Want a shark? Sydney harbour is full of them

[Snatcher]

Took this off a Sydney forum



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From: Whitley Bay,Northumberland
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As a consequence of my Australian holiday still subscribe to a Sydney fishing forum.Noticed this posting yesterday about sharks in the harbour.It follows hot on the heels of two shark attaks last week.The first one in which a navy diver got badly mauled in Sydney harbour.He just survived but had a had a hand bitten off during the attack.The next day a surfer was attacked on Bondi beach and was badly bitten on the hand and arm ohmy.gif

This is the posting and it makes scarey reading!!!

Swimmers at risk as sharks rule the waves

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OUR surf beaches are protected by nets and patrolled by professional lifeguards but it's a different story in the harbour, where packs of sharks have been sighted in the past week.
Harbour fishing guide Craig McGill says "there are so many sharks out there at the moment, it's ridiculous".
"There should be some kind of authority warning people about the sharks. No one should be swimming at the moment," McGill says.
Anglers are struggling to get fish to the boat, with numerous kingfish cut in half and a report of one fish being chased by a shark and eventually jumping into a boat.
Boat ramp chat is abuzz with shark sightings.
Big hammerheads are eating kingfish around Garden Island, where a kayaker saw a solid whaler shark, and anglers at the Gladesville Bridge have hooked unstoppables.
At Clifton Gardens, anglers are losing fish after fish to sharks, while three big whalers were seen off Dobroyd Point.
But the worrying thing isn't just the numbers of sharks - it's the size of them. Fishing guides have had two separate encounters with massive tiger sharks off Cobblers Beach near Balmoral. The sharks were said to be as long as their 4.5-metre boats
With acres of surface fish splashing all over the harbour, the sharks are widespread. Think twice about swimming at dawn and dusk.
With the water temperature hitting 23 degrees, the harbour fishing has hotted up. For most anglers, kingfish reign supreme. Oodles of the scrappers can be anywhere from Garden Island to Seaforth.
Although most of the kingfish are rats, McGill landed a haul of big ones to 10 kilograms from North Head during the week. Some decent tailor are mixed in with them.
Meanwhile, the run of bad luck is over for our man on the Central Coast. After failing to land a marlin off Terrigal, skipper Scott Thorrington steamed to Port Stephens for a 110-kilogram blue marlin.
But it's Glenn Hunter who has been on fire, averaging two blue marlin a day on lures off Port Stephens, quite a feat given the poor hook-up rate on billfish.
Dolphin fish to seven kilograms have been taken around floating logs, while morwong and solid snapper are in 40 fathoms off Terrigal. Closer in, The Haven has frigate mackerel or "leadies" and bonito.
There are school jewfish around the bridges in the Hawkesbury and flathead on the drifts across the mouth. Tailor and hammerhead sharks are common in Broken Bay, where guide Peter le Blang has been scoring kingfish.
Le Blang has seen black marlin on six of the past eight trips to Long Reef, which is still swarming with small kingfish. The deeper reefs such as Trawleys off Palm Beach have big kings, we're told.
Narrabeen Bait says the beaches are producing good feeds of whiting and solid bream on live worms. On Thursday, a 1.1-metre flathead was landed in front of the local lake. The fish's head was wider than the angler's size 12 shoe. Sensibly, he set the big girl free.
Fishing out of Sydney, the charter boat Allie Hunter has been landing plenty of dolphin fish. Skipper Hovig Aslanian lost a 20-kilogram fish that was hooked in the head.
A few marlin have been spotted in 85 fathoms between Long Reef and the 12 Mile.
The flathead fishing around Towra, where the blue swimmer crabs should be running, and in Port Hacking has been excellent.
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[PanamaJack]

OUR surf beaches are protected by nets and patrolled by professional lifeguards but it's a different story in the harbour, where packs of sharks have been sighted in the past week.
Harbour fishing guide Craig McGill says "there are so many sharks out there at the moment, it's ridiculous".

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And of course what they don't tell you about the Shark nets is that they DON'T enclose the beach. They tend to be laid in a straight line out from the surf and in many cases the Sharks are actually ensnared swimming out from the shore side. Scary!

Looking back at one of Zane Grey's books he used to fish from Watson's Bay which I believe is in from the 'Sydney Heads'. The first Shark he caught there was a Tiger 13' 10" long and weighing 1036lbs. So not a lot seems to have changed.

[Snatcher]

Yep we visited Watsons Bay on our holiday,a lovely spot



On this one me and my daughter above Watsons Bay with the Harbour Bridge on the horizon



This is the girls having a paddle at Watsons Bay



- this is before the news of the 2 shark attacks broke.You would certainly not find me swimming in there !!!

[Snatcher]

Another shark attack in the Sydney area,this on happened on Sunday morning.This is from a Sydney fishing forum -


Yeah mate, A 15-16 year old surfer got bitten on the leg/ankle at 6:45am on sunday at Avalon Beach.
The media have lapped it up once again.
I think he has had surgery and is recovering.

I was talking to a mate of mine who surfs at avalon alot and he said he has heard that there have been 2 sharks hanging around Avalon beach for a few weeks.
He was out sitting on his board and with some other surfers when they all paddled in, He later found out it was because one had swum underneath them. hahaha

There is apparently a big Bull shark hanging around one of the marinas in Pittwater too. I think ill be staying out of the water for a while.


Snatcher