Paul Worsteling’s son Jet poses with his
father’s estimated 300kg mako shark
caught on 15kg tackle off St Helens,
Tasmania. The shark was tagged and
released after a two-and-a-half-hour
battle.Photo: India ThompsonNEWSLINES
News and events
affecting gamefishermen
10 - facebook.com/BlueWatermagazine
With water temperatures reaching
19°C over the continental shelf in
January, it was no surprise that
Tasmania’s mako shark season was
on fire, with plentiful numbers of fish
being caught whenever a weather
window presented itself.
The most consistent area was over
the continental shelf on the east coast,
however, the 100m contour also accounted
for some quality fish, including a 265kg
specimen caught off Eaglehawk Neck.
Numerous sharks were also caught in the
shallower waters of Bass Strait, although
their average size is usually smaller.
Fishing off St Helens, Josh Hammersley
had his 7.6m Stabicraft Black Magic
among the big shark action, winning theMako sharks aplenty in Tassie
Tamar Marine Shark Competition with
a 213.8kg mako in early January. They
raised six sharks in six hours of fishing,
three of which were tagged and released.
Two weeks later, Josh was straight
back into it with TV fishing identity Paul
Worsteling and his family aboard. Again
off St Helens, they attracted a mako of
300 to 320kg after two hours of berleying,
which Paul fed a bait on 15kg tackle. It
was 2.5-hours later before he had the
shark alongside for tagging and release.
Josh then motored back to the berley trail
and was greeted by a 150kg blue shark
swimming in the slick. This time, Paul cast
a home-made fly at the shark and soon
found himself locked into another 2.5-hour
battle to bring it close enough for release.The following day, after just two hours of
berleying, another large mako arrived at
the back of Black Magic and Paul decided
the fly rod was coming out again. The big
shark charged at the fly and Paul soon
had another 300kg mako shark attached
to his line. It took him almost four hours
to get the mako boatside, at which stage
it released itself by straightening the
light-gauge hooks. Paul’s task was not
made easy by the long fly rod and short
wire trace. After the celebrations, they
returned to their trail and soon raised a
60kg mako. And so continued Tasmania’s
mako action throughout early summer.- Jonah Yick