Shark encounter - what to do

[taggermike]

Get any baits out of the wate. Keep the deck blood free if possible. paddling away quickly or zig zagging might get you away from a scent area, but seriously, you're not out running a shark on a kayak. Push them away if they're that close. If you're getting bumped hard or bitten give em all you have with some thing solid. Sharks have some of the most refined and evolved sences on earth. They also have electro detection so sensitive they can "feel" preys' muscles moving. My thoughts are just the outfall from a bait tank full of stressed baits might leave a detectable scent trail. Or a bait pump submerged in the water might put out an electric field. Since a kayak is basicly a big hollow sounding chamber, like an accustic guitar body, the sound of a bait pump inside a yak will be amplified and sent in to the water. Not saying this to scare any one, just to point out trying to be fully stealth would be tough. Do what you can about sents n defend your self. Mikr