SHARKS A CATCH IN BROADY
WHEN thinking of the species targeted in our Broadwater we usually think bream, flathead and perhaps the odd tailor.
Traditional thinking is the bigger species are offshore on the reefs, so it’s light gear inside and heavy tackle offshore.
But there are some big predators in the Broadwater and they are a lot of fun to catch.
Sharks, and lots of them, call the Broadwater home.
You don’t need a massive game boat to catch them or an expensive game rod, you can have the thrill of a catch in a tinnie – believe me it is fun.
Leigh Holtsbaum is a marine biology teacher at The Southport School and may have caught more Broadwater bull sharks than anyone else.
Over 20 years he’s caught, tagged and released thousands.
He once caught 20 sharks in one session, including a massive Tiger shark that ate the shark that Leigh had hooked and was fighting at the time.
Leigh is passionate about catching sharks not because he sees them as a threat, but rather because he loves them.
He understands the key role they play in keeping a healthy ecosystem for recreational fish like flathead and whiting.
“Imagine if there wasn’t an apex predator, then fish like flathead and bream would flourish for a period, however they would eventually annihilate their food source, mainly prawns and smaller fish, eventually they would not have any food source left to eat and the system would break down,” Leigh says.
In short, sharks are not the enemy but an angler’s friend.
It’s why Leigh and others who target sharks encourage catch and release fishing.
I have been out with Leigh a few times and always had luck.
Catching bait can be more tricky than landing sharks.
Bull sharks have poor eyesight and rely on vibrations from bait fish to locate them.
That is not to say you will not catch them on anything other than a live bait, you will, it might just take a little longer.
Last time with Leigh we couldn’t catching a live mullet as bait so we used a dead one.
Floating it out the back of Leigh’s tinnie anchored in the Broadwater channel, after about 20 minutes I was fighting 2m bull shark. Leigh tagged it, we pulled the barbless hooks and it was free to go.
I’d urge those new to shark fishing to fish in pairs as it’s easier trying to tag and release.
Don’t try to pull the sharks into the boat – that is a mistake you will only make once.
Never use stainless hooks; you don’t need them and it is just cruel to leave in their jaws.
You don’t need a heavy set up to chase them, just an 8kg rod and 30lb braid, onto a 100lb leader and 150lb multistrand wire trace and a 8/0 circle hook. Try placing one bait with a heavier sinker getting towards the bottom and another with a lighter sinker sitting a couple of meters from the surface. Have fun