# NSW Longreef - Kings & Great White appearance



## garyp (May 30, 2008)

Hi All,

good numbers launched at Longy this morning (about 15 yaks total) Most of the usual suspects were out there with some familiar faces notably absent. One would include someone who shall remain nameless (lets call him MR X) who I hear was spotted fishing off a boat? Please explain 

Action was sporadic with most yakkers getting on to a Rat or two but over a very wide area. Aaron (Profish45 I think) was on his maiden voyage at Longy and desperate to secure his first King. I had plenty of Woolies squid so shared some with him. The result can be seen below. I believe he is a very happy fisherman today (except for the need to wash his brown daks - read on)















Following this action a group started to develop almost directly off the point of the headland in about 25m of Water. Micka was having a great time landing King after King on live yakkas, others were as well please forgive me for not remembering the names but I am sure there was a George in there too. I managed another 2 rats on squid and a large Sgt Baker. Micka landed a nice keeper. At this point we were all floating around and taking the odd king, spread out over about 50 meters with Aaron the most Northerly, followed by myself, Micka, George and one other (apologies again)

The next sound was a familiar one as I have heard it many times while watching the Video from last year of Karnage getting bumped off his yak. It goes a little something like "Great White Shark ... Right underneath me...5 meter Great White ... He's heading toward you..." Right about now I sense my sphincter muscle about to purge itself like a 16 year old girl after two bottles of champagne. Someone else yells "is he bullshitting?" I yell "Nah mate, I don't reckon Aarons a Bullshitter" Granted I only met him this morning but he makes a decent impression and being a Submariner I felt he was not given to panic attack - even if his voice had the pitch of a peadophile at a wiggles concert!

Micka and I made our way to each other and George and the other guy did the same. The idea being to "raft up". The call went out "Who has a sharkshield?" Turns out Aaron was the only one equipped and he was urged to join the rapidly forming flotilla. As he made his way to the middle of the two pairs of yaks a very large swirl / disturbance of the water appeared about 10 meters behind him. It did not look like it was heading for him just in the same direction. This is what the rest of us saw and the general consensus was that whatever did that was very large indeed!

We then all rafted up and sat very still for about 5 minutes, laughing nervously and wanting very much to be back on dry land. The video below does not show any footage of the animal but is a record of the time spent rafted up. Not thrilling footage but worth a look if only for the laugh. Caution bad language.






After the lapse of 5-10 minutes we all opted to head in to the beach and stick close together. Uneventful trip back save for the sharing of shark stories and "what if's?" We all stayed close to Aaron (me in particular) until we got to the reef and then made our way back in.

I will note that in no way was any aggressive behaviour displayed by the animal and there was no sense of being stalked or hunted. Nevertheless a curious Great White is still a very scary Great White and we were all very happy to be back at the Beach. Aaron is certain it would have gone longer than his yak which is 4.5 meters :shock:

The part that really sticks out is that everyone remained really calm and worked together to try and maximize each others safety. Glad to have been around such great companions and not on my own.

Back at the ramp I bumped into Rodney who had this fine specimen to show off.










All up another great day out at Longreef and I dare say another 4 potential customers at the shark shield store!

Cheers,

Gary


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## Imaddictedtofishing (Nov 28, 2007)

HOLY SHIAT! I was gonna go to longy today but dad didnt feel too good. Thank you dad  Anyway glad you guys are ok.


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

Hi Yakkers,

It was a great little session this morning good to see the guys in to the rats. There was two guest appearances today firstly george and then the great white. I didnt get a close look maybe from 10 metres away i saw the dorsal and tail fin which were approx 3 to 3.5 metres apart.I must say none of us felt at all threatened as i think the white was just cruising past wondering what we were. I know it sounds weird but in a way i kind off feel special to have encountered this beast in the wild.( as long as they are in a good mood eg dont feel like a kayaker for diner ). After the sighting we decided to call it quits which was a responsible decision made by all. Ended up yakking quite a few rats and taking home a 10kg bronze waler caught on a livie. All in all a great day which ended with everyone safely at the ramp.

Cheers MIcka


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

No visible sharks up our end of town... just the invisible ones ;-) . Gorgeous morning, flat sea & just a breath of wind.

Not much early, no keeper snapper but a couple of sampsons around 45cm. I moved out to deeper water & sporadic rats on plastics, then ran into Micka who kindly donated a yakka to my kingfish fund. I towed it around on the downrigger for about 4km without it getting eaten, then it self released & it was time to dust the jig off.

On my way to Spot X, I ran into Matty who was unsuccessfully attempting to look like he was not catching kings, so I let the heavy metal out & came up tight straight away on a 78cm model. Another 37 rats or so & a 72cm king joined the party, then Matt hooked a doozy but tragically lost it yakside. Time to go in search of pies. An excellent morning all round, Tom, you should be ashamed of yourself.


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

Well done Dave a good reward for racking up the kms.

Cheers Micka 

PS sorry for the dud yakka :lol:


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

just another standard morning at Long Reef huh?

You know why they call them Sharks?

Because its normally the first word that comes out when you see them.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhitfaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk. :shock: :shock: :shock:

glad everyone is OK. 8)


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## avayak (May 23, 2007)

Looking at the blood on your yak Dave I'd say those Shark Shields work. Were you marinating yourself?
Nice pair of fish.
Congratulations Aaron & Rodney.


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## kas (May 5, 2009)

Well done on the catch gents, was dreaming of Longy all morning but work kept on snapping me out of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (gotta get a 5 day job)
Good to see that you all made it back safely.


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## karnage (Jan 18, 2006)

wow. glad everyone nailed the kingy's and made it back. bet the hearts where racing. gotta head out now cant wait to get back and watch that vid and read more reports.
what colour skirt did tom have on?


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

karnage said:


> wow. glad everyone nailed the kingy's and made it back. bet the hearts where racing. gotta head out now cant wait to get back and watch that vid and read more reports.
> what colour skirt did tom have on?[/quote
> 
> Pink with white flowers :lol:


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## MrX (Feb 7, 2008)

OK - a trip report on the AKFF. (WTF does the K stand for again?)

Up before sparrow's for a livie session with my brand new pimped up aerated 25 litre esky. Had to brush shoulders with a bunch of mad canoe fishos, but it was worth it in the end. Bonus squiddly amongst the yakkas was the highlight.

Pimped up esky did the job, and I was picked up by a mate and his kingy-virgin son on their unblooded centre consol. All livies arrived frisky (except the inker).

Those crazy canoe blokes at the ramp are an obnoxious bunch. A few harsh words were exchanged about stinking boats vs shark tim-tams, but no blows were landed. I should have felt some sympathy for those poor guys paddling (or peddling like a bike?) those fragile little plastic boats out into the open ocean, to fish amongst the sharks. Obviously, they can't afford a proper seaworthy vessel? Never catch me out there on one of them&#8230;

Took the boys out to a couple of likely spots, and hooked up to a few massive rats. Almost ran down a couple of those canoeists (the seemed to be #@[email protected]! everywhere!), struggling to hold their spot in the wind. Never saw one hook up. Poor buggers - they'd probably tip over they anchored up. Abusive too!

A big dolphine playfully cruised under, then moved on. A few minutes later, we heard way off in the distance something that sounded like a girl's only kindergarten at morning tea. High pitched squeals and shrieks. Didn't see any canoes after that, wonder what happened to them?

All up, a great morning on the water - good company, blooded the boat, and the young fella got stuck into his first ever kings. A new addict is born.


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## MrX (Feb 7, 2008)

OK, so my pink floral skirt got badly inked stained today. But great to finally catch up with Micka, and admire his awesome livey system. He made it to longy with a massive bait-ball in a tub. Well done on the bronzie, mate!

Remarkable report Garry - sounds like a thrilling experience meeting up with Karnage's old yak cuddling buddy. I'm envious!

Congrats to Rodney on his first keeper - no need to worry about measuring that brute!

Well done to Matty as well, for not catching keepers (badly). And good to se Obi-Wan back in bloody form, after a dry patch.


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## Southerly (Apr 20, 2007)

As already said, just another day at Longy. See you all afeter Xmas.

David


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## Rstanek (Nov 5, 2007)

Spooky :shock:.

Well done to those who got fish, glad everyone made it in in one piece.


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## craig51063 (May 30, 2008)

holy crap batman

wonder if its the same shark as last year ?????? could be

craig


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

craig51063 said:


> holy crap batman
> 
> wonder if its the same shark as last year ?????? could be
> 
> craig


I wouldnt be suprised if it was what time last year did he turn up can anyone remember ?
Good to meet you as well Tom glad you also got stuck into them even if it was from a stinkboat :lol:

Cheers Micka


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## craig51063 (May 30, 2008)

rrrrrrrrrrrrr i think it was on boxing day .

craig

do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do

theme from jaws


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## craig51063 (May 30, 2008)

rrrrrrrrrrrrr i think it was on boxing day .

craig

do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do

theme from jaws


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## Cuda (Sep 18, 2006)

Good to see Karnage is itching to get out there   Onya Steve :lol:


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

Cuda said:


> Good to see Karnage is itching to get out there   Onya Steve :lol:


After seeing the big fella today i would honestly say i would not hesitate to get back out there again. I guarantee that there is big sharks close to many of us regularly and we just dont know it. I will be however investing in a shark shield because i have seen with my own eyes that they do work. Open ocean fishing with a shark shield in my view is a sensible option and i must say until today it was not something id really thought about to much. I liken it to riding a motor bike without a helmet its just not a sensible option really.

Cheers Micka


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## simond11 (Aug 29, 2005)

Although I am very impressed by the camaraderie and the fish taking ability of our brothers at Long Reef, I can't help but think that soon the high fives and back slapping will be replaced by accelerated heart beats and possibly (hopefully) a very near miss. The fact that the GWS, if it is the same one, did not show signs of feeding behaviour, does not mean it is now part of the "group" at Longy. At 5+mt, this is a very deadly shark, and a powerful force to be reckoned with. 
All I am saying is that the Shark Shields should be an absolute item, the same as a radio and a PFD. Or at least, there should be more than one of you carrying it. I fear it is only a matter of time before something goes horribly wrong. Live bait, kingfish, blood in the water, splashing....c'mon...go and pick up any shark attack book and they are the classic feeding triggers.
Let's hope sense prevails, rather than male bravado.
I just want all of us to enjoy our sport in safety and not have to read about ANY of you in the newspapers. It has now happened twice...to me that's one too many.
Merry Christmas to all.
Cheers

Simon 
Prowler 15


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

simond11 said:


> Although I am very impressed by the camaraderie and the fish taking ability of our brothers at Long Reef, I can't help but think that soon the high fives and back slapping will be replaced by accelerated heart beats and possibly (hopefully) a very near miss. The fact that the GWS, if it is the same one, did not show signs of feeding behaviour, does not mean it is now part of the "group" at Longy. At 5+mt, this is a very deadly shark, and a powerful force to be reckoned with.
> All I am saying is that the Shark Shields should be an absolute item, the same as a radio and a PFD. Or at least, there should be more than one of you carrying it. I fear it is only a matter of time before something goes horribly wrong. Live bait, kingfish, blood in the water, splashing....c'mon...go and pick up any shark attack book and they are the classic feeding triggers.
> Let's hope sense prevails, rather than male bravado.
> I just want all of us to enjoy our sport in safety and not have to read about ANY of you in the newspapers. It has now happened twice...to me that's one too many.
> ...


Well said in total agreance

Cheers Micka


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

yep, if I KNEW there was a 5 metre GWS in the vicinity then theres no way I'd be tempting fate by going out in that spot again. unfortunately, once the shark is in the area it might be a while before he leaves..

time to holster your egos and switch on the common sense radar. catching a kingy is not worth losing a leg/life over.

stay safe.


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

I have to agree with that Davey , it seems that shark has made Longy its home , i am guessing its the same one that has been there a while , i think i'd be waiting till it got a new postcode before venturing out , or carry a shark shield because they really do seem to work well


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

Davey G said:


> yep, if I KNEW there was a 5 metre GWS in the vicinity then theres no way I'd be tempting fate by going out in that spot again. unfortunately, once the shark is in the area it might be a while before he leaves..
> 
> time to holster your egos and switch on the common sense radar. catching a kingy is not worth losing a leg/life over.
> 
> stay safe.


I here you davey but large whites are commonly spotted from newcastle to woolongong. I know guys who fish maroubra and malabar and regularly spot whites in the 4 metre range with sightings at la perouse last summer also. I think its about fishing smarter as yak fishos. Dont blead your catch in the yak,no limbs over board whilst fishing,no burleying from the yak,never fish alone in open waters especially,use a shark shield, Dont fish in low light conditions, keep your yak in a sound condition. I dont think there is any way we could stop a white if he wanted us but to fish with intelligence is a step in the right direction. I think the longy guys have already learnt a lot from last years episode and i must say i havnt seen one yakker bleed his catch whilst out there this season yet.i will definately be taking a break from longy for a few weeks as knowing there is a big white there at the moment does concern me, but i also know that there is whites all up and down the coast line so in my view open water yak fishing any where is a risk especially with big sharks and especially at this time of year.
To those fishing off shore at this time of year take care out there be alert,fish smart sharks are real and they do bite, i recomend giving longy a break for a while as dave said its not worth it for a rat king is it ?

Cheers Micka


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## craig51063 (May 30, 2008)

yep the sharks are about and its a worry . stay safe and use common scence . im thinking its the same shark as last year , visiting his stomping ground .

oh have u seen this ?????????????????????

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index ... opic=45275

clontaf during the week .

craig


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## garyp (May 30, 2008)

There is a lot of sensible advice up above - the good sense of which is difficult to argue against.

Simon, I agree with the gist of your post and agree that risks should be minimized as far as possible. I want to clarify though that the jocular nature displayed in the video after we saw the shark is very much a reaction to fear and an attempt to reassure each other. I for one was certainly very nervous and, while I am aware that these guys are probably around us all the time, having seen one and been made acutely aware of its presence has severely dampened my enthusiasm for getting out there - I will be giving it a break for a while.

On shark shields: There is no doubt in my mind that having Aaron there with a SS was of great comfort to us. I certainly am leaning toward buying one after yesterday. BUT I don't know if I would go as far as saying yesterday's events are proof that the SS works (even though I practically sat on Aarons lap all the way back to the ramp). My thoughts are along these lines: Aaron said the GW swam underneath him at a depth of 2m and about 3-4 meters away. This puts it well within the manufacturers stated range of 6 meters, begging the question of wether it was actually acting as a deterrent? Again, don't get me wrong, I was very pleased to have it there, but playing the role of Devils advocate, does the fact that the 1 yak out of 5 with a SS is the one that had the closest encounter give credence to the hypothesis that SS may stimulate the curiosity of large sharks? :shock: Discuss. 

Sorry to throw the cat among the pigeons on / yakka among the kings so early on a sunday morning, but I am genuinely interested in hearing viewpoints on the above.

Gary


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## Booyah (Apr 26, 2009)

garyp said:


> underneath him at a depth of 2m and about 3-4 meters away. This puts it well within the manufacturers stated range of 6 meters,


rode

The actual specs are 3-5 meters from the center of the electrodes...this would seem to indicate that it might be closer to 3 so maybe the fishy was just swimming as close as it comfortably could?

...i wouldnt be going back for a while...one thing to paddle where there MIGHT be a shark...another thing to paddle where there IS a shark


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## paulb (Nov 12, 2006)

Relaxing on the mid north coast, I was wondering whether there would be any posts of shark sightings, as it was getting close to this time last year. Sure enough............ It does make you wonder how many more times a shark sees you, but you don't see it ???? Well done on sticking together and handling the situation well. Gary, last years Gws encounter had the shark passing by the kayaks only a metre directly below them, so 3-4 metres is definately an improvement. If the shark had come closer than that, or nudged the yak, then I'd think about getting the shield checked. Theres been plenty of examples of sharks avoiding getting close to the Ss, but I guess for the shark it's a trade off as to how much discomfort it will bear, compared to it's curiosity. 
Either way, better to be safe than sorry, I'd be giving Longy a miss for a few weeks - there's always the option of kings and bullsharks in the harbour


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## MrX (Feb 7, 2008)

I think we all have our own personal safety thresholds - some of us would happily do things others won't. I do not feel comfortable riding a pushbike on busy main roads in Sydney. Others are happy to fly down Spit Road in peak hour - good on them, they know the risks. I would not suggest to them that "riding to work is not worth losing a leg/life over..". The important thing for each of us is to understand exactly what the genuine risk is - not just the perceived risk, and whether we are prepared to accept it.

I appreciate the warnings of the dangers. It is important for all of us to be aware of the risks.

What are the risks of injury or death fishing at Longreef (or any other popular inshore fishing reef) from a kayak?

1. First, you have to drive there. You risk a car accident (granted, odds are pretty remote, but it does happen, and you can choose minimise this risk by to spend some extra $ on a 5 star car safety rating);
2. You have to get your yak on/off the roof. We have a long history on the forum of injury to backs and shoulders from yakkers undertaking this risky task. Highly unlikely to kill you though.
3. On the water, you risk being run over by a stinkboat. This could kill you. I am not aware of this happening yet - but the odds are it will happen some time, somewhere, with more careless yakkers sharing the water with more stinkboat idiots. It is a genuine risk (but the risk is probably higher inside a busy harbor or estuary than at relatively quiet inshore reef).
4. You risk your yak sinking, a lost or broken paddle, seasickness, injury, or some sort of disability preventing you from being able to paddle back in. If this happens, and you are alone, a long way from shore, unable to get yourself back in or attract attention, you could drown. This is a genuine risk.
5. You could have a heart attack while paddling your yak. (This would be bad, but worse than having one while driving your car?)
6. You could get attacked by a shark. This is a risk, and it has in fact happened.

No.6 is the risk raised again because of yesterday's shark sighting.

The perception is that being attacked is a big risk - the kind risk that can prey in the back of your mind, the one that wives, girlfriends and mums obsess over. The sort of risk that generates the perception that we are big brave testosterone pumped heroes risking life and limb hunting and gathering a feed. Or as an obscure fishing journalist once said: &#8230;"it's only a matter of time before these heroic kayakers become the bait. And being so low to the water, within the confines of kayak, with just a thin veneer between you and gnashing jaws, means there's no escape&#8230;". Or the idea that we are simply fools, for taking on such high risk activity just to catch a fish.

There is no shortage of discussions/opinions on the forum about the level of genuine risk we face from shark attack, and what you can do to minimise it. Here is a recent one: 
http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34110

Seeing a shark is different to being attacked by a shark.

Here are some boring stats about shark attacks from the scientists:
http://sharkattackfile.info/shark-attack-search-simple-1/shark-attack-file-activity-search.asp
(If you type "kayak" into the search engine, 20 of the 4,000 plus shark attack records worldwide come up.)

Yesterdays' incident won't make the stats. "Fishermen sight shark 2km offshore near big schools of pelagics" won't make the news. Mind you, it would get the adrenaline pumping, and it hammers home the fact there are indeed sharks out there - and bigguns.

True, the best way for us to minimise the risk of shark attack, is to not go out on our yaks in the first place. Or get a boat. Or wait until the kingies leave the area (Feb?), as we are less likely to encounter a shark when there are no fish around. Or to fish in the middle of the day, when sharks (and fish?) are not in feeding mode.

A shark shield is a good idea - for peace of mind (if nothing else).

And glad the shark didn't attack anybody, and handled the situation so calmly and in good spirits.

Merry Xmas.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

this shark, presuming it is Harold is a regular at Long reef and has been for years.
The fact that we haven't seen it more often is more of a surprise to me.
The regular boaties there have always commented that we will eventually come across him and they have stories of him biting the back of the boat.

I always just presume that at this time of the year he is around and the fact that i haven't seen him, doesn't mean that he hasn't seen me.

I would love a shark shield for piece of mind but K Rudd didn't put one in the budget this year. I don't think i would do any more or less with the shield but it would be reassuring.

Clovelly is fishing pretty poorly this year (one rat yesterday), so i'll be visiting Longie more than last year.
If the story from yesterday went more along the lines of: kayaks seem to be his new play thing and he went from one to the other trying to shake a meal out of it, then i would be more concerned.

One person would be scared to death at the thought of seeing a shark from a kayak. Another would pay big money to get in the water and have a good look at it.


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## worleybird (Aug 31, 2008)

Sounds like an exciting morning guys. Definitely glad you guys didn't have more of an altercation with the shark.

I gotta agree with keza. I would be scared but also stoked to see a GWS up close (once i was back and safe) and would pay to do so. As far as I can remember really there has only been one altercation between kayaks and sharks at long reef? Is that right? karnage got knocked off his yak last year. Has there been any others that have actually been harassed? It seems yesterday that a few kayakers got to see a large GWS swimming fairly close by. Not clear if he was following or even interested in the yaks. He may have been, but he definitely didn't hassle anyone. If the shark had not been seen by aaron most would not have likely known it was there and we would not be talking about how dangerous or risky long reef/offshore yakking might or might not be!

I don't think this incident can be added on top of karnage's swim last year as more evidence of the risk of attack. More evidence that they are there? yes! but the events of this time last year is enough warning to everyone that precautions should be taken where possible. this recent event will not make me reconsider offshore fishing any more than I have already. A shark shield is not an option for me financially so I won't be getting one. If I could afford it i would get one.

As for David Lockwood and his comments, he must have a problem with sea kayakers, windsurfers, ocean swimmers, surfers, offshore spear fishermen and countless other death defying sports that enter into the sharks domain for fun. I'm all for precautions but they are all trade offs with the pleasures of these sports. Surfing at dawn and dusk is more dangerous but that's when the best waves are and when most are free so many do it (including myself). Fishing offshore in sharky places has it's risks but that's also where big fish can be caught. we can limit risk by not bleeding fish, paddling in groups, having SS installed but there's still gonna be many people who continue in this sport in exactly the same way they did before these type of events. The same as when a base jumper dies on a jump it doesn't stop people from base jumping and I don't think anyone should get outraged at that.

Glad to see there wasn't any injuries and hope we're all able to avoid any in the future too!

Stephen


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## rnmars1 (Feb 21, 2008)

I've only got one thing to say about all of this - Gary, it actually measured 76cm, not 70cm !!! (hahahahaha).   

Thanks again mate for the pic - my first keeper, monumental moment for me !!!!!

Caught at the southern end of Longy on live bait (yellow tail).

rodney


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

rnmars1 said:


> I've only got one thing to say about all of this - Gary, it actually measured 76cm, not 70cm !!! (hahahahaha).
> 
> Thanks again mate for the pic - my first keeper, monumental moment for me !!!!!
> 
> ...


great work Rodney once again the livies do the trick

Cheers Micka


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## simond11 (Aug 29, 2005)

Gary
I did not even look at the video, therefore I had no idea whether there was anything "jocular" about your behaviour or not. I am sure there wasn't. All I was saying is that this has now happened twice in the same area, and I am just getting a feeling (probably a wrong one) that such sightings have become a bit "natural" and therefore a bit of a blase' attitude is developing. I am certain that none of you are trivialising the encounter, yet the idea of a larger number of you using the SS has not really developed. The SS does work, inasmuch as it "interrupts" the initial feeding response from the shark. Seeing them you always will, so long as such sightings don't translate into exploratory behaviour, such as biting and breaching. That, we certainly don't want!
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


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## garyp (May 30, 2008)

Hey Simon,

no worries. I agree with what you said. My reply is purely aimed at making sure that I don't do any of the guys that were there a disservice. If it came across as combative in any way that was not my intention.

Cheers,

Gary


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

was that a great white shark attack or an attack by some angry crows.

i heard a lot of " faark, faark, faark . "

seriously, glad no one came back with a big love bite to explain to their missus.


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## avayak (May 23, 2007)

About two months ago when the Bonito were on I caught a bonnie dispatched it, bled it, put it in my catch bag and dropped the lure back in the water. Looking down through the gin clear water I could see a bloody cloud drifting down peppered with baby slimies thrown up by the bonnie. I thought "Mmmm this is probably not a good thing to be doing". I made my mind up in that moment to buy a shark shield". I'd put it off for a long time due to the cost and the idea that a fatality was a low risk (which I still think it is) but then I thought "Hell I spend more every year on car insurance and it's just a pile of metal".
Sharks and shark attacks tap into our primordial fear of the beast. We don't like the idea of not sitting on top of the food pyramid. It is something we look at emotionally and not all the time logically.

In the workplace, safety hazards are risk assessed by looking at three factors; frequency of the exposure, likelihood of an incident and the severity of the incident.
I was still going to go fishing every week so the frequency was going to stay high, (wish I could make this higher ;-) ). The severity could range from a sighting to attack, control of that factor is left to the whim of an ancient brain. This left likelihood, a very low risk anyway if you check Mr X's stats but a factor that I could further reduce.

Risk reduction relies on a hierarchy of controls; top is to remove the hazard. (commercial fishing & shark netting does a pretty good job at this), engineering solutions (shark shield) and procedural (eg.bleed fish in a dry bag in your front hatch).

Having done this I'm satisfied that I've reduced the risks all that I can and if I manage to get my head bitten off by the gnashing jaws (by the way sharks don't gnash) you won't hear any complaints from me. 
So, Wednesday mornings looking good!


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

very well said gary thats pretty much where i stand with it all.
PS cant fish wednesday morning have to do xmas shopping :lol: and i havnt got my ss yet will have it thursday though.
Cheers Micka


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## simond11 (Aug 29, 2005)

Hey Garyp
I certainly did not see your reply as combative in the least, mate. I am just jealous you guys saw it....  
Merry Xmas to all.
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

Snappy Xmas.


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## surfersam88 (Mar 28, 2008)

hi worleybird

speaking of sharks the last time I seriously spooked myself surfing was up your way, the Boambee river mouth - do you go fishing in Boambee at all ?

surfersam


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## worleybird (Aug 31, 2008)

yeah sam, i do fish in boambee a bit. Haven't seen any sharks in there but they would definitely be in there!! I've seen a few in bonville ck the other side of sawtell.

I surf that spot in front of boambee (trappies) a fair bit and it is definitely sharky. no major encounters but there's always heaps of bait and fish there!! I've surfed there a few times in a MASSIVE school of salmon (they seem to congregate there a lot). They were so thick that they brushed my legs a few times while i was sitting on my board!! :shock: It's not very comfortable out there when it's like that, but it is often very good waves!!!

Stephen


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## profish45 (Sep 27, 2008)

wow what a rush i whould put it right up there with the rush you get from skydiving if anyone knows that feeling, i dont think i have ever froze in fear like that before in my life but at the same time it was great to see something like that so close in such clear water it felt like i could have reached down and touched it and i can tell you this i saw it coming from atleat 10 mts away and it looked so relaxed and slow and going on one path like i wasnt even there so in no way at all was i or any of the other guys its play thing or even of any great intrest i dont think as some of the other guys said its probly just that this time we saw it and all the the others we dont . if it wanted to do something it was there all it had to do was do it or even give us a bump if it was even curious but it didnt it went under me then once we had huddeled together (like a human platter with kingy sauce) it did not come back or even show it self so ?? still a great day with some great blokes hopfully we can go out again soon

nashy


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