THIS story is part two of a series about the Mitchells, an early Port Stephens fishing family.

COLIN Mitchell joined his father Alf in 1950 seine trawling and prawning in Stockton Bight on board ‘Girl Pat’.

One day author, adventurer and pioneer game fisherman Athel D’Ombrain joined Colin and Alf on board.

“We were seine trawling and dad and I didn’t know at the time that he (Athel) was intending to set a world record for a huge shark,” Colin said.

“Giant sharks surrounded the boat on many occasions particularly when the fish that we had caught were brought to the surface.

“They would rip into our nets resulting in gaping holes and lost catches.

“To put it bluntly they were a bloody nuisance.”

Given the amount of sharks present, Colin said Athel “could pretty much select the shark that he wanted to catch”.

“He hooked one, which wasn’t hard to do, and sat and played this monster thing for hours while we continued to work.

“He got in our way a couple of times until finally the shark was brought alongside.

“As we did with sharks, I picked up the .303 and shot it.

“Athel was horrified as the potential world record floated limply on the end of his line.

“For some reason he didn’t speak to us again.”

By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE