RENEE IS AN ORDINARY MUM
WITH A RATHER UNUSUAL
- AND TERRIFYING – HOBBY
felt confident enough to test her
new-found knowledge. Off she
went, with a spin reel and rod,
and spent weeks fishing at the
Logan River without luck. But
she didn’t give up, and one
afternoon she got lucky.
‘My reel started screaming.
I pulled back and set the hook.
After a quick fight, I had caught
my very first baby shark,’ she
says, her eyes dancing with
excitement at the memory.
Even though it was only
a 60cm baby bull shark, Renee
felt she had won the lottery. She
took a quick snap, de-hooked the
shark, and released it back into
the water. But not before she
said sorry to it in her own way.
‘I felt it was angry at us, so
I gave it a kiss to apologise
and also because I love them
so much. Sharks are like big
puppies with pointy teeth. They
deserve our love too,’ she says.
But catching one was not
enough. With Brad’s help, Renee
increased bait and hook size, and
started fishing for larger sharks.
Finally she hooked a 1.5m
shark, weighing around 40kg.
‘The shark was thrashing
around, snapping... and it was
at that point I fell in love. It was
a weird but exciting moment,’
Renee says, explaining she then
pinned it down to calm it down.
That moment defined her
life. She set up a fishing page,
BnR Shark Fishing, and began
documenting all her catches.
Now she has over 500
followers, and daughter Zoe
loves watching ‘Mummy in
action’. In an effort to protect the
animals, Renee began tagging
them for NSW Department of
Primary Industries. The stories
of shark attacks and deaths do
not bother her, but they have
taught her to be more alert.
‘Sharks are not pets, and we
must respect them and handle
them with utmost caution. They
don’t attack unless you’re a threat
or mistaken for food,’ she says.
By Astha Gupta‘S HA RKS
DESERVE OUR
LOVE TOO!’RENEE SAYS.
Renee taught
herself to fish by
watching YouTube.Renee happily
says sharks
are like
‘puppies with
pointy teeth’.SHARK
WRESTLER!’
‘I’M A MUM
AND A
F
or most of the week,
Renee Gardner is an
average single mum.
She takes her nine-
year-old daughter Zoe
to school, movies, and they
enjoy days at the beach.
But twice a week Renee spends
hours at the Gold Coast’s Logan
River, holding a reel and a 24kg
rod. She isn’t simply fishing – this
35-year-old gets her thrills from
going on the hunt for sharks.
‘Ever since I was a child, I’ve
loved sharks – I collected shark
toys, posters and watched them
on television. I must have seen
Jaws a hundred times,’ Renee
tells New Idea. ‘But I always
imagined sharks were only in the
deep blue and out of reach, so
I never thought too much of it.’
All that changed four years
ago. Renee had a full-time job
as a cleaner when she started
watching shark fishing for
beginners on YouTube.
Her fascination with the
animals led to her dreaming
of catching a great white.
She confided in her friend
Brad, who she had spent many
weekends with fishing on his
3.75m tinny boat.
‘I watched videos on how
to catch them, where to catch
them. I emailed fellow shark
fishers for advice,’ Renee says.
After almost a year, Renee39REAL-LIFE