# what shark experiences have you had



## Fishing Man (Oct 4, 2006)

hey guys,

bit of a different one, not sure if there has already been a thread on this so here goes,

what experiences have you had with sharks whilst yak fishing, can be anything from catching them to sigtings, attacks, and locations,


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Have not caught one from a kayak yet. Probably will though :lol:

Cheers Andybear :lol:


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## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

Caught a coupla little reefies once - good fight. Was getting ready to bring it on board and it broke the line...probably for the best :lol: Haven't seen any big ones yet - positive they've seen me though...


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## Yakabe (Dec 16, 2005)

Back in February, was heading out to the Wallaroo (South Australia) jetty. I went underneath and on the other side was a shark. Not certain what type, did not stick around. In hindsight, I don't think he was very big, but I was not really interested in finding out.

Just remember, if you spend enough time on the water, chances are you may see one. I hope the SS investment was worth it.

Yakabe.


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## Magicrik (Jul 12, 2006)

Ive not had any experiences with sharks as ive only stayed in the river for now. But thats not to said i wouldnt see a shark in the river.

But this poor guy knows first hand what a shark can do.......a friend sent me this pic


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

I think that's Troppo after he got done sawing his foot out of his kayak :roll:


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

Fishing man, caught a few and seen a few. Not been bitten so all is well.

Catch ya Scott


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## Russ (Feb 24, 2006)

:lol: :lol: :lol: HA Ha Dougy got ya good Troppo :lol: :lol:  Good one Doug :wink:

 fishing Russ


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## Les Lammers (Nov 9, 2005)

DGax65 said:


> I think that's Troppo after he got done sawing his foot out of his kayak :roll:


Yeah, and I hear W, our Pres was handling the saw. He's mucked up a lot.

I think I have seen that pic and it was a Great White that nibbled. Personally, I do not worry about sharks. Not only do I have poor taste, I taste bad too!

I was fishing in the Everglades a couple of days ago. I saw some nice Tarpon rolling and did not think much about it. Then, 'fish on' drag is screaming. A few seconds later a Tarpon with a head the size of a basketball shoots up. My buddy yells, is that you? I say no, it's not me. it's on my line. Tarpon takes off like a train and I am almost spolled. Leader broke and game is over. 14lb test and a 2500 size reel was not a match for the Silver King. No pics, happened too fast. I do have some soiled shorts.....

A few minutes later my buddy gets a big catfish (trash fish here). As he gets it near the yak a good size Bull Shark takes the body and leaves him the head. The same think happened at Flamingo, another spot in the Glades a few weeks ago. A yako had a Snook yakside, his fingers in the Snook's mouth, and was removing the hook. A Bull came and got a free lunch. Fuzzy got soiled shorts. The new trophy for yakos. Moral, I will always use a fish grip and keep an eye out for Jaws when de-hooking.


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## Magicrik (Jul 12, 2006)

great litttle story Les Lammers......I to ALWAYS use lipgrips and needle pliers to remover hooks on the yak........from the bank i use my jacko clove


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## Y-Knot (Sep 26, 2006)

personally, i just wont be thinking about the buggers ... :shock:


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## Geejay (Sep 26, 2005)

Haven't caught any yet. So happens your eyes probably only get the chance of seeing the bigger buggers and to date l have seen 2 conformations.

One was when l was actually beach fishing with a surf rod in off blue water but in thigh deep from the shore. The scenario still amazes me; pararell to the shore guilding past in crystal clear and calm water came what WAS a 4m+ whaler. l actually poked it with the tip of my 3.5m surf rod. It calmly changed direction to deeper waters.

The second encounter happened whilst l had a spottie mackerel close to the yak. l spotted 3 fins on the top of the water about 40m further out. Consequently, l cut the line, however, l was thankful that the shark kept its direction at all times. I felt good seeing that it did do this, l would estimate it as being b/w 3-4m in lenghth (another big bugger).

More recently, l have seen on 2 seperate occasions a large dorsal fin pop out of the water. I have put them down to a couple of small whales (perhaps pilot whales). Thats if they venture in Qld waters.

GJ


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## yakfly (Jun 8, 2006)

havnt had any shark encounters in the canoe over the years but we had a tiger shark come up and nibble on the prop while fishing in the tinny just out off Mackay about 15 years ago


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## Magicrik (Jul 12, 2006)

yeah sharks like the props......theres post all the time on loads of diff forums talking about shark playing with the props


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

Rik, the reason sharks chew on props is due to the Galvanic (I think thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s how it is spelt) reaction. Two or more dissimilar metals when immersed in water create a mild electronic field. As sharks are incredibly sensitive to electronic fields due to their ampoules (again I think that is how you spell it) of Lorenzini they can detect these fields and it encourages them to have a bite. In actual fact that is how a shark shield works as it provides an intense electronic shock to the shark's ampoules of Lorenzini which distresses them.

Catch ya Scott


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## Billybob (Aug 29, 2005)

Couple of times I've had them come close to getting my catch but in both cases they've veered off when they saw the hull of the yak.
Paddled past a few, had one absolute monster swim under me (out on Jew Shoal... he was a good 4 metres+) and caught a few (max 5ft) trolling.
Biggest one I hooked and lost was roughly 2.5 metres. It was very early in the morning on the edge (magicrik) of Little Hall's Reef... there's quite a few in that area so bear that in mind. They're not a problem but I don't dangle my feet over the side when I'm fishing Little Hall's.


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## Magicrik (Jul 12, 2006)

Re: Scott mate this post like what do they call it day sha vuw are what ever the spelling is who cares its french. but i told some guys exactly the same thing you just told me look.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1150769437

i didnt know the name for the pits in there noeses so i googled it......made me sound a hell of a lots smarter :wink:


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## troppo (Feb 1, 2006)

I have not seen any sharks from my yak. [oh, I had a great laugh from those posts earlier about the pic of the guy with almost not legs left and me and the chainsaw. Awsome humour fellas!]

Many years back me and some mates were camped on Great Keppel Island, the other side to the resort. (Can't do that now.) We had a small dingy that we brought over. Rick rowed right out to sea as we could see schools of bait and birds diving. Later he walked into camp as white as a sheet and behaving really strange. He said he had almost got to the school and a shark which he thought was 3x the length of the boat (2 m) came up beside the boat, rolled over so it could lookat him through one eye, then slowly sank down out of view. He wasn't game to move when it was eyeing him, but when it went so did he. But some others came near so he stopped, then he just went for it. He didn't bother reeling in his lure until he had dragged the boat about 100 m up the beach. Later we saw the island tourist boat come in. It had the boom nets out with people hanging off them in the water. This was when I panicked and wondered how we could warn the people to get out of the water. I was scared about it. We couldn't do anything and nothing happened (or has ever happened) to the bait being dragged in the water, I mean the tourists hanging on the net.


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## Les Lammers (Nov 9, 2005)

I see them frequently. Usually small ones chasing food on the flats. I have seen aerial photos taken off the beaches here and there were plenty of sharks visible. *I* don't worry about them but am careful, as stated in an earlier post, about de-hooking yakside. My theory is that the fish on your line attracts sharks and you could get nipped at that time.

More people die in auto accidents etc.


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

A few years ago, my buddy and I paddled out in Laguna and decided to troll our route contouring about 100'. Not 5 minutes into it, FarmerSean gets a knockdown and pulls up a beautiful scale model thresher. It was about 20# and really cute. That day produced 4 more t's to about 100#. I got 3 that day, Sean got 2. Well since that day we've run into them occasionally, but it seems like that year's cycle really had them stacked up tight. Lie we paddled into a nest.

Another day, we were out around 100' again, drifting, and I saw a big boil around my mackerel. Then I see my mack get batted clear of the water with the hook in his nose. I thought here we go, and was ready. Sean paddled away at an oblique angle trolling a plug. He got hit immediately and 2 hours and 3 miles later....









Right after this pic it sounded straight down into the mud. Sean winched it up and it's entire head, to the pecs, was covered in mud. It was dead or near dead, so it went home for processing.









That's the shark experience for me. Many threshers over the years caught on bait, spoons, plastics, and plugs and sometimes just dead-stick lures. Maneater sharks aren't common here, but the whites are around.

Z


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## troppo (Feb 1, 2006)

Zed, great story and pics about that big fishy. Very impressive!


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## vertigrator (Jul 25, 2006)

No yak shark experiences. But last summer when I was fishing the rock ledge at Clifton Beach near Hobart I spotted a shark about 2m long cruising right along the edge of the rocks. I could have touched it with my rod tip.

Then a few days ago this little white (2.5m) gets stuck in a professional fishermans net 500m off Clifton Beach. So maybe it's the same one grown a bit more over the year.

Clifton Beach is a popular surf beach down here, so the surfers are probably going over them without even knowing it.


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

Vert, what a shame to read about that poor little White. I would much prefer it to still be out there where it belongs rather than dead on the beach due to a net. More proof (not that we needed any) that all inshore netting must be banned. When it kills endangered species something needs to be done.

Catch ya Scott


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## Les Lammers (Nov 9, 2005)

Here is an article about Gators, Sharks and yaks.

http://www.topkayaker.net/Articles/Natu ... sharks.htm

Being a Manly Man, I just cry for Momma, wet my pants and they go away. They do not mess with the mentally disturbed. :wink:


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## troppo (Feb 1, 2006)

Good article, Les. Very interesting.


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## Kevin (Aug 29, 2005)

Just got back from a short trip to an oilrig off Karratha (north WA). Very fishy place, however contractors not allowed to fish due to the high incidence of injuries when dealing with large fish.

There were a ton of sharks cruising around, whalers 2m+ and some hammerheads. The crew (who are allowed to fish) reckon that they can usually get a mackeral or two up on deck before the sharks move in abd make it impossible to get a whole fish out of the water. Could you imagine being in a yak in these type of waters trying to bring a fish on board with a shark frenzy surrounding you.


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## troppo (Feb 1, 2006)

Kevin said:


> Could you imagine being in a yak in these type of waters trying to bring a fish on board with a shark frenzy surrounding you.


No no no NO, I definately do NOT want to imagine me in my little yak on the big ocean feeling very small while huge sharks churned the water around me trying to grab my tiny pilchard with their monster mouths filled with massive sharp cutting teeth. Ahaggghhh, too late I have imagined it!!! Aghereaerehhhhhhhhhhhh!


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