Off Hillaries 6-3-09
Brad and I managed to sneak one last trip in today before I had back to the states with wife and bub....6 wks of cold weather and no fishing. I was keen to have a good day on the water! We started a bit late, and got out to 40m by about 8:30. Wind was a bit stronger than Seabreeze predicted but we set to drifting anyway.
It started out bad for me. Brad caught this beauty red snapper.
He followed it with another and then a 48cm dhuie that was safely released. Meanwhile, I had caught one undersize pink snapper, and lost a big fish just as I was saying to Brad that I was due for a good fish!!! AAARRGGGGHHHH!!! I was spewin'!
It was just about time for us to head in and I told Brad that this was not a good way for me to leave fishing for 6wks...I just wanted one good fish. So I drop down to the bottom, and feel a little tapping, I set the hook!! and it's a tiny fish...I can feel his tiny little headshakes 40meters below me. I begin to reel him up and tell Brad that I managed to catch a little bait thief. I get him about 15m up from the bottom and.....WHAM!!! My rod bends in half and the line starts singing off the reel.
half hour later....hauled this little beauty up from the depths.
a 4.5 foot Bronze Whaler shark. It's the biggest shark I've ever caught and now the biggest fish that I've caught here in Oz. To say I was pleased was an understatement! I would have liked a big Dhuie even more, but that will have to wait til I come back.
Check me out doing my 'Shark Whisperer' impression!
I was amazingly lucky to catch it...I was using 15lb mono with a 40lb trace no wire. He was hooked right in the corner of his mouth so he couldn't bite thru the line.
Do you reckon it's a Bronzie? When I first saw it in the water I reckoned it was a black tip, bc...well....it had black tips on it's fins....but definitely had a clear bronze colour...not grey. Do they interbreed?
So now I can go home to the US a happy man...but now I can't wait to come back and do more fishing as well!
hlokk
Posts: 4290
Date Joined: 04/04/08
According to the shark
According to the shark identification guide i'd say a spinner shark is closest. Says its bronze-grey in colour. Blacktip reef sharks dont get this far down (but there can be exceptions to such rules occasionally, or it could be a species not on the guide).
Good to see you had some line pulled and a nice long fight, even if it wasnt a dhuie.
(i'm assuming you meant 6-03-09 on the date?)
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Addicted to jiggingtill
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Hmm I always thought I'd
Hmm I always thought I'd caught a black tip reef shark, but perhaps it was a spinner shark if that guide is to be belived.
eddie
Posts: 303
Date Joined: 07/02/08
Hey Matt, thanks, I
Hey Matt, thanks, I corrected the title!
Looking at that guide, it could have been the spinner or the Bronzie. The guide says that bronzies have dusky tips as well. To meet the biggest marker in the guide between the two is the dorsal, taller on the bronzie. Going by that, I'd say this was a Bronzie....not that it matters much one way or the other.
I knew the black tips don't come down here...that's why I was a bit confused by his fins.
Thanks for the link to the guide, btw!
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
Great report Eddie
Gave a great trip to the States.
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