Whale watching from kayak, Woody Head

Author: josh

Category: Trip Reports

Created on Sunday, 09 October 2011 15:05

Written by Josh

It had been pretty slow going out at Woody Head (NSW Australia) for the first couple of hours as I trolled my way through Shark Bay, around to the point and then back again. Unfortunately I'd neglected to pack any water so at this point I was starting to feel dehydrated and just as I was about to head back in some humpback whales appeared (from seemingly no where to suddenly everywhere) so I sat back and waited for them to come near, which they typically do. This family of 3 whales didn't disappoint.

I was joined in the whale watching session by another kayak fisho (didn't catch his name) rocking the Hobie Outback and eventually our attention was turned to some bird activity a km or so to the noreast. As we watched on the water started boiling and even from that distance away we could make out fish activity that inspired us to chase them down. I only got about half way there because along the way my Okuma reel started screaming as the Viper buckled over. The sheer weight and speed of the strike had me calling it for a longtail tuna or shark before I even had the rod out of the holder. When I did get a hold of the rod I started to have doubts about tuna... this was a lot bigger than I first thought. 

After being towed around for a while throughout a 30 minute fight I finally got a glimpse of what I'm pretty sure was a fairly hefty tiger shark (I could just make out some dull stripes on its side) that took one look at me and bolted, almost pulling the rod (and me along with it) into the water in the process. For a split second I considered continuing the fight but my aching arms and dehydrated body protested vigorously. Sweat was pooring down my face and stinging my eyes and whatever energy I had left was draining fast. This was a fight I just wouldn't win, nor did I really want to. I spent the next few minutes trying to regain line so I could cut it as close to the shark as I could, but it wouldn't let me get any where near it again. At a guess I'd say it was just under 3 metres and very likely hanging around due to the proliferation of whales, a few of which were sporting fresh bite marks around there dorsal fins. 

Sadly I didn't catch any fish (not even by-catch), but as always, I had a great time. It was too nice a day to be doing anything else.