God - it's got to be a shark that bit this,' '' said Fitzback. The shark circled the boat before disappearing underneath it. It then emerged on the port side, nudged its head against the vessel and slapped its tail against the side of the boat, Fitzback said. The beast then slammed into the side of the boat and smacked it again a few times with its head. ``It shook the boat back and forth. I had to hold a couple people's belts so they wouldn't go overboard,'' said Fitzback, who said at least two passengers screamed during the 10-minute ordeal. The shark chewed the second bass off the line as Fitzback attempted to reel it in, then rolled back under the water, and resumed circling the boat. ``I saw a glimpse of his teeth - they were big,'' Fitzback said. ``There was plenty of blood in the water.'' A great white was responsible for the last fatal shark attack in Massachusetts, which occurred in 1936 when a child swimming in Buzzards Bay near Mattapoisett was killed by one. The great white is found in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but usually in deeper water over the continental shelf. Fitzback said he has seen great whites in places such as Hawaii and that the nose and shoulder width of the fish he saw yesterday resembled that of a great white. After Saturday's scare, Fitzback told his passengers - some of whom managed to take pictures - to sit and gain their composure before he started the engine. ``I told them to hold on tight. I started the engine and we didn't see him again,'' said Fitzback. ``After we motored away, I took a deep breath,'' he added. ``One guy was completely white.'' Fitzback, who has been fishing off Chatham for at least 10 years, said he has never seen a great white in these waters. But thousands of seals - a shark delicacy - live in the area, he said. ``Eventually, we're going to attract more sharks and probably some killer whales,'' he said. Once he reached land, Fitzback contacted the Chatham harbormaster, whose boats patrolled the waters near South Beach yesterday looking for the enormous fish. If it is found by the harbormaster crews, it will likely be shot, authorities said.
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I'd try a cut plug chinook on an aircraft cable leader for that bad boy.
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