Gold Coast bull shark hotspots revealed by local hunters
FISHERMEN guard their fishing spots fiercely but amateur Gold Coast shark hunters have revealed the city’s hot spots for the toothy predators.
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FISHERMEN guard their fishing spots fiercely but amateur Gold Coast shark hunters have revealed the city’s hot spots for the toothy predators.
Bull sharks are so widespread they are able to be caught in almost any body of water connected to the ocean, researchers and fishermen say.
Griffith University researcher Dr Jonothan Werry monitors the behaviour of the predators using tracking tags for his Urban Bull Shark Project.
He said he has tracked the creatures throughout Gold Coast waterways.
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“I have animals with tracking tags swimming throughout the Gold Coast, so I imagine some of those have been caught and released at some stage,” Dr Werry said.
He said anglers should take care when reeling in potential man-eaters.
SCROLL DOWN FOR LIST OF BULL SHARK HOT SPOTS
“Fishermen need to remember that they are apex predators,” he said.
“Don’t underestimate them, even when they’re tired.”
He said anglers should keep water over the creature’s gills and release them as soon as possible.
“Bull sharks are notorious for eating other bull sharks,” Dr Werry said.
“After putting up a big fight on the line they can be quite tired when they are released, so it can be an easy meal for other sharks.”
Peter Ker administrates the Gold Coast Fishing Fanatics Facebook community and said there were dozens of other sweet spots that anglers kept secret.
“A lot of guys are very quiet about their spots – usually all I can get out of them is the river where the sharks were picked up,” he said.
He said the animals were so widespread they were even caught in the upper reaches of the Coomera River.
“They like hanging around the weir for when smaller freshwater fish are washed into the river – they hang around there waiting for them,” Mr Ker said.
The Paradise Point angler said sharks had been known to swim along drainage pipes into lakes before growing and being unable to swim back out.
“At Palm Beach there is lake that’s not even connected to a creek and they make their way in,” Mr Ker said.
“There is plenty of trevally in there to keep them fed anyway.
“It is a family park down there as well.
“I bet a lot of poodles go missing around that lake – I just hope people are aware of where they swim.”
If you would like to share your bull shark fishing spots with Dr Werry for research purposes, visit: www.oc-research.com
Top six bull shark fishing hot spots
1) Bond University flood gates at Lake Orr. Lake Orr is known as a hot spot for catching eels which, along with species of rays, are apparently a delicacy for bull sharks.
2) Gold Coast City Council Chambers Bundall, Nerang River. While there may be some political sharks lurking nearby, anglers have a lot of luck in the Nerang River behind city hall, right in the middle of the Glitter Strip.
3) Coomera Weir, Coomera River. Juvenile sharks are known to gather around the weir for an
easy feed. Small fish are washed over the weir and into the lower reaches of the river and into the jaws of waiting sharks.
4) Elizabeth Sloper Gardens Lake, Palm Beach. The small lake in a quiet suburb fed by drains that are flooded by large tides is apparently teeming with sharks. They are said to make their way into the lake as juveniles before growing in the isolated creek.
5) Lake Intrepid, at Broadbeach. Behind one of the Gold Coast’s largest shopping centres, Pacific Fair, the area is a “honey pot” for a Chevron Island angler who pulls in sharks up to 1.8m in the evenings.
6) The Broadwater off Muriel Henchman Drive, Main Beach. Calm water means anglers can fish some of the deeper holes in the Broadwater and wait for a large shark without having adjust their lines.