# Queens beach shark encounter 11/5/2009



## madkeenfisher (Jul 24, 2008)

Hey all

Just a quick report from this mornings outing off queens beach. Headed out just after day break with a fresh southly wind around 15knots. Headed out over some new ground that I have been fishing the past few times ive been out. After a short 10 minute paddle out I anchored up and started my burley trail. The sounder was going nuts so decided to change the beam setting to narrow to try and shut it up, no luck. The sounder was going crazy. Dropped the first half pilly straight below the yak as the area is pretty reefy and have found this the best wayt to bait fish the area. Just as I baited up the second line the 1st one hooked up. 15cm snaps. 1 after another i was catching these little fellas. After about 1hr of catch and release I finally managed a pretty decent hookup. After a short dog fight I relised that this fish wasn't going to break any records. As i looked down under the yak to look for some coulour i thought i saw a big shadow. HOLY F..k! it is a shadow and before i new it the big shadow below me decided it wanted the pan sized snapper more than me. Without any warning my 20lb outfit tookoff back under the yak and nearly tipped my overboard. Before I knew it the 8kg berkley dropshot rod was being dragged under the yak when bang! Fucking rod snapped in half and i ended up with the other half smack bang in the middle of the forehead. Didn;t manage to get a good look at the shark to id him but im 6 foot 2 and i reckon he must have been all of 6+ feet long. With my heart jumping out of my chest and not too many boats around out came the paddle and i cleared out pretty quickly. I paddled back towards the carpark trolling a pilly for another half an hour before deciding to call it a day around 7:30am. 1 shook up bloke and a broken rod wasn't how i planned to start the week.

cheers

mad


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## baitwasta (May 24, 2007)

bloody scary stuff mad, could happen anytime, don't dwell on it but mate, probably won't ever happen again - what's the odds next time you'll bag out on a perfect sea.... we live in hope..... cheers JohnO


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## eth93 (Dec 17, 2007)

If I saw a shadow that big I would be needing new undies. He was probably just after an easy feed, that's what I would be telling myself :lol:

I've been spotting little black tip sharks (I'm pretty sure there shark fins, I think there black tip sharks) on almost every paddle I've been on recently, it looks like there sunbaking and theirs always a couple of them. The First time I spotted these things I had a fairly large fin follow me halfway back to the beach. Whether this was a dolphin or not I'm unsure as I wasn't hanging around to find out, but it took of with a splash. :shock:


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## rob316 (Oct 2, 2007)

its quite nerve reacking isn't it !!...especially when out alone....thats one reason i use plastics and don't burley....i just don't want to give them any more an invitation - a struggling fish is enough - let alone warning them that you are there by using berley.....but hey , a hell of alot of others burley and use real bait.....but my way is a good plaecebo for the physc..!!


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## silver19 (Mar 12, 2009)

Think I will stick to the freshwater :shock:


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## Seasquirt (Jul 17, 2007)

Scary at the time I know. I have had one major encounter in 30 years where Mr sharkey who was bigger than my ski at the time just wanted to nose around and nothing more. Seems like yours though had a taste for some Snapps. Glad you lost nothing more than a busted rod and a few " heebe jeebies ". 
Get out there again soon, catch some fish and beat that critter with your mojo.

Cheers
Pam

p.s.: eeeep !!! easier said than done, just do it. They don't hang around for long in one area.


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## riv (Aug 13, 2008)

Mate you must have puckered rite up when the shadow appeared, i would be hitting the shore at about 30 knots.


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

No, I wasn't me..

More like it was a KG Whiting....in a KG whiting suit!...Lucky to be alive to tell the story I reckon.

Cheers all Andybear


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## boc (Feb 17, 2009)

I've seen a few of the black tips around on the surface off queens beach. Are they black tip reef sharks or spinner sharks? Also had a hammerhead around 7ft come and check me out about a month ago off queens. They don't worry me as long as they stay in the water and I stay on the yak.

cheers
Ben


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## mangajack (Jul 23, 2007)

There has been a little tiger about 8 feet hanging around there on and off for nearly two years now. Curious lil bugger around first light.

Normally the more worrysome sharks are down around woody point though in the murkier waters. Caught many many sharks down that way and almost as many around Scarby reef itself too.

Jack.


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## tomca (Dec 1, 2007)

I know that uncomfortable feeling in the undies all too well!
My encounter was out in the bay off Wello Point trolling at sunrise, alone in about 10m of water. About a 2 foot swell rolling in and as the sun came up, about chest height a bloody big tiger shark cruised by in front of me. Needless to say, I made it back to the drop off real quick and just ended up trolling thru other peoples berley trails for what turned into a good days fishing.


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## rob316 (Oct 2, 2007)

the tiger at wello has been hanging around there on and off for many years - watch for him over the next few months - he/she smashes through the chopper tailor schools that are there over late autumn early winter ;-)


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## tobes (Jul 8, 2008)

as tomca said it is a very uncomfy feeling but after a very close enconter at byron out of the pass (a tiger went under me while out on the shark bikky) :shock: a local said when i sit back and think about it what a once in a lifetime (i hope) moment and in a way he was spot on


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## yakfly (Jun 8, 2006)

Chatting to my pro mates up here yesterday about it and was told that DPI officers were
testing some gear in the Pearl Channel to the north of Scarborough last winter and managed to 
land a 3.2m GW one night.


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## tobes (Jul 8, 2008)

yakfly said:


> Chatting to my pro mates up here yesterday about it and was told that DPI officers were
> testing some gear in the Pearl Channel to the north of Scarborough last winter and managed to
> land a 3.2m GW one night.


thanks for that o cheery one :lol:


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## DrJed (Sep 13, 2007)

mangajack said:


> There has been a little tiger about 8 feet hanging around there on and off for nearly two years now. Curious lil bugger around first light.
> 
> Normally the more worrysome sharks are down around woody point though in the murkier waters. Caught many many sharks down that way and almost as many around Scarby reef itself too.
> 
> Jack.


Little - 8Ft??????? little is the 30cm silver shark I have in a tank at home, 8ft of tiger shark in his back yard is enough for me to outrun Jesus over the first 100m of water.

Steve


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## madkeenfisher (Jul 24, 2008)

Guys

My 3yr old daughter has just told daddy to harden up after explaining to her what happened to daddy yesterday. Gotta love em! I thought it was funny when i taught her that saying. Anyway will be back out there this sunday if anyone else would like to join me.

Mad


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

Told you that you should have come out on the dam with me. No bities out there, just a few brown snakes in the long grass, and ticks, and march flies, and white tailed spiders and shit I'm not leaving the house again :shock:

Kev


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## riv (Aug 13, 2008)

DrJed said:


> mangajack said:
> 
> 
> > There has been a little tiger about 8 feet hanging around there on and off for nearly two years now. Curious lil bugger around first light.
> ...


Steve don't panic I've heard that the tiger shark is the Labrador of the ocean, just chuck em some pillies and they will follow you all day ;-)


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## MrFaulty (May 15, 2008)

and no one has commented that you snapped your rod, too heavy line and drag set to tight, shark probably took one look at the heavy line you were using and thought that you had put a livie out for him


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Mad an interesting experience and disappointing to do the rod in mate, but are you sure it wasn't this bloke sniffing around


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## mangajack (Jul 23, 2007)

Oh I wish we had those little puppeis here Richo, I wish!

With teeth like that i bet its got really bad breath tho.

Jack.


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## tomca (Dec 1, 2007)

Kev is right, I only dangle my feet in the water when dam fishing. Maybe I need to harden up too. :lol:


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## outbackjoe (May 2, 2009)

Hearing about the tiger hanging around there is a bit of a worry, I dont mind the smaller black tip and bullies but the tigers are the ones that scare me, they tend to bite to try to figure out what you are lol.

at least you got a few snapper before you had to head in ( better than what i normally do) lol

Good work


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## paulsod (Dec 28, 2008)

THANKS EVERYBODY!! Never use to worry about them until now. I always thought the Big Dental Fish were mostly down south of the border.
madkeenfisher, I will be going out Saturday before you burley them up.
Paul


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## HiRAEdd (Nov 12, 2005)

Hmm, ok, my days of sitting side saddle in the X-Factor may be over 

On the other hand, this is a great tactic to clear out the fishing grounds so you can get all the good fish


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## madkeenfisher (Jul 24, 2008)

Good News

Took the good half of the broken rod back to Anaconda tonight and walked out with a replacement rod. Happy days!

MAD


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## locky24 (May 24, 2008)

Good to see you made it back to tell the story.

As for once in a life time I guess i have had about 5 or 6 life times then. Only once while yakking, About 8 months ago trolling a 10 inch mullet around Old Woman Island I was heading south towards Point cartwright when I had a strange feeling to look to my left & there it was About 40 -50 meters away one of the biggest shark fins I have ever seen , being a surfer for 18 of my 33 years i can definitly tell the difference between a shark and a dolphin.
It just cruised the surface keeping the same distance for about 7 -10 very long seconds.
After that I just turned and headed for sure and did not look back.
Sat on the beach for 15 mins then paddled just behind the surf line the 3 k's back to where my car was.

Worst ever experiance was about 12 years ago while surfing the north wall at Brunswick Heads NSW , 4 guys out I just caught a wave paddled back out and was waiting for another.
The water was clear as & you could see the bottom, when this big shadow swam dirrectly under me. It came from behind swam straight under me & slowly headed out into deeper water. I would say I was in 10 - 14 foot of water my board was 6' 8 " and this thing was about 1 foot bigger than my board.I was in so much shock I couldn't move ( probably a good thing ).
Once I could not see it any more I hit the beach & didnt surf for the next 2 days.

Best thing to do I think is get back out there as soon as you can.
It is always in the back of your mind from time to time , But if you really love your chosen sport what the hell. ;-)


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## dru (Dec 13, 2008)

Only one really scary time for me and not yakking - two of us snorkelling at Nor-West (Reef Cay off Gladstone) a long way down the reef with no help but ourselves and came nose to nose with a tiger between us and the boat... no way to get out of the water without saying "hello". That tiger was an easy 12' long (add in an exageration factor if you must, it's still big when you're in the water with it) and being "curious" got close enough when circling to touch. Dont think we were in serious trouble, but you never know and I never want to meet a hungry one. Still, I would have been a lot less aprehensive if I had been on a yak.

Bumped a shark in mud shallows at the Boat Passage at night time earlier this year - turned out to be a shovel nose at about 5' long (guessing, it was dark). Heart starter but just as much for the shark I think.

All in all I think the Bulls are a much bigger risk in Moreton Bay than either GWS or tigers. They are much more frequent and there are reports of them being very aggressive. Toes out of the water, no burley, caution when landing for me. I am not "what the hell" and would reassess my fishing locations if the sightings started multiplying (like they did in Sydney recently) but for now I'm happy with the risk. Short of fresh water and impoundments what would you do in Brisbane? The bulls are probably more prevalent in estuaries, harbours and canals - open water might even be the lessor risk.

Great you got the rod replaced!

dru


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## Lachy (Nov 22, 2010)

wow, you guys have got it all over me in the shark encounters section.. 
i hate the way that sharks arn't interested in a fish until it's on your line or near your yak...

about a week ago, i got my first yak, a little sit in, nothing to brag about :lol: 
but anyway, i took it on it's maiden voyage and i was trolling a little chubby hardbody in newport canals near the newport bridge, when i hooked up, got my catch up near the boat and noticed it was a pretty sizeable trevally, my first trevally, with my grin from ear to ear, i had it about 5 feet away on the surface, when up come the first reefy, taking out the back end of my fish, shortly followed by another that took the rest of my fish and my $16.oo hardbody. 
my massive grin dissapeared rather rapidly and i paddled to the pontoon across the other side of the canal at about 500 knots... 
later that afternoon, i was chatting to a mate i was kayaking with and something surfaced in between us and swam at me and once again, i took off for the pontoon... 
that just wasn't my day... :lol:


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## peter trainor (May 8, 2006)

They are about, May day weekend i was out at the mile marker off Suttons beach when a 5m Tiger shark came to the surface with it's dorsal fin out of the water.
It was about 8 m from me, I could see it's eye checking me out. it hung around for a couple of mins then went down, at this time i decided to turn around and paddle back to the surf club with every 3rd stroke looking over my shoulder. I was more in awe of the size of the thing than shitting myself

Cheers Peter.


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## Lachy (Nov 22, 2010)

BUGGER THAT! i would have run on water back to shore and waited for the yak to wash up on the beach :lol:


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Goats and monkeys (ies)!

I thought my identity had been hacked, when I saw i had replied to this post. Took me a while to realise it is an old post that has been refloated.

Still nerve wracking, and I still deny playing any part in submarine rod snapping, shadow casting or generally causing puckers of anyones anal sphincters. i never see sharks, i just narrow my vision to close tunnel and make everything go out of focus.

Cheers all andybear


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## mangajack (Jul 23, 2007)

on the 28-11-2010 I was fishing off Queens Beach a few km out snagging a few pan sized squire and releasing them. lost one decent snapp about 70-80cm with a pulled hook, then had two 35-40cm models pruned by greysuits. boated two in the next 30 mins both around the 1.5m mark and released them both unharmed, then lost a greysuit after a 15m tussle that would have been near enough to 7 feet. Saw two others that morning free swimming near the yak and one about 10' appear on my SW corner then sink directly beneath the yak a metre or so. Fished for another hour with no more hookups apart from pike.


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## mongreljack (Jul 12, 2009)

This happened about 12 months ago at Colleges Crossing. Lost 2 fish to the toothy critters so far and see plenty of little sharks cruising the shallows. Not quite the ocean going monsters some have encountered but still gets the adrenaline running when ya bums at water level :lol:


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