Australian shark adventure

As we you would expect the” boss man” sent me to Australia to hunt down one of the worlds most feared creatures, the common every day man eating shark. I grew up in a shark fishing environment, so for me these feared creatures are not only one of my favoured sports species but also I believe that they are the sexiest fish that swim our seas.

Clean teeth are healthy teeth?

here is no shortage of boats to choose from

One of the many monsters taken during the contest

Here is an example of the many charter boats on offer

Sharks come in all shapes and sizes. Some that come to mind are the Great White and Mako shakes but this is just the tip of the iceberg. In Australia there are so many different species that I would need a year to cover all the different forms of shark fishing. In this short story I will cover the world of the Blue shark.

Berigui is a small town situated on the saphire coast almost half way between Sydney and Melbourne. If fishing was a religion then Bermagui is our Mecca. The annual international deep-sea tournament is fishing’s high point. I was there to pray to the god of the deep blue along with hundreds of other hard-core fishermen. The contest rules are based on a point system that allows for several different species to be captured. As with all international contests, tagging is a vital aspect. Only fish may be kept: one if it your first fish of that species or if the fish is wounded to the point that it will not survive after being released.

The last weekend in January a sleepy fishing port explodes with fishing fever. People from all over the world come together to catch a dream. During this period prices for these charter boats are not cheap. I can tell you I saw boats that would cost an arm and a leg just to buy the motor let alone the boat. So I can tell all our reader to steer clear of Bermagui during this period.

The good news is that we have found boats that will not cost you’re your life savings. The advantage of using these charter boats is they supply all the equipment. Most importantly they have the knowledge of the local waters and where the monsters are hiding. There are a number of charter boats that offer packages from 1200(AU$) a day down to a more acceptable price of 75 (AU$) for four days fishing. It is logic the fish don’t discriminate between the different priced boats. What you get for your money is a teak deck and flash fancy boat but we are all different in both taste and budgets. For me I love nothing more than a smaller boat. The reason for this is I’m there to fish not drink Champaign!

Now the important part of this article! How the hell do you catch theseman-eaters? Easy just throw you best mates poodle on a hook and hey presto you have it. No not at all the real method is cubing. This is method that consists of throwing cubes of smelly oily fish into the water to create a slick of fish “bits”. This is like leaving a trail of Mc Donald’s gift cards for a hungry builder. The only catch for the shark is that one of the many cubes has a sharpened hook as a surprise once eaten then it’s on for young and old.

Once landed these fish are at there most threatening I have read countless articles about shark going nuts and chewing seats and any thing and any one in there path. So if you choose to take up this sport be prepared for the odd surprise. My point of view is to tag these fish and let them swim back form where they have come. After all we have all heard of the stories of the Asian fleets that kill thousands of fish each year just for their dorsal fins. Please if you have not heard of this do a little home work and never order shark fin soup. You are as guilty as the fishermen that hunt these breath-taking predators. By all means if you are in Australia give this style of game fishing a go all I can say is it’s a blast

Here are a couple of examples of what is on offer in Bermagui