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Posted by jas on 14:19:39 10/16/03
In Reply to: Bangsticks posted by Lance
: Wouldn't it be nice to have a bangstick when fishing for the biggies. Or just as reassurance when you get that "I'm in the presense of something really big" feeling. You know kinda like having a gun in bear country makes for a better nights sleep. Am I being paranoid? Are they legal and if so where do you get them. Any response would be appreciated.
I don't think a bangstick is neccessary. Besides that, they're dangerous especially from a kayak. I'd hate to see the hole one would leave in a kayak if it went off by accident. Sinking would bring you closer to the sharks you were originally trying to thwart off. If I knew someone had one while out on the water, I would stay well clear of them.
I've been in the middle(on top of) of a couple of feeding frenzies while I was out chasing crashing birds. I didn't stumble upon this activity, I sought it out. If you're worried about this, I'd stay away from solid concentrations of marine activity.
What might calm the nerves as well would be going over the various posts people have left over the past few years. You won't find too many scary shark encounters if any. I've heard of maybe 2 in the past couple of years and neither of them drew contact with the shark. They just surfaced, looked around, and submerged never to be seen again.
The more you get on the water, the more your fear will diminish. I think a healthy respect for what's out there is a good thing. I think sharks have more reason to fear man than the other way around. Keep in mind how large most yaks are. At 12ft plus, this is an impressive size even for most sharks. At worst, one might surface to take a peek at the massive structure moving along the top. As menacing as that sounds, that's the extent of 99.9% of the shark/kayak encounters. I know of only 3 of these such encounters over the past 5 or 6 years. All have resulted in good stories and nothing more.
jas
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