b'Shark tagging in the surf.get eaten by the shark, as he famously told this writ-er, back in 1987. The year before, aboard the famed Cricket, he and fellow Montauk fisherman Donnie Braddockreeledina3,427-poundfemaleGreat White off Long Island, following a three-hour fight, 28 miles offshore. The catch set the world record for the biggest fish of any kind caught on rod and reel, a record that stands to this day. Years earlier, in the morenotoriouseraofMundusstoriedcareer,he caughta4,500-poundGreatWhitebyharpoon,a method that has since been outlawed.PeterBenchleyneverpubliclyacknowledgedthat Frank Mundus was the character model for Quint, but you would nary find a single voice close to either of them who would deny it. From his personality to his fishing tactics, to his stories at sea and even the annoying habit of scratching his nails on a chalk-board to get your attention, much of what Frank did in real life, so did Quint in Jaws. Not to mention the fact that Benchley went shark fishing with Mundus on more than one occasion, while he was writing the book! Mundus never made a big deal of it and nev-er made any claim for money or gratitude. He didnt have to. Frank Mundus was a poor kid from Brooklyn who made millions taking the rich and famous out to fish. He was a happy man.Later in his career as a guide, Mundus was one of the first to shift to catch-and-release of sharks, even in-venting a special circular hook that was more difficult for the fish to swallow during the fight, increasing its odds of survival. He despised the droves of unscru-pulous amateurs who swarmed Montauk for shark fishing tournaments, especially disgusted with seeing dead sharks piled up in garbage dumpsters at the end of the weekend. Of greatest irony, Frank Mundus, the monster shark hunter who was fictitiously eaten by his prey in one of the biggest movies of all time, had become a practicing proponent of their conservation.In 2022, Steven Spielberg told the BBC that he re-grets that the film that made him a household name sparkedaspikeinsharkfishingthathebelieved threatened its populations around the world. Thats one of the things I still fear. Not to get eaten by a 102THECOASTALBENDMAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'