# Crocodiles, Sharks & Other Monsters



## simonmoore

I'm moving north to live in Cape York and was interested in getting (back) into sea kayaking. Was wondering if there was any genuine issues or concerns in using kayaks in areas with crocodiles and reef sharks. Is there any precautions that I could take? Or is the risk low and I'm just being paranoid? Any advice would be most appreciated.


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## Davey G

yes. sharks will eat you.

yes. crocs will eat you.

yes, box jellies will kill you

yes, stingrays, cone shells and stonefish will also kill you

that's what makes it FUN.


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## redman

I believe the Heat, Humidity and flies will also kill you.

On a serious note though I would be far less worried about sharks than I would about those of the reptilian variety. I cannot think of too much worse then seeing a 20foot Lizard swimming straight at the Yak and the only real precaution to minimise your risk would be to carry a nice big SHotgun and stay out of the creeks.


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## MotorGuide

I could say that very first thing that would surely harm or worse can kill you is your FEAR. If you love fishing or if it's passion, then take the risk and enjoy what it takes all the way!Of course, always be precautious in doing so. Make sure to have all the things you need for the fishing and for your defense as well against the wild and bad weather or environment condition. Hope this simple advice helps. Good luck! ;-)


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## simonmoore

Thanks for this advice. Do many (normal) people kayak in heavy crocodile areas. Has there been any accidents? I'm a keen fisherman and will also have a boat - should I stick to that.


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## simonmoore

simonmoore said:


> Thanks for this advice. Do many (normal) people kayak in heavy crocodile areas. Has there been any accidents? I'm a keen fisherman and will also have a boat - should I stick to that.


What I'm basically wanting to know is whether a croc will go after a kayaker more than 1 time in 100.


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## RedPhoenix

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## dru

RedPhoenix said:


> simonmoore said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for this advice. Do many (normal) people kayak in heavy crocodile areas.
> 
> 
> 
> Very few.
> 
> Red.
Click to expand...

And the word "normal" might be arguable! :lol: :lol: ["Extraordinary" might be closer.] Care needed in the fresh too - local knowledge would be key. I know sea kayakers who have paddled extensively around FNQ - they stopped trolling due to constant harrassment from sharks. Bulls mostly I think. Though this may have been specific to the gulf rather than the reef.


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## garyp

Sharks, Crocs and Jellies don't kill people. Junglefisher kills people :lol: Sorry Junglefisher, but the picture of you on a kayak with a 12 gauge always makes me laugh and think you are slightly dangerous

Seriously though I would be reading all of Murd & Junglefishers trip reports - that should give you a good idea of the risks involved. Good luck


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## odgers

well im keen to go and fish up nq myself, around about the mission beach north to about cape york areas!! i think personally ill stay out of the creeks because i dont have a shotgun to keep em off me, and i have been on the croc cruises around those parts aswell  i think tho fishing in the ocean side in the winter months is pretty safe, because i use to go spear fishing in the ocean sides all winter, basically from june through to oct when the jellies start making their way back, i think your biggest threat would be irracandji (however you spell it), but if you go into the creeks then your sorta asking for it lol, but if you need to go into the creeks then winter would be the time to do it, you still get good jack in winter up there, but barra would be hard to find


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## theclick

Rocky is a board line crock area, and I havn't had any issues (or seen any) here in the last 8 months of fishing off a kayak. There are a number of people up here who fish off kayaks (but who are not on the forum) in the local creeks without too much concern. I would keep away from well known crock haunts though...... well away.

The chances are pretty slim. I spose it all comes down to how much you, and the people around you value your existence.


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## murd

Wait for Part 2 of my upcoming Gulf of Carpentaria report - then you can decide whether you want to paddle with crocs.


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## Dan85

Up there the sharks are to scared of the crocs to be a problem. Id be very careful around the mouths of rivers etc but a recent trip up for work i saw the bastards sitting on the more sheltered beaches where there wasnt any wave activity. In and around townsville i wont go anywere the salt water creeks and rivers and im loathed to go to far from human activity. the crocs arent scared of the activity but they must be like grumpy old men and prefer peace and quiet. I was up fishing off the bank at a creek north of townsville where i was chatting with an old fella in a tinny from the bank and i could see the bite marks in his tinny from about 20m away from a few years ago..... having said that id be less concerned with crocs and sharks as the box jellies and iraganji or however its spelt. I remember a guy fishing off his container ship just off townsville went into cardiac arrest after reeling his line in and a small part of a tentacle flicked off his line an onto him he survived just. you will need to be very vigilant to aviod this in a nice and wet kayak ride.


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## Killerwhitefluff

Hi, I'm a relative newbie kayaker and fisher..... Badu Island in the Torres Straits is an odd place to start but I guess I seek out adventure, always have. Anyway the locals here reckon you're croc bait in the yak and we regularly see crocs hanging around. It's all open water and the bay is mostly only 2m-4m deep. The locals regularly fish from small dinghies, the kids frolic in the ocean while the dogs are always at the shore wading as well. Noone has been attacked in recent memory and I've been getting used to both fishing from a yak as well as paddling around without fear..... until the other day. I have just started catching fish on my Prowler Elite.... previously I was trolling too much and targetting bigger fish and of course would always lose my line when I got a bite. So I've found a few good spots to anchor and throw in a line targetting smaller fish living in the sea grass. They are hungry little buggers and bite almost before the lead has hit the deck.

So the other day, the sun is going down, I keep thinking "the last one, the last one". I am pulling in a fish when I turn around and there is the croc about 7m away with its jaw open (I assumed from teh size of its head it'd be a 3.5m croc). It looks pretty relaxed and I'm not thinking that it's going to actually attack. I do, however make two decision in a split second, one..... get the [email protected]#k out of here, and two....... [email protected]#k the anchor as the croc is sitting right on top of it. I opened my little esky to put the fish in as I had been doing all day and the last one jumped straight out to freedom so I just put the rod in the rod holder with the fish hanging over the side, unscrewed the anchor (lesson here I just learnt - use a quck release latch closer to the main line and put a float on your anchor so you can retrieve it the next day) and point the yak to shore and paddled fast. I know crocs can travel up to 25km an hour (now that is fast) and my Prowler can travel at 7-8km/hr and I think I could get about 10-12 out of the Mirage.

As I was paddling I couldn't help feeling like the dangling fish was indeed a funny bit of bait sitting about 2 feet above the water. I made it back in without being followed but there is a residual feeling of fear. I talked to a few people and think I will feel safer taking some precautions. A bang stick may be a good idea....... (http://www.socnet.com/archive/index.php/t-52834.html) while my mother suggested taking a large umbrella which is a nice idea as it may help keep the sun off on the 4 days a year it's not blowing it's arse out up here.

So this morning I went back to the spot (with the golf umbrella on board ready to deploy shoudl I come across any bities) and fro the life of me couldn't see the nylon anchor rope even though I had the location on my GPS. I know I'm getting jittery as the fish finder constantly registered big red fish 2m below me and my imagination kept telling me it was the croc which I am sure it wasn't - just plenty of fish given it was 8am in the morning. I headed back in and just ordered a new anchor from Whitworths.

So far I've had very little contact with the crocs, I see them rarely and they tend to only be 2-3m. There is news that the barge captain saw a 5m croc at the jetty early morning not long ago so the big salties are out there. I also tend to feel that they are not going to protective in open water. If anything they will be inquisitive..... just to what extent I have no idea.

Have had no shark sightings or issues, I see plenty of turtles given the mating season has just been on. My limited research on the web suggests if you see a shark frenzy, paddle in the opposite direction for 1.5km (that's about 5 - 10 minutes flat out)

I'd also be interested what other people think are good precautions.... I've got a Mirage which I have paddled about 10km out and back to nearby islands but would liek to get more adventurous in the future. The real problem here is having to learn everything from scratch as well as do everything solo.

I've thought of stencilling "croc bait" on the Prowler and haven't come up with a name for the Mirage as yet.... There's no way I'm going to stop fishing from the yak I'm just interested in how and when you put up a fight and using what.... I've read the NT trip reports but geez, you gotta be game in those areas. Still if Murd wants to come up some time and pay a visit, he's welcome with free rent and brew.... actually better speak to the missus when she gets back before I go making offers like that!

I'll start posting photos when I get a new anchor. No big fish so far but some nice Coral trout the other day. Reckon I've battled about 15 big fish and lost witht he cheap braid breaking at the swivel. Gotta be GTs, Mackeral and sharks.

Oh and add to the list, strong winds and unpredictable, fierce tidal currents around 8 knots. The other fear is when you are paddling your heart out and trying to work out if you are going anywhere. Miss land here and there's very little between you and a big expanse of ocean - you are off to Irian Jaya to be deported all the way to Jakarta (as one story goes the Indos send you back to Jakarta if you get caught in their territories).

Perhaps I do have a name for the Mirage "Selamat Datang"!


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## HBJ

Sharks no more dangerous than the rest of Australia. Crocs - After living in Darwin for 3 years and fishing right across that part of the Country, I would not venture out in anything smaller than a 4 meter tinny. Crocs are highly intelligent and will watch for your habbits for months on end and if they idenitfy any weakness they will exploit it. They will stalk boat ramps, popular fishing spots and anyother location where there is a chance. If you want to do it you have to realise that you are placing your life at great risk. We had a couple of clsoe calls where we were complaicent

My wife was a Helicopter pilot in and around Darwin and has 100's of photos of large 4m+ crocs in and around the esturaies. You would be safer in your boat if you're going around to fish around them. You might be safer out in the Oceans though as I have a numbner of friends who dive the Darwin wrecks and have never had any issues. So I expect that to translate across to Townsville. Do they still do the swim from Townsville to Magnetic island?


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## justcrusin

> I would not venture out in anything smaller than a 4 meter tinny. Crocs are highly intelligent and will watch for your habbits for months on end and if they idenitfy any weakness they will exploit it. They will stalk boat ramps, popular fishing spots and anyother location where there is a chance. If you want to do it you have to realise that you are placing your life at great risk.


had a good mate that fished the gulf a lot, his take on crocs and fishing.

Day 1 they will see you
Day 2 they will stalk you
Day 3 they will strike

He would never fish the same spot regulary, mostly this was shore based but boat too. I have seen his photos of a 6m croc taking a 2 ton buffalo into the water, persoanlly i'm not going anywhere near a croc in a kayak.

Cheers Dave


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## gonetroppo

> Day 1 they will see you
> Day 2 they will stalk you
> Day 3 they will strike


A good rule. Done lots of fishing around crocs and that is very true. A spot we used to go to just north of Mackay had a little salty living in it, we didnt see it for about 10 years and thought it had been shot, and so we would pull up and drag net for bait up to our necks in water. Last trip we ran into him and hes no little fella anymore, we reckon +4m. He followed us all day up and down the creek, at one stage we would have been almost 4-5km from his hangout. We dont drag there anymore :shock: Next day we got stuck on a sand bank right on dark and it was a very tense wade with the tinny in tow.


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## Killerwhitefluff

.... continuiong from above post - since my last post I've become a little wary of fishing from the one spot in the middle of the bay up here. I've looked for the anchor I cut but couldn't find it. A new one was ordered and just arrived. I've been out on my expedition kayak and dragged a lure, but even that is a bit freaky, you hear a splash behind you and there's a shark writhing on the surface. So might try fishing at a new spot in a few days. Thinking of rigging a flag pole to get some size about the look of me. Got a 1200 wide jolly rodger flag which would suit.

Also now looking at small stink boat to take the family out. Not many around up here to buy though.


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## Kathy

redman said:


> ......... I cannot think of too much worse then seeing a 20foot Lizard swimming straight at the Yak .......


 :lol: Not so funny in reality but your choice of words is. 20foot lizard? Never heard of a croc being called a lizard before. :lol:

You won't catch me in the water anywhere up there. In fact if my family ever decide to move there, I'll stay here. I can keep out the sharks way here, but crocs would always worry me.


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## Barrabundy

Can't believe I haven't commented on this one yet.

Not sure about the sharks, see lots of little bullies up to a metre but don't worry about them. I've gotten a little complacent with the repltiles and have recently had a lifetime ban imposed by my wife for one particular location. My neighbour told her I was a nutter for fishing there because he spots a big one from his chopper there all the time. We've all seen it but I never see it while I'm on the water and I fish off the bank as routinely as clockwork.

I recently took my son to a "safe" creek viewtopic.php?f=17&t=45333 and, to be honest, I was very surprised to see it there in such a public place (Plantation Creek) and during daylight.


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