Sharks Hervey Bay QLD

Hi guys when my AI arrives I'll be fishing and sailing in the waters around Hervey Bay and Fraser Island Queensland Australia. Now call me a sissy if you like lol. But I've witnessed an awful lot of sharks almost weekly in this area and I mean big ones! 12 footers etc are not uncommon, Tigers, Hammerheads, Bulls mainly. The kids on the pier were catching that many sharks the Fisheries Officers came down and enforced a Qld law banning the targeting of sharks over 1.5 m

My question is what precautions should I take fishing/sailing in such a heavily shark inhabited area? (I wont mention crocodiles I'll keep with sharks for now)

Many thanks p.s I'll be mainly lure fishing, I don't want to chance bait

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Every day is an Adventure Island day

I'll bet you already have a pretty good idea of what not to do!

Don't dangle your legs over the side of the kayak, probably most important is to not have dead fish on your line or in your kayak. Stay away from murky water. If you catch a fish you are going to keep, I would bring it inside the kayak and paddle to shore immediately. If you see sharks approach or follow you, toss the dead fish back in the water. That should keep the sharks busy until you can get away from them. Don't paddle around with a bunch of fish blood or stink on the kayak, maybe wash it off with a little bleach in a bucket of water when you're done fishing.

I've seen a few sharks on my kayak and even more while I was surfing, but I know that Australia has enough sharks where concern, but not fear is a good thing. I'm way more worried about sharks when I'm sitting on a 6' surfboard than I am in a 13' kayak. One thing I've noticed surfing in sharky waters; if you normally see a lot of smaller fish swimming around and one day you go out and you don't see any fish at all, I would be very careful because something is chasing those fish away. If you're out there enough, I believe you get to a point where you can almost "sense" that something is not right and you might be wise to move on.

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Waterman at Work - Kayak Fishing Photos, Video,Kayak Rigging - Blog

Many thanks for your advice ronbo, its very much appreciated. Where abouts do you fish mate?

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Every day is an Adventure Island day

I do most of my ocean fishing off San Diego County and northern Oregon. I've surfed all over California, Mexico and Central America. Not too many sharks off San Diego; there used to be a lot of mako sharks but they are almost gone, fished out I reckon. Harmless blues and an occasional hammerhead and Great White. Oregon has a few whiteys.

Encountered lots of sharks surfing in Mexico and Central America; hammerheads, reef sharks, great whites and tigers. Some of the places were so sharky, the locals would only go in the water up to their knees, no swimming. One time, a group of large hammerheads showed up between us sitting at the surf break and the beach. I'd be a liar if I didn't say that I was scared, but they eventually swam away.

Just go out a little further each trip and get a feel for the place. I'd also stay away from commercial and private fishing boats. I would probably not fish at night. If your number comes up, it comes up; every time you go out in the ocean there is a chance something could happen. Like an old time commercial fisherman told me; "Sharks are always there, you only get scared when you see them". You are probably more likely to get killed in a car accident driving to the beach than getting attacked by a shark.

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Waterman at Work - Kayak Fishing Photos, Video,Kayak Rigging - Blog

Thanks again Ronbo. We have a lot sharks here due to a good feed source, there are loads of turtles and plenty of baitfish, tigers apparently like to snack on turtle. A bit of a concern is a large body of very murky water that has held some ferocious looking specimens, I've seen them caught . This stretch is about 2 miles long. I'll have to cross this to get to clearer water

Like you say though more chance of getting hit crossing the road when you venture into the ocean you do so at some risk however small. I will carry a few precautionary items probably an aerosol shark repellent and a stake out pole Josh Holmes carries one of these and fishes this body of water at least once a year.As far as I know hes been without incident.

I've been considering the option of a Shark Shield but research is debatable on whether it works or not.

Tight Lines
Roller

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Every day is an Adventure Island day

Yep, there are sharks for days in those waters. My advice: don't worry about them. You will see them all the time and you'll learn not to fret. Just don't dangle your legs over the side.

And yes, shark shields absolutely work. I've tested them enough to know. But I stopped turning it on even when I was seeing them. Not worth the bother in my opinion. You have bigger safety issues to concern yourself with. Humpback whales, for example, present a bigger danger. So do rough conditions. Get some experience on your boat before getting too ambitious, and learn how to do field repairs.

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Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au

Hi Josh thanks for the advice. I'm definitely not going get to adventurous. I haven't been in an AI for a couple of years. I've been keeping mental notes on wind and sea conditions here and I'm quite comfortable with them, I'm not being complacent but I've not seen any conditions in 9 months that so much as come close to the North Sea in mid winter thankfully! Thats not to say I'd want to be caught out in rough seas here.

Like you say learning about repairs is priority so is brushing up on my saling skills. Especially as I intend on being away for sometimes days at a time. As for sharks I'm not that easily scared to be honest but I dont really want to become a statistic.

Are you able to source freshwater (drinkable) Hervey bay side of Fraser? Again thanks for your advice over the years mate you've been imo a pioneer and inspiration Roller

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Every day is an Adventure Island day

If you pick your days and tides its pretty easy going in Hervey Bay, though there are some sloppy spots in the Sandy Straight. Keep your eye out for them and you'll be fine. You can't see those spots from Hervey Bay itself (it almost always looks benign from HB), but they are there. And strong winds vs current make it a lot worse. We've had to bug out early on several expeditions due to weather. The sailing skills will come back to you really quick - the Island is as easy as it gets. But if you are planning to head to the island, definitely make sure you know how to pull a drive apart, replace chains, etc, and have a spare chain and sprocket on hand, plus tools to install them.

Yes, there is fgresh water at a few select spots on the Island on the west side, but don't trust it. We always take our own water supply

And forget about sharks. They are there but they are not a big deal. Pay more thought to humpbacks. They will come over to say hello. Don't let them get too close.



You're welcome mate

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Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au