Last year, I was surprised again when one of my birthday gifts was a signed 8x10 photo of Frank Mundus, his crew and the angler, Donnie Braddick, posing with their most amazing catch - the largest great white shark taken on rod and reel. It weighed in at a whopping 3,427 pounds and was caught in 1986 in - where else - Montauk, NY. That photo with Frank’s hand written note to me on it hangs in my home today and brings a smile to my face every time I look at it. Last year my father introduced me (by phone and email) directly to Frank while he was in his home on the "Big Island" in Hawaii just a few weeks before he was headed to Montauk for a two-month long stay to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the movie "JAWS" by taking clients out shark fishing (what else) on “The Crickett II” which had been reconditioned and brought to Montauk for this special occasion. Earlier this year, when I heard that Frank was coming back to Montauk this summer for two more months of taking clients out shark fishing, I set my sites on getting there to meet him in person to experience, first hand, the man, his boat and the enjoyment of having him share his shark fishing adventures with me face-to-face. After three months of planning, as the sun set one balmy evening in early August, I walked the docks of the Star Island Marina in Montauk Harbor and my heart started pounding as I saw “The Crickett II” docked there, a life-sized replica of that 3,427-pound great white hanging at the docks and then, Frank Mundus himself. I was seeing a living legend and I was thrilled! I walked up to him as fast as my legs would carry me and said, “Hello Mr. Mundus, my name is…” and he began laughing out loud, smiled ear-to-ear and said, “I know who you are young man, and I’ve been expecting you. How are you doing, Mr. Richard DeMarte? Come on over and grab a chair so we can talk about fishing for a while” - and that’s just what we did. For the next ninety minutes, time flew by faster than any of the thousands of fishing trips I’ve been on. It was more like a fascinating and enjoyable conversation about shark fishing than an interview. There I was sitting down with Frank Mundus and I'll remember those ninety minutes as long as I live. Frank sat down next to me as he signed one of his books “Fifty Years a Hooker” and handed it to me with a smile, slapped me on my back and said, “So let’s talk my friend. I know this is the first time you and I are meeting and serious fishermen like you know who I am and what I do for a living, so what would you like to know about me?” Richard: When did you start shark fishing and what was it like in the good old days? Frank: These ARE the good old days my young friend, and ten years ago, and twenty years ago and farther back are the good old days too. Everyone who really loves fishing knows that fishing spans generations and there are no generation gaps either. Just look at you and me. We have just a few years difference in our ages, but you know about me and my shark fishing adventures and I've heard about you and your striper fishing too. To answer your question, many years ago here in Montauk, there were many kinds of fish in these waters that were here in great numbers and no one had to go far out to sea to find or catch them either - Basically, you would just stop, drop in your lines and there they were. Richard: What attracted you to shark fishing in the first place? Frank: The best way to answer that question is for you to read that book I just signed for you, “Fifty Years A Hooker”, it's all in there. I first came to Montauk in 1951 after I had been fishing a lot in New Jersey. When I got here I first tried using chum to attract and catch bluefish, but the problem was, too many sharks came around. The chum attracted them like crazy so we decided to have some fun fishing for those sharks and we really had a great time doing it. Well, I had no idea how interested the news and magazines from all over the world would be in my shark fishing, but they were. Lots of them, from all over the world and so many countries I lost count. Before I knew it, there were articles and pictures of me, my boat and my customers plastered all over the news. That's how it all started and it just kept growing from there. Richard: How has shark fishing changed over the years? Frank: As amazing as it may be, it really hasn’t changed much over the years. If you read one of my other books, “Sport Fishing For Sharks,” which I wrote back in 1972, you'll see what I mean. Sure the equipment and electronics on boats has changed and the rods and reels sure cost a lot more money and are a lot better now, but the basics are really the same. The reason I wrote that book in the first place was because of how popular shark fishing became and since everyone wanted to know how to fish for them the right way. That book tells you how to fish for sharks, the kind of trouble you can get into when you fish for them, and how to avoid getting into that trouble in the first place. Richard: What have you learned over the years about the behavior of sharks and how have you used that knowledge to fine-tune the way you fish for them? Frank: Let me answer this one as simply as possible. In the beginning, I didn't know what I didn't know. But now I know what I don't know! Richard: It’s great to see your boat “The Crickett II” looking so good and back in action here in Montauk. What was that like for you? Frank: It’s very gratifying. Just in Montauk alone there are over 300 boats that take customers out shark fishing. The good news is that all of them have learned that catch and release is the way to go so there are very few sharks being killed and dragged up on the docks anymore. They are really amazing and beautiful animals and don't get me wrong, I still love to fish for them, but just like I wrote right under my signature in that book I handed you a little while ago, my motto now is “Jaws for Sport”. |
Richard: How has the shark fishing been for you this summer here in Montauk? Frank: It’s been great. I'm usually able to get into at least a few nice sharks for my customers nearly every day. Just yesterday we hooked into a nice thresher and it reminded me why you really need to know what you are doing when you go shark fishing. Have you ever seen the tail of a thresher flip around when that shark is fighting alongside the boat? Trust me when I tell you, that tail is all muscle and that shark knows how to use it. As we brought that thresher alongside and I was leaning over to help secure it, that tail came swinging at full speed right towards my head. You want to know how fast I moved out of his way? You can bet it was fast, but not fast enough that I got away 100% clean. See this twelve-inch long bruise along my forearm? Looks like I got run over by a truck, right? Well, that was the thresher's way of reminding me and everyone else about who the real boss is. That shark meant business and if I didn't know my way around them, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. That tail would have made its mark right on the side of my head. Richard: Living in Hawaii must be incredible. How did you decide to live there and can you tell me what it is like? Frank: It’s nice, really nice. Fifty-six to fifty-eight degrees every morning and most days, the sun comes out and it's in the eighties. It's hard to tell what month it is. It’s really beautiful all the time. Richard: Books about your life and fishing adventures like "Monster Man" and "Fifty Years A Hooker" are interesting and very entertaining. You really know how to live life to the fullest and have fun every step of the way. You also have a web-site www.fmundus.com which has two of the most amazing photos of great white sharks, the 3,427-pounder caught on rod and reel and the 4,500-pounder that you harpooned. What is the most memorable fishing trip you ever had? Frank: It’s right there hanging behind us (Frank turned and pointed to the scale model of the 3,427 great white caught on rod and reel that is hanging on display at the dock at Star Island Marina). Catching that shark was by far the best time I ever had. Richard: What is the most frightening fishing experience you've ever had? Frank: There’s really no time to be frightened, but once in a while I'll have a mate aboard who says, “That was a close one” Richard: How about the funniest fishing experience you can recall? Frank: I’ve had a lot of them. Oh boy, I’ve had a lot of them. I always tell my customers that by the end of the day, I usually find a way to be the one who always has the most fun aboard. I enjoy most of my customers, but as you will read in my book, I've also had more than a few customers that were idiots. Richard: Recently, you were a guest on The Discovery Channel's most popular series "Shark Week" where you had a chance to visit a few locations to watch great white sharks catapulting themselves airborne - completely out of the water - as they hunted down seals. Where was that and what was that trip like for you? Frank: That was a lot of fun. It’s really amazing to see 1,500-pound great white sharks come out of the water going twenty miles an hour and go completely airborne less than fifty feet from the boat. Those “jumping great white sharks” as they call them, are found in Cape Town South Africa where the water around the shoreline and a few islands where thousands of seals live, drops off very quickly into deep water. This enables the sharks to get down deep and build up a lot of speed as they rocket themselves up towards a seal they've picked out that has separated itself from all the other seals. They pick out that one seal that is by itself and come up from underneath it so fast that the seal has no idea what hit it. Further north, along the coast in Hans Bay, there are also Great White Sharks, but the water there is much shallower so the sharks can’t build up that same speed so they are not jumping out of the water there. In the Hans Bay area, the water is so shallow that the shark watchers can take you out to do what they call “Snout Touching”. They do this by hanging a big piece of meat or fish from a heavy line about twenty feet off the back of the boat and since the water is so clear, you can watch the great white come in slowly as it tries to mouth that meat and as the meat is pulled in slowly towards the boat, the shark comes up and lifts its nose up out of the water after the meat and the shark's bottom jaw swings open. Then the craziest person on the boat reaches out and touches their hand right on the tip of that shark’s snout. Now that’s sure to make your eyes bug out a bit and it sure is something most people remember for the rest of their lives. Richard: What are some of the new plans and adventures you are working on? Frank: My team and I have a few things going on. One is the possibility of a shark fishing reality show, another is a film we have underway with Sean and Brooks of www.fishinggonewild.com and we're also exploring the possibility of turning “The Crickett II” into a research vessel. All of these are works in process and keep me very busy. Richard: What’s the best way for people to get in touch with you to buy your books, signed photos and maybe even schedule a shark fishing trip with you in Montauk? Frank: The easiest way is to go to my website www.fmundus.com where you find my books, articles and photos. I can sign and mail to anyone anywhere in the world. It's also the best place to set up a shark fishing trip with me. I thanked Frank for his time and told him how much I enjoyed meeting him. As I gathered my papers, my autographed book and my thoughts, I turned back one last time and shared a smile with Frank and shook his hand. But I had no idea that during the interview, a crowd of onlookers had gathered. Quite a large crowd. It turned out that as I was interviewing Frank and focusing intently on his every word, I had no idea our entire conversation was being enjoyed by all those onlookers. I no sooner shook Frank's hand and wished him well and the crowd began closing in on Frank and as I was leaving I could hear them telling Frank how much they enjoyed hearing everything that he had just shared with me. Then all those people lined up to buy Frank’s book and ask him to autograph them too. Every one of those books signed by “Monster Man” Frank Mundus, are now another little piece of shark fishing history that each of those people have for their very own. Tight Lines, Richard DeMarte - Junior Pro Fisherman Richard@NYCTFishing.com Editor's note: Richard is one of the very few junior pro fishermen in the world, a fine angler in his own rite and a terrific young man. |
