Shark Bay NSW lives up to it's name

Author: josh

Category: Trip Reports

Created on Saturday, 13 February 2010 18:48

Written by Josh

My initial plan for todays kayak fishing trip was to launch from Woody head and sail out towards Black Rock, which is where I've been hearing of a few positive reports. I always knew there was a very good chance that I'd get distracted along the way though, and I was. With winds blowing up to around 15 knots, today was best approached with a trimaran set up and although white caps dotted the ocean as far as I could see I figured the low-sized swell would make for fairly easy sailing. It didn't. But off I went regardless.

I'd only managed to sail about a km out from the point when I looked around and told myself that it looked pretty sharky this day - a lot like the conditions I'd experienced when I had the Great White encounter of '09. As the thought ran through my mind I looked over to my trolling rod (the mighty Nitro Godzilla) and it's new reel to match (Daiwa Saltiga 4500z) and as if on cue it buckled backward and line started peeling off with great force. Routine kicked in - furl the sail, unleash the rod, pull it from it's holder and start fighting. For sure, it felt more aggressive and herky-jerky than the sharks I've grown accustomed to hooking, but it wasn't long before I had it yakside. This wasn't a black tip shark (although it did indeed have black tips). It's girth and alternatively coloured tail made me think it was another species, probably another kind of whaler. It seemed more agressive to, swimming at the kayak - right up to me at times... once or twice making me think it was planning on leaping in with me. It also seemed to be smarter - it was looking for something to bust off on. It tried for the rudder first but I was able to swing around and prevent that from happening. It got lucky when it swam for the mirage fins though, freeing itself as the line tangled up in them and broke free. Thats the first time this has happened and a part of me wasn't terribly disappointed - only moments before I'd decided it was too big to mess with any way. Sadly, however, that was my lucky Rapala lure gone.

So I tied on another. Less than 5 minutes later I was on again, although this fight was even shorter. I didn't get a look at this fish, but the shredded leader that I would in elucidated another shark, which much have swallowed the lure whole. So I tied on another. Only 10 minutes later I was on again and precisely the same thing happened. So far I'd gone through $75 worth of lures and was hesitant to tie on another Rapala. But I did. And about 20 minutes later exactly the same thing happened.

So there I was, bobbing up and down in rough seas, frustrated at my decision to ignore wire trace and use nylon instead. For the most part I get away with it, but whatever these sharks were, they were chomping the lures so deeply that the leader was exposed to their teeth. Sooner or later, I told myself, I'd score on a lip hook up and by hook or by crook, I'd be eating flake tonight. It was when I was tying on yet another length of leader that I saw something in the water that bothered me greatly.

Another shark... but not just any old shark. It was big (around 4 metres) and black and despite the murky colour of the water I knew for sure it was a large shark. Not the kind you take home to meet the folks. And it was only about 10 - 15 metres away on my starboard side... close enough to know I was there. Thats when things got interesting...

At first I didn't even think about switching the camera on. As if on auto pilot, I threw the shark shield antenna into the water and went to turn it on. But as I went to turn the knob in the clockwise direction something didn't feel right. It wasn't budging. It was already hard right. Oh no I thought... I must have left it on since my last use somehow and by now, for sure it would be out of battery power. Shit!

I looked up and spotted it in front of me this time, much the same distance away. I turned my attention back to the shark shield and then realised that I'd rigged it facing forward (as opposed to backward, which was how I used it when fixed to my crossbar (this time I'd fixed it to the aka). So I turned the knob in an anti clockwise direction. this time the knob moved. But I couldn't see the 'on' light switch on.

Looking up and around again, this time I spotted it on my port side. It was circling me - crikey! Again I turned my attention back to the shark shield. I strained to see the on light and I couldn't - but then I felt something that gave me great relief (a sensation that would normally have the opposite effect). An electric shock - eureka! And this time I did see the light... a steady green. It was on. I couldn't see the shark any more, but I knew that had nothing to do with the shield - it wasn't close enough to feel it... yet.

Probably because of those moments of panic, by now my pulse was racing and even though I felt much safer with the shield humming away, I was still highly unnerved. So I unfurled the sail and started sailing hard, banking in the direction opposite to where I guessed that shark might now be, and then around back towards where I'd came from. Hooking along at about 11km an hour I now felt pretty sure that even if the shark gave chase, I'd soon be well out of harms way. Looking behind, I couldn't see any signs of it giving chase. So I then turned on the cameras and suddenly found myself wishing it would show up again.

Thats when I said to myself: 'Josh... what are you doing man! Get back over there and catch some video of it... get close enough to put the shark shield to a real test'.

So I turned around and sailed right back to where I first saw it. And then when i got there I furled the sail, came to a stop and with cameras at the ready started scanning the water. And then another voice popped into my head. It said 'Josh... what are you doing man! There's a fricken 4 metre shark out here - get the hell out!'

So I unfurled the sail and took off again, telling myself it was the sane thing to do. But it wasn't long before i got angry at myself again and then turned back with cams at the ready again. This ping pong match went on for a little while... I was like a tennis ball in a grand-slam volley, back and forth like a blue-arse blowfly. But I never did see that shark again. Ironically, the bites completely stopped at this point (my line was out the entire time). Even while I sailed back (some 3 - 4km) not a single bite came. This was very odd I thought, because it was only just before that they were coming on strong. A very weird day at sea indeed!