While kayak fishing in the Bay of Plenty in remote eastern New Zealand, kayak angler Matt Wells of Nomadic Kayak Fishing found himself surrounded by a school of sharks, making for his second epic shark encounter caught on film in less than three months.
After his first viral encounter in which Wells appeared to be hunted by a large shark for several minutes, Wells wasted little time in getting back on the water with his rod in hand.
Kayak fishing for kingfish in remote New Zealand Bay of Plenty
Wells, a van-lifer and YouTuber, set out in hope of catching his next meal noting that he had last been fishing in the Bay of Plenty about a year ago.
“In my experience the sharks can get a little bit out of control in the summer months hence why I’ve waited until the middle of autumn to come back here,” Wells explained.
Wells hooked into a tuna early on as he headed out to the reef he had marked for kingfish, noting that he’s lost many kingfish to sharks here in the past. It wasn’t long before Wells hooked into a kingfish as well, but quickly Wells felt something was amiss.
“That feels very bad,” Wells said as he reeled in the kingfish. “He might be getting attacked.”
Luckily, the kingfish was unscathed, just a lively fish who went on to whack Wells with the jig – this time.
Surrounded by sharks on a kayak
Around the fourteen minute mark in Well’s video he hooks into another angry kingfish.
“Oh wow he’s heavy,” said Wells. “He’s coming up easy now…oh no. He just got eaten… I worried this was going to happen.”
It was around this point that Wells realized there were not one, but two sharks at play – a pair quickly joined by two more sharks all intent on stealing Wells’ kingfish.
“He’s getting eaten underneath the boat!” Wells exclaimed. “This is going to get ugly, isn’t it?”
Wells estimated that there were about four sharks circling his fish and his boat when the shark with the fish in his mouth cut the assist hook off. Wells recovered the jig.
“I don’t think we’ve waited long enough into the season for the sharks to go away. They’re definitely still here,” Wells observed.
Not long after Wells set to reeling in another kingfish only for this fish too to find itself in the jaws of a shark. During the battle several other sharks surfaced off the bow of Well’s kayak.
“There’s like five of them,” said Wells. “That is the most sharks I’ve seen around the kayak at once.”
Beneath the water the shark with the kingfish in his mouth took Wells for a little ride, dragging him toward shore, before spitting out the just kingfish head. Wells reckoned that there were probably a few handfuls of meat left in the head, so he took the fish head back to his van to cook and eat where he made spicy mayo poke bowls.
Why risk kayak fishing in shark invested waters?
While sticking his hand and GoPro in the water to get underwater footage of the sharks, Wells noted that it’s probably not the best idea for him to stick his hand in the water with five hungry sharks circling.
Ocean kayak fishing in New Zealand comes with a host of risks, but even after some of Wells’ wilder encounters with sharks, he’s the first to maintain that encounters with large marine wildlife is a risk of kayak fishing in the ocean.
“You’re stepping into their house so you have to be respectful,” Wells explained in his initial viral video after being followed by a large shark. “That’s sort of the risk you take.”
