[Captain]

The shark scare is on again here in Adelaide. A large shark was spotted about 1km out from the West Beach launch yesterday and tonight my wife tells me that there were 3 sharks spotted just off Glenelg. It is all a worry but I love yak fishing too much to let a shark stop me. I just have to trust that the Shark Shield does what it claims and keeps those sharp teeth well away from me.

Brian
Cobra PF

 

[Yakabe]

I hear what you are saying. I hope to never find out if my SS works, but it does give a little piece of mind.

Yakabe.

 

[Captain]

I found out the three so called sharks near Glenelg were actually seals.

Brian
Cobra PF

 

[Zed]

Hey guys,
When you're using your sheild, do you use it all the time? I mean do you consider it mandatory whenever you're in anything slightly salty?

Launch, flip on the SS, rig your gear, start paddling? Like that?

What's the most notorious offender? (Yeah I know AUS is huge and forgive my generalized ignorance) Bullsharks? Whites?

We've got an area close by that adolescent white sharks (~3m max) occasionally show, and in only about 6m of water. This area is adjacent to a lot of heavily used, famous surf breaks --and fine fishing. The sharks have not become a problem, or more likely they are still young enough to be on fin-food. In the back of my head I think about the growing up white, taking his first bite out of the pointy thing on the surface. But that is extremely rare in SoCal, so a shark-shield might be considered paranoid, here.

Thanks for the thoughts,

Z

 

[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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[Scott]

Zed, mate I turn mine on and start paddling. If I am only going for a paddle and not a fish I often don't worry about it. I only use it when out in the areas where the whites down here are seen, adjacent to the sea pens, around the seal colonies or when working a bait school or chumming for other lesser shark species.

Catch ya Scott

 

[something fishy]

hey scott,

sharks arnt something i've given much thought to yet, as i've mainly been in the rivers. however I'm gearing myself up to start hitting the open water in search of palagic species, so sharks are something i should now start thinking about.

How much hard earned currency do you think i need to invest in a shark shield?

 

[Magicrik]

And Scott, if Fishy paying for one how close do i need to stay to him for it to protect me :lol:

 

[Gunston]

Hi All
Does anyone know what's the best thing to if you run into a curious shark?

Chris

 

[Magicrik]

after you finish s%[email protected]!&g your pants, you paddle really really fast.
But really i dont know is there anything you can do?????

 

[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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

 

[Scott]

Guys, personally I think Gatesy is onto something with his not acting like prey theory. My only expereince with this is a yak I detailed on the old forum here; http://com3.runboard.com/baustraliankayakfishingforum.f1.t16

This was pre shark shield days. these days I still paddle with the seals but always have my shield on as to say I was scared at the time was a understatement.

Something Fishy, I was prepared to sell them at cost through the forum for $550 instead of the RRP price of $700 as a service to users but as no one has been interested thus far so I do not think I will bother.

Catch ya Scott

 

[Gunston]

I'm not worried I've got protection :lol: :lol: :lol:

Chris

 

[milan72]

From reading many areas of the net about sharks and the chances of being attacked and what you can do about it I have come up with the following.

Firstly it is not all that common to get attacked while on a Kayak, but it has happened. None fatal from what I know (then again my research has not been extensive). Of course, our southern bro's have more of a chance of an undesirable encounter with a shark because of the seals, fish farming, etc.

What can we do??? Well there is the shark shield. Jury is out on whether it is 100 percent effective in all the different situations but seemingly is definately a deterent for sharks in most cases. Dig deep in your pocket because there are not cheap.

A cheap option http://www.sharkcamo.com. Seems like a great idea, looks cool and very cheap. Available here for 39.95 AUD for a Kayak sticker. How effective is it? Anyones guess unless you believe the spiel they give you on the site.

If going off shore it is always a good idea to go as a group of two or more. Not just for shark safety but general safety. Apparently there is a good case for safety in numbers when it comes to shark attacks on Yaks. Make sure you can paddle faster than your paddle buddy's and if you can't stab them first and paddle like hell. In the off chance that some of you are thinking that you never want to fish with me I should clarify this by saying that I am joking!!! Really I am!! Oh well, another solo paddle for me this weekend i guess

Milan.

 

[Zed]

Is this your river whaler?
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=873
I think this shark is the most dangerous world-wide because it can live in brackish water. So you could be swimming far up from the mouth of a river and still be chomped by a bull.

I discussed "what to do" with some local biologists, and they have said [in regards to whites] if it is swimming around you, watch the body language for signs of aggitation --arching, erratic changes in direction while circling. They are generally surprise attackers from below so one you see is only curious. They have also said that you should not poke or prod a simply curious shark. That could instigate it to turn on you. Just become one with the load in your shorts, and keep a wary eye on it. Oh and keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times.

Aside from the unobtrusive whites, we've got makos and threshers nearshore, here, and also a very rare hammerhead in warm-water years. The makos are small near shore, like 100#, and the threshers can be near 200# close in. I highly recommend a bout with a thresher from a yak. It's about like hooking up to turbine-powered off-shore speedboat.

Thanks,

TZ

edit:
Upon further review, the above IS the river whaler.

 

[Zed]

Kraley,
The one with the infamous hook in the chin? If so, I am. I don't know the guy with the hook, but I know a couple of the other guys out there that day.

That's ~100 miles N of me, roughly. I don't see those guys often, but we've met at events.

I still shiver when I think of "the hook".

Z

 

[Gator]

For anyone who is interested. Shaun at FishYak advises that he sells the shark shield for $525. Now I am sure that he still makes a profit from that; So, I will try to sweet talk him and see if we can't get a better price as a service to the AKFF. Alternatively, I can see if I can't work out something with the factory here in Adelaide. Worth a try anyway!!!

 

[Captain]

In answer to Zed's original question of how long do we keep our ss on. I keep mine on all the time. The idea is to deter the shark before he has a chance to consider you lunch. I don't think there would be anything to stop a great white once he has decided that you are lunch served on a tupperware plate. It was interesting to read the coroners report on the scallop diver killed near Smoky Bay a few years ago. He was wearing a shark shield but had the habit of switching it off when was on the sea floor. This would have given the shark a good chance to look at him and decide to attack. This diver also had the antenna tied to his breather pipe above his head, so when he surfaced one of the electrodes would have been out of the water probably causing the shield to have nil affect. It is also interesting that the brother of this diver recommends the ss for protection against sharks and gives a testimony on the SS website. I like to use the analogy of the ss to a seatbelt, there's no guarantee that a seatbelt will save you but we all know you are safer wearing one. In continueing with this analogy just having a seatbelt in your car is not going to save you in an accident, you need to be wearing it and wearing it correctly. This goes with the ss if you got one then use it and use it correctly and I believe you will have a safer yak fishing experience.

Brian
Cobra PF

 

[Salty Dog]

Hey Gatesy, don't know if you really want to blood the shark. I saw something on tele once, (so it must be true ), where a shark got injured somehow & had some of it's entrails hanging out. It's own blood whipped it into such a frenzy that it was attacking it's own guts!

Now that's tough. Stupid, but tough! :lol:

 

[Scott]

Salty, that has been my experience from a decade of game fishing for sharks. They can be easily deterred when not in a frenzy or p##sed off due to someone tracing them and then sticking a gaff in them but when they are in a frenzy or especially cranky nothing but death will deter them. For this reason I always have my shield on from the moment I start paddling when using it in situations I deem it necessary.

Catch ya Scott