Bull Sharks and Bronze Whalers at North Richmond

Reported by Steve Prott, Hawkesbury/Nepean Bass Anglers January 2006 newslettersSmorgas Board Bonanza Boat ramp are buzzing with talk of plenty of bust offs happening around Wisemans Ferry by what are thought to be big mulloway. With plenty of rain over the past few months, the usual jew spots around Wisemans haven’t disappointed anglers keen to land a mulloway. The fish causing havoc haven’t been sighted, but have left little line on reels as they have taken off without showing any respect for anglers attempts to land them.Another species that are likely to cause similar chaos and destruction are sharks. Whaler sharks have been caught in the Hawkesbury for as many years as old timers can remember, and I know some of them who can remember sharks being seen at the North Richmond bridge when the steam train ran to Kurrajong.Next time you see a skier flying past you on the river, think of them as doing some super high speed trolling. There are no known shark attacks that I have been able to find anywhere, but people have been attacked in rivers around Sydney, with injuries and death resulting.More recent stories of the past few years have been of a whaler shark caught at Wilberforce, and another angler I spoke to who saw a huge spray of water erupt as a shark took a duck near the Putty Road bridge at Colo. The boys from Southern Bass also lost a nice sized bass to a shark and were left with nothing but the head.Whalers are known to move into freshwater reaches way upstream from the more traditional saltwater habitats, with these sharks having been seen well above a sets of rapids in freshwater of some of our northern rivers chasing mullet.Tailor are still about as anglers trying for different species are finding out. Tailor are lovers of lures and plastics, which gives those chasing flathead and bream are real surprise at times.Wisemans Ferry and around Lower Portland have been likely locations for an encounter with tailor. It pays to have a reasonable trace on if tailor show up, because they make short work of light line.