Hervey Bay resident warns after shark seen at Burrum River

A recreational fisherman is warning others after hooking a 1.5m bull shark from his Fraser Coast jetty, and a drone photo has captured what appears to be a tiger shark at Woodgate.

A Fraser Coast resident and recreational fisher and his son have opted against swimming in the Burrum River after multiple bull shark sightings.

Steve Toyer moved to Pacific Haven from the Gold Coast six months ago and has been surprised at how prevalent sharks were.

He said he and his son Peter, 24, had caught three sharks in two weeks.

“It was only out of five or six attempts and just by using a bigger bit of bait and a double gang hook,” Mr Toyer said.

“We caught them all in the same spot, from my jetty.”

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When he posted a photo of a 1.5m bull shark his son had caught to the Hervey Bay Community Board Facebook page, hundreds of people responded to the post, which now has 766 reactions and 330 comments.

This bull shark caught at Burrum River was a fisherman’s third catch in two weeks.

Tiger shark encounter at popular Woodgate Beach

The comments section was filled with sightings and “put them back in the water” comments.

“They were all caught and safely released back into the river,” Mr Toyer said.

“We wanted to know if they were in the river system, in an effort to seeing if swimming was an option.

“We’ve decided against it.

“Not many people swim in that part of the river, but we saw quite a lot of people swimming on Australia Day, in the spots usually where the sharks are found.

“They are absolutely everywhere along the Queensland coast. When swimming in rivers you have to stay close to the shore.”

The tiger shark spotted off Woodgate. JC‘s Fishing Shenanigans’ Jeremy Chaseling snapped this image.

And the sightings are not the only shark business in town right now.

JC‘s Fishing Shenanigans’ Jeremy Chaseling recently posted a stunning aerial photo of a shark to on Facebook, showing what appears to be a large shark just off the shore of Woodgate.

“Just a local I have been seeing around lately, the boat ramp is in the background for reference,” Mr Chaseling wrote on January 23.

A local commented on the photo: “That tiger shark‘s been hanging around for over a year now”.

Mr Chaseling said he’d seen more sharks since using a drone for footage but couldn’t say whether there were more in the water or not because he hadn’t had a chance to view them from the air in the past.

Earlier in January 2023, three teenage girls got the “fright of their life” when they realised they‘d been swimming with a tiger shark at the popular Bundaberg region beach.

The tiger shark spotted off Woodgate. The image shows the shark and the proximity to the jetty. Photo: JC‘s Fishing Shenanigans’ Jeremy Chaseling.

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Shark safety tips

Do your part. Be SharkSmart

Swim between the flags at patrolled beaches and check signage

Have a buddy and look out for each other

Avoid swimming at dawn or dusk

Reduce risk, avoid schools of bait fishing or diving birds

Keep fish waste and food scraps out of the water where people swim

Swim in clear water away from fishers

– a spokesperson for Fisheries Queensland.