Bull Sharks above Mt Crosby Weir?

[Dart_Raider]

Hi all,
A mate and I were fishing out of kayaks in the river above Kholo crossing yesterday and right on dusk whilst negotiating some rapids, my buddy saw and heard what he thought was a large tail fin thrashing in the water. The river was teeming with life - garfish, mullet, lungfish, platypus etc....I asked him if it was a mullet jumping out of the water and he assured me it wasn't.
As many of you will remember, last year a race horse being swum through the river at kholo was dragged underwater by what was speculated to be a large bull shark....what I want to know is whether any of you ausfishers have seen or caught any of these guys in the river above Mt Crosby Weir???
Any input would be appreciated!!
For the record we caught one bass and 3 spangled perch....not a great haul but it was worth it for the scenery!
Cheers, Simmo

[turley]

I wouldn't expect it as the mt crosby weir is how old? If the sharks were there, they must have been there from construction because as far as I know there has never been a flood large enough for bass to swim upstream so I wouldnt' expect bullsharks to get upstream! There are some monster catfish in that river though....

Perhaps sending an email to someone at UQ as I know they have done extensive electro fishing in the river in times gone buy and, alot of work has been done on bullsharks by some of the members there.

[Dart_Raider]

Hey Turley I've just finished doing a zoology degree at UQ....we covered bull shark's extensively in my physiology class....but there was never any mention of them above College's Crossing.....that's why I'm so intrigued to find out whether anybody in ausfish land has seen/heard of/caught bullies beyond the barrier at Mt Crosby!

[efc]

I highly doubt that sharks would be up that far. The story about the horse was an exaggeration according to informed sources.

[mylestom]

Born and raised in the area and never heard of any above the weir.

However always been heaps at the crossing. The old fellows in 50s and early 60s even caught a few with those explosive sticks. Till they blew the boat up.

Never heard of anyone being attacked at crossing. We swam the horses there in the 50s and 60s with no problems.

Trev

[SeaHunt]

I thought the horse that got bit was at the the boat ramp at Karana Downs.
Below the weir.
I was at Colleges crossing the last time the flood gates on Wivenhoe were opened in about 2001.
The water was rushing through covering the road by about 10 metres.
So it would have also been flowing straight over the top of the weir.
I suppose a shark who was a really strong swimmer and loved fresh water could have made it over.
I doubt it though.

[Canoedle]

Kholo creek perhaps?
I'd be very surprised if any sharks got up there mate.

[Bris_Vegas]

Yeah id have to say no.
I have seen them (when there was more water) once up to the weir. But they would have no way if trversing it.

At dust a large lungfish or a giant catty i could easily understand being mistaken for a bully though.

Angus

Oh also i am positive the horse that got mauled was in the Bremer. so no walls or weird inhibiting it getting up there.

[shayned]

Angus is right, definetly at Ipswich for the horse, a lady got bitten at Kholo some time after the horse incident.

[Fitzy]

Have seen 2 above Kholo while snorkelling. Was several years ago now, but if I've seen 2, there must be more.

In nomal conditions thay cant get past Mt Crosby weir, but in a flood event they easily could get past the weir.

Cheers,

fitz..

[Dart_Raider]

Very interesting Fitzy!! Thanks for that, and to everyone who has contributed so far!! If not for one thing my mates and I had observed in the past, I would've definitely concluded that what my mate witnessed the other day in the gloom was a mullet jumping....or something equally mundane!
We used to fish alot off the bank at Karana Downs (just below College's) in a stretch where the river narrowed such that rapids formed. On more than one occasion we saw Bull Sharks actively hunting mullet/gar in these shallow waters, almost certainly because the prey were concentrated in a shallow, turbulent stretch of water, where they could be easily ambushed.
So that's what tweaked my suspicions about this latest experience.
cheers, simmo