A few minutes later, the reel spool started spinning under Willcox's thumb. He waited a bit, then set the hook, hard. "Joe, come here,-¿ he said. Joe was still a little unsure about what was going on, but he grabbed the big conventional rod, whose reel was now in gear. The fish was taking line against the drag. Willcox pulled a fighting belt out of the hold and strapped it around Joe's waist. "Put the rod butt in here,-¿ said Willcox, "and fight the shark by moving around the boat.-¿

"Shark?-¿ said Joe.

But there was no time to explain. No need to, either. The shark, a blacktip weighing about 60 pounds, gave a good show of the species' tremendous fighting ability. It forced Joe all over the boat as it tried to exit the flat. But Joe put pressure on the fish and he finally brought it to boatside, where Willcox grabbed the leader as the shark thrashed and sprayed us with water. There was no point bringing the fish on board, and it soon threw the hook.

"I just caught a shark!-¿ said Joe.

"Let's try to get another,-¿ said Willcox.