Catching Great Whites from the beach

[trisj]

Read this on another forum today...

Reeling in great white sharks from our surf beaches
By Paul Scott and Chad Watson
October 23, 2005
The Sun-Herald

Two thrill-seeking anglers have caught more than a dozen great white sharks by using surfboards to drop giant baited hooks just beyond the breakers.

The great whites have taken the bait - usually half a salmon - only 50 metres from the water's edge along Stockton Bight, north of Newcastle.

Kris "Mackerel" Macklin and Glen "Mullet" Connell, of Boat Harbour at Port Stephens, paddle out on their surfboards with the salmon and line tucked beneath their chests.

They throw the bloodied fish overboard then paddle quickly back to shore and wait for a strike in the middle of the aptly named Bight, a 30-kilometre stretch with popular surfing and bathing spots at either end (Stockton Beach to the south and Birubi in the north).

The pair have purpose-built a swivelling chair - complete with seatbelt and stubby holder - that fits onto the bullbar of a Toyota LandCruiser.

Sometimes they strap themselves into the seat and are driven back and forth along the shoreline in a bid to land the sharks; other times they just stand on the beach with their heavy-duty rods awaiting action.

"Most of the white pointers we have caught have weighed 80 to 120 kilograms, with the biggest around 200 kilograms," Mr Macklin said.

"The ones we have landed range from six foot [1.8 metres] to one that was a solid nine foot [2.7 metres]."

When The Sun-Herald accompanied the daring duo last week, their two baits were snapped up only minutes apart by white pointers.

It took a frantic 20 minutes for the thrashing sharks, each more than 2.5 metres long, to be hauled in, tagged and released into the shallows.

 

[Green Hand]

Read this on another forum today...

Reeling in great white sharks from our surf beaches
By Paul Scott and Chad Watson
October 23, 2005
The Sun-Herald

Two thrill-seeking anglers have caught more than a dozen great white sharks by using surfboards to drop giant baited hooks just beyond the breakers.

The great whites have taken the bait - usually half a salmon - only 50 metres from the water's edge along Stockton Bight, north of Newcastle.

Kris "Mackerel" Macklin and Glen "Mullet" Connell, of Boat Harbour at Port Stephens, paddle out on their surfboards with the salmon and line tucked beneath their chests.

They throw the bloodied fish overboard then paddle quickly back to shore and wait for a strike in the middle of the aptly named Bight, a 30-kilometre stretch with popular surfing and bathing spots at either end (Stockton Beach to the south and Birubi in the north).

The pair have purpose-built a swivelling chair - complete with seatbelt and stubby holder - that fits onto the bullbar of a Toyota LandCruiser.

Sometimes they strap themselves into the seat and are driven back and forth along the shoreline in a bid to land the sharks; other times they just stand on the beach with their heavy-duty rods awaiting action.

"Most of the white pointers we have caught have weighed 80 to 120 kilograms, with the biggest around 200 kilograms," Mr Macklin said.

"The ones we have landed range from six foot [1.8 metres] to one that was a solid nine foot [2.7 metres]."

When The Sun-Herald accompanied the daring duo last week, their two baits were snapped up only minutes apart by white pointers.

It took a frantic 20 minutes for the thrashing sharks, each more than 2.5 metres long, to be hauled in, tagged and released into the shallows.

What bloody idiots [OK calm down Simon]. Great Whits are fully protected by Australain law and are extremely threatened as a species. They have a very long period of gestation and are threatened internationally through poaching.


http://www.deh.gov.au/minister/env/2004/mr13feb04.html

This web site clearly outlines the plight of the Great White and the lengths the Australian Government are going to in protecting the species.

As stupid and calous as it sounds I wouldn't be too upset if the 'good ol' boys' miss-timed their paddle outand lost a limb or two.

In fact the more I think about it the more I find it hard to believe that they have continued to do this without the authorties catching up with them. It sounds a bit too far fetched!

 

[Green Hand]

Just read that they are tagging and releasing so maybe my anger was a bit too harsh, however I think you will find that you would need a very specific licence to be catching Great Whites.

Just a little sensitive regarding the environmental idiots out their.

 

[The Chairman]

When I read the first line, I was thinking they were using the surfboards as corks! Bwahahaha!

 

[Scubaroo]

I think the tagging is only part of the state Gamefish Tagging Program - meant for marlin etc to track gamefish movements. The pair's own fishing club states on their website that white sharks are not to be targeted for "tag and release" fishing. However these guys are doing exactly that.

There is a segment going to be shown on a tabloid TV current affairs program tonight in Australia on them, but sadly I think it is going to be "applauding" them for their "daring".

 

[Green Hand]

"The underlying spirit of angling is that the skill of the angler is pitted against the instinct and strength of the fish and the latter is entitled to an even chance for his life"
(From the rules of the Tuna Club of Avalon, Santa Catalina, USA)

And this is their fishing clubs motto!!??! Alot of skill involved in baiting surfboards I'm sure!!!!!

Hopefully with all the publicity they are getting Fish & Game will pay them a visit.

 

[Green Hand]

Just realised that I thought they were using the boards as corks as well.

I've gotta calm down.

 

[Green Hand]

Have just contacted their club for clarification.

Their rules clearly state "White Sharks are a protected species and CANNOT be targeted....."

 

[Scubaroo]

I've also contacted the club (I grew up in the area), but I'm also loath to encourage complaints to the club because of political issues in NSW - the state government is cuurently looking at introducing a scuba diving licence (i.e. a diving tax), and sadly ongoing friction between diving and fishing interests has meant that fishermen are tending towards siding with the government - so anything that stirs up anti-diver sentiment amongst recreational fisherment has the potential to hurt divers interests in the state. The last thing divers in Oz need is the powerful fishing lobby campaigning for the introduction of diving licences simply because they are subject to paying for recreational fishing licences, and they feel like they have a score to settle. Recent closures to fishing of certain areas where divers can still dive has had an negative impact of diver-fishing relations.

Sucks because I just did a poll on DiveOz, and 58% of divers who responded also fish. Guys who do both are caught in the middle.

You can however write to the NSW Fisheries at information-advisory@fisheries.nsw.gov.au, and lodge any enquiries you may have about this particular fishing practise.

 

[drbill]

"The underlying spirit of angling is that the skill of the angler is pitted against the instinct and strength of the fish and the latter is entitled to an even chance for his life"
(From the rules of the Tuna Club of Avalon, Santa Catalina, USA)

And this is their fishing clubs motto!!??! Alot of skill involved in baiting surfboards I'm sure!!!!!

Hopefully with all the publicity they are getting Fish & Game will pay them a visit.

Interesting that they are using the rules from our own Tuna Club (of which I am NOT a member), a club which in its day did establish some far more sporting approaches to fishing than the thick handlines that were used at the time to catch black sea bass, yellowtail, etc. Of course the Tuna Club rules were probably established over 100 years ago.