Sharks

[Araby_Dog]

In one of thier conversations they mentioned the incident with the whale and the white pointers having a feed. I've always wanted to have a fish for shark but need to get rigged up for it, no doubt one you chat rats will be able to provide some insight into this down the track.

What I'd like to read about is some stories from other Ausfish junkies involving sharks.. ..close encounters, near misses, biggest ever seen.

A couple of years ago we were fishing the shallow reefs wide of 1770 (offshore paradise). There was 5 of us on a 28ft shark cat getting amongst the reefies and then the noahs moved in. One big tiger shark cruised thru at about 2-4 meters under the boat and no kidding I would estimated the fish to be 1m across the back and at least 4-5 meters long easy-eaasy!

Seeing the size of this thing made my feet cold and i found myself edging to the centre of the boat (maybe it was some self preservation thing). I look back and think my reaction was funny but there is nothing funny about something that big with teeth.

I feel for that survivor of the trawler off Dunk island and the experience he would of had. Smartest thing he did was stay with the dingy.

[bugman]

Mr Dog
I don't have too many shark stories but two stand out.
While fishing off the Gold Coast in my 5m boat we had something go come up alongside and then go under the boat. We first thought it was a small whale but it came up close to the surface and it was definitely a shark (the tail gave it away). Couldn't tell what species but it was as long if not longer than my boat.
My dad and I looked at each other for a couple of seconds before deciding we had enough fish for the day and calling it quits.
18kms off the Gold Coast in a small boat with a bloody big shark under it was one of those things that gets the hackles up on the back of the neck.

2)
While on a Kanimbla on a Swains charter out of Gladstone the deckies often do a bit of shark fishing at night out the back.
The captured a couple of bronzies that night but then pulled out the photos of previous exploits. The rear of the boat which is 6 metres across or more has a diving/launching platform on hydrolics.
They had a tiger shark which went from one end to the other that they'd caught out the back and lowered the platform under to lift up. About half a dozen guys are sitting on the thing which was about a metre high when laying flat.
Sure scared the hell out of me.
Think of the guys on that charter who had been snorkling off the back of the boat that day.
Having said that I'm against killing anything without a purpose and killing sharks as a means of sport is not up my alley.
Bugman

[Summo]

G'day Araby,
My shark story isn't anything special, but if u want some fantastic sport on light gear I can recommend shark fishing off Nudgee Beach between Feb & May each year. I live @ Shorncliffe & discovered a few years back that the smaller sharks up to a metre travel with the mullet schools that invade the sandflats. I was out in my little booker punt drifting for summer whiting when I ended up amongst a huge school of mullet. Next thing, wham bam thanku mam' & line was stripping from the Alvey like weight from an anorexic.
After feebly attempting to stop a metre shark with 4lb line, I changed reels to 8 lb. Its all I had. The next hour was pure fun. These guys r really great sport. Dancing across the surface like barra, diving, running etc etc. I can only imagine what catching bigger sharks must be like. But ya know..even tho they were small sharks, bringing 'em into the punt still raised the shackles on the back of my neck. I ended up with 5 or 6 from memory the 1st time I went out. So each year when I see the mullet starting to run down my way, I get ready for some great action shark fishing. Next year I'll try some bigger baits & see if the parents are amongst the juveniles. Since I've been doing this, not so many locals are wadding the sandflats down there. Funny that!! :-/ :-/
The added bonus is..they're great eating. Once skinned, rinsed thoroughly, semi frozen & rinsed again, the effort was worth it. Love that flake. ;D ;D ;D
When I was cleaning them in the back yard, the smell was unbelievable, http://www.ausfish.com.au/chat/images/smilies/cwm44.gifthey absolutely stink to high heavan. :P I asked the neighbour who was mowing the lawn if he could smell anything, to which he apologised for his dog, saying he didn't know what it had been eating, but whatever it was, the barkers nests were f&%^$#g horrible. I pissed myself laughing. Didn't let on bout the sharks, figured it'd be better if he stopped feeding his dog crap. ;) ;)

[clutter]

My shark story is of the close encounter type and cured me of a bad habit I had while fishing out of a small tinnie.
While fishing with my dad and a mate of mine about 20 years or so ago at Woodgate, I had the bad habit of sitting on the nose of the tinnie and dangling my feet in the water. We were fishing for mackeral and out of the blue I decided to put my feet back in the boat. No sooner had I put them on the front seat when I heard a noise in the water, looked around and saw the jaws of a bloody big hammerhead looking at me, would have been at least 12 to 13 foot long, bigger than the boat. Pretty lucky really and I can guarantee I have never done the dangling feet bit again. Mind you though, I do love scuba diving and the odd bit of spear fishing, all or nothing I guess.
Clutter.

[Summo]

g'day again Dog,
Was thinkin last nite about ya shark posting, when I remembered a funny episode last November over at North Point. We were fishing what we refer to as the coffee rocks @ Yellow Patch 4 tailor. 4 mates & me. It was just on dusk. On the other side of the reef was a guy surf fishing with an ugly stik by walking out into the break up to his neck & casting. lol
Standing in knee deep waves I saw a shadow in the water about 12 feet in front of me. I thought it was a manta ray as we'd seen several all week hanging about during the day. Still my natural instincts of fear of the dark & being in unfamiliar habitat i.e. the sea, combined to make my heart miss a beat as i retrieved my line backpeddling. Bugga me if the shadow didn't hit my bait :o :o :o So I dragged & fought this thing for 10 mins or so, until I pulled in this bloody big wobbygong shark about 4 feet long. The bastard went for my toes 1st, then my hands when I tried retreiving my gang. The mates were pissing themselves watching me do the hot shoe shuffle around this (believe it or not) thrashing mess on the beach. Anyway, I was eventually able to release it.
About 5 or six minutes later this guy on the other side of the rocks up to his waist in the surf, was screaming & stabbing the waves with his rod, like it was a sword. His arms were flailling wildly as he screamed & ran backwards stabbing the water feverishly. His female companion was running down the beach screaming etc etc. We wondered what was going on, cause we could see he wasn't in any danger..just freakin right out!!
Once outta the water, he bolted round the rocks on tip toe as fast as he could screaming about demons & prehistoric creatures. You'd swear he'd seen the monster from the black lagoon. By the time he got over to us he was white!!!..& we were in stitches ;D ;D ;D
He was an Israely backpacker not familiar with our native creatures or our language either it soon became apparent. My mate Lobby asked him what he'd seen, to which he replied a monster from the deep..so ugly..so savage..with such a huge mouth that he thought he was gonna be eaten out there. Lobby did the usual aussie thing like telling the guy it was the most feared creature from the deepest depths of the darkest ocean & that lucky his girlfriend wasn't in the water because they feed on bearded clam :o :o
"What is this thing u call bearded clam?" he asked. Well without going into to much detail u can guess how the conversation continued pmsl. 5 aussie fisherman, an Israely & a bikini girl on the beach chatting about bearded clam & the eating habits of such a savage beast.
That nite he came into our camp asking 4 a tow...flat battery..he had cooked dinner etc by headlight ??? ??? ??? ??? Driving a early 80's Jackaroo he was gunna travel right round Australia. No tools, no backup..no torch..little camping gear...I wonder how far he got? :-/ :-/ :-/ He probably perished in the outback after being attacked by an echidna or some such fearsome animal :'( :'( :'(

[mick]

just when you though it was safe to go back into the water