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Lights! Camera! SHARK! Remembering Frank Mundus
- Stephen Gould
- Sep 15
- 1 min read
50 years ago the iconic American summer movie Jaws was released, directed by the renowned filmmaker and East Hampton resident, Steven Spielberg. Based on Peter Benchley’s best-selling book of the same title, the movie follows "Quint," a salty Captain Ahab-esque shark hunter onboard his fishing boat Orca. Although the shark-hunting movie was set in New England, Benchley’s book was set in a fictitious Long Island fishing town called “Amity” located between Bridgehampton and East Hampton. The book's main character, “Quint,” may have been inspired by Montauk fisherman Frank Mundus (1925–2008).
Mundus moved to Montauk in 1951 and later started what he called "Monster Fishing," looking for big fish, like the Great White Shark. He is credited with catching a 3,427-pound Great White with a rod and reel about 28 miles off Montauk! Already a colorful and popular figure, Mundus claimed that his fishing exploits captured the imagination of Peter Benchley. Never shy, when Mundus was asked. “What did you think about the movie Jaws?” he replied, “It was the funniest and the stupidest movie I've ever seen because too many stupid things happened in it.” After a long career of fishing aboard his boat Cricket II, Mundus retired to Hawaii in 1991, where he died on September 10, 2008.
Great White Sharks are still regularly seen off Montauk Point. As recently as April 2025, a Great White was sighted off Ditch Plain Beach. Just when you thought it was safe….
