Katherine man Arnold von Senden couldn't believe his eyes when he reeled in this bull shark when fishing on the Edith River last week.
A KATHERINE fisherman got the surprise of his life last weekend at Edith River when he hauled up what he guessed must be a big barramundi, only to be greeted by the snub-nose and razor-teeth of a 109cm bull shark.
Arnold von Senden was enjoying an evening’s fishing with his wife Levina and 15 year old daughter Sheyenne, when the river yielded an unexpected offering.
“I was hoping for a big barra, or thought it might be a catfish, but I was using a hundred pound line, and it just burnt through my fingers ... it pulled so differently,” Mr von Senden said.
The hobby fisherman who moved from Mount Isa to Edith Farms about 20 years ago, said he has been fishing the river there ever since - but a shark was the last thing he’d expected to find hooked on his line.
Mr von Senden said the times when he’d fish in knee-deep water would now well and truly be over.
“Obviously it’s just not salties we have to be aware of, but also these ferocious predators as well,” he said.
Read the full story in this week's May 16 edition of the Katherine Times