Yakangler Spotlight on moi

Author: josh

Category: News

Published on Tuesday, 05 January 2010 18:20

Written by Josh

Yakangler website invited me to take part in an interview, which they've featured as the current Yakangler Spotlight article. Topics discussed include my thoughts on kayak fishing in Australia, parts of the world I'd like to go yak fishing in before I die, encounters with gargantuans from the deep, my choice of kayak and even some elucidation on my musical tastes! One question asked of me is one I receive often - usually by curious customers - and I provided my typical response:

(YA) Do you ever worry about a Great White skyrocketing your yak like you see on all those nature shows?

(JH) No, I don't and here's why. Whenever you see that kind of footage, it's either a shark hitting a seal, or a shark grabbing a mangled fish tied to a stick. In the case of the latter, these sharks are practically trained to do it. As for seals, well, it's impossible for a shark to be unsure if a seal is in fact a meal. The smell alone is the only cue a shark needs. What I'm suggesting is that in these instances, the shark is completely confident that the object it is leaping for is in fact food waiting to be taken. That scenario is incredibly unlikely on a kayak, which is probably why it's never happened before, except for old historical accounts of it happening when seal skins were used as makeshift kayak skins and sails (during attempted Bass Straight crossings from Victoria to Tasmania).

In my experience, when a great white shark approaches a kayak, it will do so will a high degree of curiosity - but not certainty. It will come up and have a look and more importantly, come up and have a sniff. It will try to determine if the kayak is food of some kind, not brazenly just leap out and snap out at the occupant.

What does concern me about sharks, however, is the very real possibility that a shark might take a big bite of the rudder and damage the transom. If one was fishing 3 mile off shore and their transom was chomped off it would not be pretty. That's what almost happened to me and that’s exactly why I now use a shark shield. I'm not worried about being eaten by a shark, but I do consider the possibility of hull breach by way of shark bite. That’s why I now use a shark shield. It's comforting to know that cases of this happening are rare to say the least, but guys like myself put ourselves in the position where it is possible.

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