Mr. Banks and Frank Mundus Go Fishing

Frank Mundus

This piece first appeared in the March 2, 2022 issue of the  Fredericksburg Standard.

Charles Banks once hung a 620-pound tuna outside his club in Harlem for three days.

He did things like that.

And, given his connections, very few people had the courage to tell him not to do such.

Mr. Banks, as he was known, was an avid big game hunter, shark fisherman, and social club owner from Harlem. He and his odd displays of game animals and game fish were first detailed in the Daily Post and later in shark fisherman Frank Mundus’ book Fifty Years a Hooker.

NOTE: Frank Mundus was the man who inspired the character of Quint in Jaws. He was quite possibly insane and one hell’uva character.

Back to Mr. Banks…

 Mr. Banks often fished with Mundus and during that time proved himself to be a great sportsman. The first time he fished with Mundus was in 1960. The trip was short-lived however as Mr. Banks landed a 150-pound blue shark at 10:30 in the morning. This excited him greatly and he couldn’t wait to return home with his catch. He told Mundus of his boat, “Head this thing for Brooklyn. I want to get this shark hung up in front of my social club before dark. So, let’s get back to the dock as soon as we can.”

Mundus obliged and a 300 pound “associate” of Mr. Banks hefted the massive predator into the back of his Cadillac.

Mundus told Mr. Banks, “You’ll never get that fish smell out” of his associate putting the shark in the trunk.

Mr. Banks replied, “That’s all right. This is my fishing Cadillac. I have two Cadillacs. The good one is at home.”

Mr. Banks returned to Harlem where he hung the shark from a custom made “big game frame” that stood before his club.

Mundus got to see this frame and the club it stood before years later when he visited Mr. Banks while attending the New York Sportsman’s Show. Mundus detailed that the club was private and that members had to pay a $100 membership to have access.  Alcohol wasn’t sold – that was against the law – it was given away. There was a .22 caliber shooting gallery in the basement, a loaded shotgun in every corner, and a shotgun blast one of the walls.  Mundus asked if the blast hole resulted in anyone getting shot. Mr. Banks smiled and replied, “Don’t know, he jumps out da window.”

Mr. Banks said of the game frame out front that he had hung deer, a bear, a 1,450-pound bull moose, and a 450-pound dusky shark he had caught with Mundus upon it for display. Mr. Banks left his kills hanging until the smell proved too much or, in the case of his tuna, only after the city could get an injunction against him that forced him to take it down.

 Mr. Banks’ last trip with Mundus was an event that made the news for a lot of crazy reasons. Mundus got word in 1978 that there was a great white shark, “up the river, past the Atlantic City bridge, inside the inlet.” Mundus had the shark baited for three days straight and each day the massive bait was taken. Mr. Banks said he wanted that shark and he’d pay a $10,000 bonus if the shark was landed. Mundus agreed but told Mr. Banks he’d need a white goat for bait. Mr. Banks bought a goat for $35 and met Mundus in Atlantic City. Mundus arrived to find a circus as someone had tipped off the press to the shark hunt. In addition to Mr. Banks and the goat, the dock was crowded with people wondering if there really was a great white in the mouth of the river and to complain about a live goat being used as bait. The fishing team ignored the crowd and headed out with the goat tied to the deck of Mundus’ boat. The idea was to find the shark then throw the goat over as live bait (Mundus never explained where he’d run the hook through the goat). This never came to fruition as they fished for five days with no sight of the shark. Mundus awoke the last day of the trip to find that the goat had eaten its way through his rope and eating most of the fishing line on the deck.

Mr. Banks accepted the loss and returned to his club never to fish with Mundus again.

Mundus died of a heart attack on September 10, 2008.

No one is sure what happened to Mr. Banks.

The goat was stolen after Mundus returned home.

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