When I was a teenager growing up in the former Canal Zone, I
was in the Sea Scouts. We had a boat given to us by the Navy that was capable
of going far out to sea. We docked it at the Rodman pier in Balboa Harbor.
We would fish all the way down to the Perlas Islands,
keeping the good fish on ice and the non-edible fish in a big, bloody bucket in
the back of the boat. Once we arrived in the islands, we would skindive the
rest of the day. At night we would usually harbor off the beach on Contadora
Island. There was nothing but jungle on the island in those days. Not even a
bohio.
After dinner, we would get out our shark fishing gear. I
used a bucket with a handline coiled inside so that it could pay out without
snagging. The line was a pencil-sized length of nylon rope. I tied the
"boat end" of it to the bucket handle and then to a cleat on the
boat. The "shark end" had a cable with swivels on it and a large hook
or two.
I would get a big piece of bloody bonita, hook it on, and
toss it out. We would also toss out a gallon or two of stinky, bloody water
from the bait bucket. Once the bait hit the bottom, I would wrap some cans
around the line left in the bucket so I could hear it go out if something hit
it. My gloves were always nearby. Then we would lie back on the big front deck
of the boat, watching falling stars... until the cans started rattling.
I was about 13 when I caught my first shark off Contadora
Island. It was a 13 foot tiger shark and had five rows of teeth. About three
months later, my best friend caught a 16 foot tiger off the same beach while
boating with his father. It had seven rows of teeth. Those jaws could fit all
the way around my friend and me standing back to back.
During the day, we would often
skindive all around the rocky points to the right and left of the beach...
about 600 feet from where we were catching the large tigers and bull sharks ten
hours later.
This set of jaws is from my 13 foot tiger, caught sometime
during 1966 or so. It's mounted on a piece of mahogany that my dad had lying in
the garage at our home on Verde Street in La Boca. I would not kill a shark if
I caught it these days, especially big ones like those.
Ali and Roberto asked me to send them this short story and
picture. If you are doing business with these fellows and their company, you
are in GOOD HANDS. But think twice before they ask you to dive off a boat and
swim to the beach at Contadora Island !!