An angler got more bite for his buck when he reeled in a 2m bronze whaler shark.
Veteran broadcaster John Markby witnessed the bronze whaler - who he nicknamed Gary - being hauled into Tauranga Bay beach on Monday a week ago.
Mr Markby, a More FM announcer, has returned from a two-week holiday at the Tauranga Bay Holiday Park and said Gary was patrolling the beach for much of that time.
"The shark had been swimming as close as three metres to shore - so very close," Mr Markby said.
"The fisherman caught him, hauled him in and when he got to the shore he cut the line."
Gary took about five minutes to head from the shore into deeper water on his own accord.
"People got out of the water when the shark came in, but then they slowly went back in [afterwards]. You had to pick a safe moment to go swimming between passes.
"These sharks are relatively harmless, apparently, but who would be prepared to risk it?" Mr Markby said.
Gary was one of a number of bronze whalers circling the area, according to Tauranga Bay Holiday Park co-owner Robert Rush.
"There's been two or three actually, coming in most days [last week]. The campers have also been catching them [while fishing] on the Whangaroa harbour mouth.
"It's not often you can say you went swimming with sharks on your holiday - and not have to pay for it."
Department of Conservation marine scientist and shark expert Clinton Duffy said while bronze whalers had narrow teeth for a shark, "you wouldn't want to be bitten".
"If someone is swimming and they see a shark in the 1.5-1.8 metre size range and don't know what it is, the safest thing to do is to get out of the water quickly and quietly, without splashing," Mr Duffy said.
The sharks were very common along the east coast of the North Island at this time of year, feeding on kahawai, mullet, snapper, kingfish and eagle rays.
"It's very common to see bronze whalers in shallow water looking for fish. In calm conditions they will come very close to shore.
"They are usually no threat to swimmers, but they can become aggressive if there is fish blood present," Mr Duffy said.