Surprise awaits at end of line

We were night fishing at Sebastian Inlet. It was just the girls as Mr. Harris was sulking around the campfire feeding mosquitoes or soaking up air conditioning in the RV. We didn't know or care because we were busy trying to land the big one.

The youngest Harris and I were the extent of the Harris & Co. fishing team this night and she was desperate to catch something big like the boys near us. They had landed several snook, about 30 to 40 pounds each.

"I want to catch a snook," she asserted. "Or maybe that shark!" She pointed to a small hammerhead patrolling the clear waters rushing under the bridge.

"Oh great," I replied. "Well, they can help you get it off your line if you catch it!"

Fishing continued when lo and behold, here came Mosquito Man. This is what we began calling Mr. Harris due to his new-found ability to draw every mosquito in Melbourne Beach.

"I caught a catfish and a pigfish," the youngest Harris declared, "Now I want to catch a shark."

"A shark," he replied, surprised, since he hadn't been with us to observe the 18-inch hammerhead swimming around our lines. We were filling him in on all he had missed, including our playing musical rods. She had lost her line earlier, so I gave her my pole, which naturally meant I needed to use Mr. Harris' rod. I was busy explaining this when it happened.

"I got something big," she squealed. She fought it as our helpful snook fishing buddies took a look over the bridge to check things out. "Don't drop my pole," I begged, urging her to hang onto it.

Snookboy and his sidekick sprung to action. "Whoa, it's a shark and a big one," he exclaimed as she worked to reel it in. Mr. Harris was going to assist, but I insisted not.

"Let her do it, it's her shark," I admonished him. I was still thinking she had the little hammerhead on her line.

She reeled as Snookboy instructed. He had her guide it to a basket and I was supposed to pull it up onto the bridge so us girls could do it all ourselves. "Oh my gosh, I can't do it," I declared, laughing, my arms too weak for the effort. Mr. Harris jumped into action and the three men got the shark up to the decking. Snookboy worked the net from the shark as the shark tried to work its teeth into Snookboy.

"Whoa," his sidekick swooned. "Did you see it bite down on the edge of the net?" We had. "Watch out," Snookboy warned Mr. Harris. "They can turn all the way around and bite their tails or you, if you're in the way."

Snookboy held the beast for our young lady as it was just too heavy and powerful for her to manage. We took pictures and marveled over its beauty. "Nurse shark," Snookboy's sidekick informed. "Did you catch that on the pigfish?" he asked her.

"Yep, just like you said, I used it for bait."

"That's incredible," he marveled.

The shark was sent back to sea, unharmed. The guys were amazed she had caught a 4½-foot shark on monofilament line and a circle hook. "No wire, can you believe it?" they asked each other. They were astounded and she was delighted.

Best of all, we were all together when it happened. "Just think," I reminded Mr. Harris, "you might have missed this if you had stayed back at camp." "Yeah," he agreed, "but then who would have fed the mosquitoes?"