# SA. K.I. Goldie?... too close for comfort!!!



## fishstix (Dec 18, 2011)

Just returned from a few days around Eastern Cove, Kangaroo Island, fishing and diving.

Had previously located a reef in about 4 metres of water and was keen to check it out again.

Whilst diving had noticed several schools of KGW in the deeper holes of the reef with the usual rock dwelling species in abundance including juvenile groper,
queen snapper (species of morwong) a couple of snapper and schools of trevally.

I was keen to fish this area, and the following morning after some bait collecting gave it a try.
Plenty of sweep and trevally, a hefty drummer and various ornate fish fit for an aquarium but unfortunately the key species were not playing the game.

For the late afternoon I headed over to try and locate the reef where Andy and Drew had fished previously with good results apart from bust offs from a local shark.

Having located a bit of structure there also appeared to be some mid water fish on the sounder, not being sure what they were I dropped down a soft plastic.
Ok, so salmon are the go.
Over a period of a few minutes having caught and released a few I then thought, these would make good snapper bait or if not at least I will have dinner.....

.......and then it happens!!!!!!

The water is clear and I can just make out the bottom at about 7 metres, ....and then out of the corner of my eye I see a shape and I think "why is that stingray 
swimming up towards me"?.....and a flash thought ...... as it shoots up towards me I barely have time to realise its a shark........ and its after my hooked fish...... which is on the surface and right next to my kayak and so in one movement I haul the fish into the kayak and the shark immediately is behind it.... it breaks the surface inches from me and all I see is the wide grey front half from nose to dorsal fin and in one roll its gone..........and then silence ..........and then me thinking that was a nice bit of precision swimming ......I was expecting a big hit on the kayak but it just didn't come.

Not wishing for a repeat of this scenario I moved slowly away, a little shaken, and attempted to gather my thoughts.

Fortunately the shark was more interested in the fish than me, at that stage I had not bled the fish, and the fish were bagged and in the kayak.
I had only been catching for a few minutes so whether the shark was following the school or was attracted from some distance I do not know.
If it was Goldie I would guess him (or her) to be at least 2.5 metres.

Regards Peter


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## Zilch (Oct 10, 2011)

I think it is about time someone renamed this White "Brownie" , seems a more appropriate colour (undies) :lol:

Well done on keeping your cool, better man than me.

Did you have a Shark Shield and if so do you think it repelled the shark ?

Steve


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

woh!
Got my heart thumping just reading about it
Is Goldie a local GWS?


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## redmist (May 6, 2012)

efffn eck....that's too close. Very keen to hear if you had a SS on. I think Goldie might be starting to associate yaks with a free feed.


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## Geoffw (Jan 23, 2011)

Like others have said.... close, too close. And like others i am keen to know if you had a shark shield on. I have been thinking of getting one but after reading the research am not convinced they would deter a shark that has identified a target. But well done on keeping your cool and slowly moving on. I don't think I will be following your path to .KI.


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

Thanks for doing your part keeping the wildlife wild and not feeding the fauna, Fishstix :lol:

That's intense! Just imagining that shark coming straight at you and doing a 90 degree turn at the last millisecond, sheesh


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Squidley said:


> Thanks for doing your part keeping the wildlife wild and not feeding the fauna, Fishstix :lol:
> 
> That's intense! Just imagining that shark coming straight at you and doing a 90 degree turn at the last millisecond, sheesh


 :shock: 
I'll stick to chasing bream
Though I did get bitten by one on Saturday - my thumb is still attached


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## Geoffw (Jan 23, 2011)

RhubarbTheYeti said:


> Squidley said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for doing your part keeping the wildlife wild and not feeding the fauna, Fishstix :lol:
> ...


Good call Yeti


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

RhubarbTheYeti said:


> Squidley said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for doing your part keeping the wildlife wild and not feeding the fauna, Fishstix :lol:
> ...


no excuses yeti
back to that pole

Barrabundy is waving a $5 note


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

anselmo said:


> RhubarbTheYeti said:
> 
> 
> > Squidley said:
> ...


I'm calling my union rep!


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

RhubarbTheYeti said:


> anselmo said:
> 
> 
> > RhubarbTheYeti said:
> ...


He's the one waving the $20 note


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)




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## fishstix (Dec 18, 2011)

Thanks Gatesy,
I really don't know my sharks too well, it all happened so quickly there was no real way I could identify what it was.

I don't own a shark shield, so unable to make a useful comment on this situation, only that the primary focus of the shark appeared to be the hooked fish. 
Fishing in a kayak brings you up close and personal with these creatures, fishing from a boat provides more security, and maybe this 'learned behaviour' 
is even encouraged... Pure speculation on my part.

Thanks for your interest, Peter


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## Geoffw (Jan 23, 2011)

Peter, like you say.... up close and personal. One of the reasons I love my yak and neglect my boat. I love the feeling of being right there bobbing up and down moving by your own steam, nearly part of the ocean. Hard to beat. Question now is will you get a shark shield after your experience?


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## suehobieadventure (Feb 17, 2009)

There is very strong evidence to suggest shark shields do work. viewtopic.php?f=17&t=64731 If you check this topic the photo of Torren with the sharked tuna, was sharked from a yak with a shark shield and the bronzie was very intent on taking the head as well until it got 1.5 - 2 metres from the yak and turned around. This is exactly the range of a shark shield. I am sure Drew will add to this post but he did say to me on KI that bronzie did not threaten the yak at all that day but stole a lot of fish. 
Don't envy you getting up close and personal but it is really rare for a yak to be attacked.


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## NoelMc (Feb 6, 2010)

Glad u landed your fish. Poor sharkey went hungry.


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## Geoffw (Jan 23, 2011)

suehobieadventure said:


> There is very strong evidence to suggest shark shields do work. http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=64731 If you check this topic the photo of Torren with the sharked tuna, was sharked from a yak with a shark shield and the bronzie was very intent on taking the head as well until it got 1.5 - 2 metres from the yak and turned around. This is exactly the range of a shark shield. I am sure Drew will add to this post but he did say to me on KI that bronzie did not threaten the yak at all that day but stole a lot of fish.
> Don't envy you getting up close and personal but it is really rare for a yak to be attacked.


Sue, I am not saying shark shield does not work. I read the SARDI paper 2012 and their conclusion is that .GW sharks may be deterred with an activated SS at about 2 metres although the evidence was not consistent. Better still it seems that SS works better on a surface entity than a submerged entity and this was attributed to greater effort involved in an attack that involves a breach by a shark. This may also be why there is not a lot of stories of sharks attacking yaks. My indecision currently is more about probability, areas that I fish and doubt about deterrent for a shark that is intent on attack. If I was going to fish .KI my doubt would be overridden by fear and i would buy a shark shield. However, at this point my fear overrides my desire to fish reefs that potentially hold sharks.
I am certainly not advocating for non use of SS and as I move to new areas to fish I may well make a purchase. In the meantime I read with interest the stories of those who have close encounters and try to learn from them. Goldie may well teach a few more lessons yet.


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## suehobieadventure (Feb 17, 2009)

No worries Geoff I don't own a shark shield either but I did borrow one for chasing tuna this year. I always argue the statistics viewpoint, I am statistically safer on my yak than in my car and if I ever do get taken by a shark at least I died living not having a heart attack sitting on the couch :lol: I usually get the far out she is a bit loopy eye roll. That I can cope with. I have however never been menaced by a shark and when that happens my viewpoint may change ?


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

Gotta agree with you Pete... that was too close for comfort!

Jimbo


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

Geoffw said:


> Sue, I am not saying shark shield does not work. I read the SARDI paper 2012 and their conclusion is that .GW sharks may be deterred with an activated SS at about 2 metres although the evidence was not consistent. Better still it seems that SS works better on a surface entity than a submerged entity and this was attributed to greater effort involved in an attack that involves a breach by a shark.


The company claim the SS was not mounted close enough to the bait in one of the tests, about a minute in:


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## Dixie (Nov 9, 2013)

Crikey Pete - I feel nervous just reading your post!!!


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## jatzo (Oct 1, 2013)

Not sure about the rationale for the design of the experiments in that 2012 study? Why not test the efficacy of the shield the way it would be used in practice - with the shield actually attached to the "bait" in a static or towing scenario both on and below the surface? Would be a much more convincing and confidence building result. Were they worried about damaging too many shields, surely if they had faith in it's effects this would not have been a factor - run a small pilot study? Anyway, statistically significant results to show the shield deters deliberately baited sharks in feeding mode, good enough risk reduction for me. Uncertainty about the sensitivity of this effect to the positioning of the shield/field probably requires further study.


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

All this gives me the heebie-jeebies when I think of all the yakkers who dangle their feet/legs over the sides of their yaks whilst fishing.

It's bad enough when one has to wash hands over the side, let alone dangling doubtfully smelling tootsies there...

Not for this little black duck!

Jimbo


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## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

Pete, your experience was a very compressed version of my own. 
With my Goldie moment, I knew that there was a shark taking my fish, so my final sighting of her was less dramatic. Accordingly, I was expecting to see a shark at some point. 
Eventually whilst frantically cranking at a 50 cm snap, and trying to beat Goldie instead of feeding her, I got to see her. My Goldie was at about the same distance from me as yours was. It didn't break the surface though, so what I saw was just a beautiful creature gliding from my bow in an arc under me like poetry in motion. 
In the AI with an outrigger I felt quite safe even though I didn't have my shark shield with me. 
I do take one out to that same spot these days though.


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## Rockster (Sep 7, 2007)

*GULP* :shock:


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## Tim71 (Nov 27, 2013)

Geeeeez!
Going diving there again??


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## fishstix (Dec 18, 2011)

Drewboy said:


> Pete, your experience was a very compressed version of my own.
> With my Goldie moment, I knew that there was a shark taking my fish, so my final sighting of her was less dramatic. Accordingly, I was expecting to see a shark at some point.
> Eventually whilst frantically cranking at a 50 cm snap, and trying to beat Goldie instead of feeding her, I got to see her. My Goldie was at about the same distance from me as yours was. It didn't break the surface though, so what I saw was just a beautiful creature gliding from my bow in an arc under me like poetry in motion.
> In the AI with an outrigger I felt quite safe even though I didn't have my shark shield with me.
> I do take one out to that same spot these days though.


Yeah, you have to admire them.

Just did a crash cause in shark I.D. and guessing it's the same Goldie. I distinctly remember seeing the wide shovel head which I think is more like the bronzie.

Also came across this site http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fisheries/fish ... ghting_log has some interesting sightings but the frequency is a little alarming.

Regards peter


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## solatree (May 30, 2008)

Pete - I am pretty sure there are a couple (several ?) of sharks in that area. Certainly the fish pinching shark is most likely a bronzie - about 2m long or so. She (or he) has surfaced between me and my friend Tom once, in between pinching our fish (or were we trying to pinch her fish ) But there is also another shark - a much bigger one, that I have seen once, cruise underneath my kayak - around 4m or so - most likely a white pointer. The locals here say there is a white pointer that seems to visit in that area and it is that fish they call Goldie.


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

We should knock up some Goldie Club bumper stickers or yak decals


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