Shark dragged my tinnie
Fisherman warns: ’Don’t swim in Lake Orr’
A FISHERMAN has described the terrifying moment a “monster” shark dragged his boat across a Gold Coast lake.
Jake Posa, 27, posted a photo of himself and a friend posing with the huge shark to a Facebook community group, adding the caption: “Don’t swim in Lake Orr.”
About 5pm on Saturday, Mr Posa had cast a line with live bait, hoping to catch a decent trevally. Instead, a large grey mass came hurtling from the depths of the lake. “I just knew it was a shark,” Mr Posa told the Bulletin on Sunday. “It was pretty scary, it was a 2½-hour fight to reel it in and it was dragging my tinnie around like it was nothing – dragging us faster than the motor ever could.”
Mr Posa said without the help of his friend Brendan, he would never had been able to reel in the monster shark.
“We managed to get it to the cove and we put rope around its tail and pulled it up the bank,” he said. “Once we had it on shore, it measured about 2.75ms and I estimated about 250kg-plus.”
A video of the shark lying on the sandbank sparked concerns for its welfare, despite Mr Posa claiming online the shark had been “safely released”.
“We took a quick picture with it and then slid it back into the water. It swam back just fine, no harm was done to it.”
Lake Orr is in the Gold Coast suburb of Varsity Lakes and is often used for canoeing, kayaking and fishing. “I fish quite a lot in that area and the amount of times that you’ll be fishing and then a shark comes up to your boat like – bang – it’s getting pretty crazy now,” he said. “I’ve hooked them probably three of four times before this and lost them.”
The photo quickly attracted hundreds of comments and reactions after it was posted on Saturday afternoon.
Facebook users noted bull sharks were commonly found in the city’s canals, but one woman claimed they were “multiplying rapidly”.
“I’ve been living on the GC since 1981 and to the best of my knowledge, I can recall at least two people and countless dogs (have) been killed by sharks in the local canals,” one man wrote.
“There is a rowing/sailing club on the lake and people do use it for canoeing, kayaking and fishing. Bull sharks do not belong there.
“I saw people swimming (there) the other day when I drove past,” one woman said.
Another said: “Don’t swim in any waters. I used to 30 years ago when I was young and stupid.”