going to play with the sharks

[jonesy]

#just finishing on the puter,missus giving me a hard time with the two finger search and destroy typeing skills,reconds iwill need to buy anew key board soon. ::)nothing on the idiot box either
#so had quick look at the tide chart ,tide should peak around 9.45 at colleges, tide is an intermediate in height 1.69mtr at the brissy bar should =small amounts of floating weed was a nice warm day today so i recon the bities should be on the job ;D ;Dgiveing the bony bream and mullet a touch up 8).
# nothing like seeing a bow wave zero in on your livebait,you can allmost hear the jaws music playing 8) ;D.then a screeming drag #;)
#
#jonesy

[Fisherman02]

hey man
I live in Highgate hill and fish down at the brisbane river. I'm intrested in fishing for sharks could ya give me some advice on what accessories and equipent to buy?

[jonesy]

ok fisho 02
first let me say that bull /river whalers are not that difficult to catch if you have the correct bait, location,tide .
next a warning if you dont have alittle comitment and intestinal fortitude to handle a shark correctly then i would not recomend that you fish for them .they are extremly strong for there size,and the only fish i know of that can bite you whist hold the tail wrist .as shark don't have a hard skeleton ie bone they are very flexable.
I grab them at the dorsale fin and then work my way forward to the head and get a good grip .also is always good to work with a friend you grip the shark and your mate removes the hook .
warning only remove ahook if you have apair of long nose pliers i use one of those decky multi pliers about 250 long has crip built in side cuter hook eye opener etc avery handy tool.only remove hooks if they can be easily removed ie (corner of jaw lip hook or the occasional foul hook) NEVER GO FUTHER INTO THE MOUTH TO REMOVE HOOKS as you bring fingers to close to snapping jaws and you donot want go to hostpital to have them reatatched. :o
and your mother may put an end to your fishing days ::)
and we both know what mothers are like in regaurd to any thing remotely dangerious .IF IT LOOKS RISKY IT PROBABLY IS SO CUT THE HOOK FREE ,rigs are cheaper to make and cost less than doctor bills

I use 2200mm spin rod a lite estuary rod should do the trick ,a spin reel with bait runner capablity (not nescesary but has amulitude of uses) and should hold 200m of 5/6 kg line( on the odd ocastion some un stoppables come along and take your bait thats why 200m of line)as arule the sharks only take short runs 20/50 mt depending on it's size and give in easlily
i use four rod lengths of 30lb shock leader to a cross lock snap for ease of changeing rigs the shock leader is tyed to the main line via a double either bimminy or spider hitch (iprefer the spider hitch is easy to tye in the dark),the rig is 60lb nylon coated wire( multi strand)hooks are gamagatsu 8/0<10/0 octopus ,depends on bait size.I prefer two hook rigs for live and dead baits and single for flesh bait.currently i use floats on all my rigs keeps bait from being molested from vermine, you will still catch huge catfish ;Dand worse eels :'(
the rig is constructed number 10 or8 swivel 800 nylon coated wire (use flemish eye knots and crimps)tye wire to swivels one at either end of the trace then put trace aside ,cut off 300 mmof wire tye hook to wire useing flemsh eye and crimp, useing flemish eye tye the tag end to the swivel in the center of the tag and then crimp tye your last hook to the remaining tag and if all is well you should have the hooks should hang at the same length.(most of the rig i lifted from geoff wilsons book fishing knots and rigs very handy book to have ) ;Dhope that was ok to mention moderators ;D ;D
ok now iprefer to fish last two hours of the flood and the first two hours of the run out ,iprefer intermediate high tides with out to much flow and at night or just after dusk ,haveing wrote that i have caught them at all stages of the tide but dusk and dawn tend to stand out when coinsiding with correct tide.
Bait can't go past live mullet any size will do from poddys to the big torpedo shaped numbers will get nailed with gusto.
also mullet flesh( strip bait)works well next would be live boney bream you will need to cast net these .then the humble catfish if all else fails :( (try and steer clear of the spines ) , with these keep one hook close to the tail and the other behind the dorsale or near the gut ,sharks don't like spines and tend to bite the gut area /tail first and leave the rest.
locations anywere with a good population of bait fish is the place to start looking ,be on the look out for rippled water in back eddys, small creek mouths,at night lites on the water ,attract baitfish and there predators won't be far behind .give the william jolly bridge agofrom kuripa park also under the south east freeway the rements of the old wharf are still there ithink fish your baits into the light of the bridge actully that area along kanga clifs should be fairly good also lots of large rocks old piles etc in the water give bait somewere to hide ;).anywere from bremmer river to the old weir has good numbers as well .
don't expect to catch one on your first outing it will take time as you will soon learn were to find live bait in your area and can also find predators near by. be aware there is also an undesirable element walking the streets in that part of town especially at night ,no doubt you are aware of this .with that sobering and unfortant last remark itis a blight on our society that a bloke can 't go for a quite fish with out haveing to look over his shoulder .

.good luck jonesy

.

[jonesy]

re read my original post balssed up again ::), :-[you can expect aprrox 3 hr delay in tides from bris bar to colleges.

jonesy

[Fisherman02]

Fantastic man! ;)
Sounds like great fun ummmmmmmmm if I were to use a 15kg platypus line (I won it in the ausfish competition ;D) Would that be more then enough to handle most of the sharks?
Also I fish off a pier i.e couple of cm above the water basically floating would a gaff be necessary?
As i'm 15 and only get 5 dollars a week then i'm trying to keep my gear to the absoulute minimum.
Cheers jack

[jonesy]

hi fisho 02

yes you should be able to skull drag ;Dmost fish in the river with 15kg main line ,I use 7 kg Penn 10/10 line has unbeliveable abrasion restance ,although you do trade off some line memory/suppleness.ithink the manufacturing process adds some kind of hard coating to the mono.Iam sure someone else knows more than me about mono construction.

You will need to construct or purchase a wire trace as the sharks teeth will cut through 100lb mono like butter :o

Unless you intend to eat the shark :-/ iwould not recomend useing a gaff ,you will damage the shark in some way or even leave it to die an agonising death even though it may swim off strongly.

the length of the trace should be about 1000mm .I have found this length to be goodfor haulling fish aboard ,and keeping snapping jaws from toes. ;)

just had a thought i saw a couple of clark 3.66mtr flat bottom punts at stones corner marine on the weekend ,they wanted $450 each but they are a bit beaten up and i belive the staff could be talked down to a more realistic price.

jonesy

[Fisherman02]

hey thanks man
really helpful! I'll see if I can get a wire trace then
thanks again jack