Four boys have gone viral online after reeling a shark on to the beach at Pāuanui yesterday, then casually pulling the hook out of its mouth and letting the shark go.
The moment four boys reeled in a shark on to the beach at Pāuanui has been caught on camera.
The boys began their adventure over the harbour mouth at Tairua yesterday, taking a dinghy across to Pāuanui, letting out the line on their way over to go shark fishing.
Oncethe shark was on the line, Quade, Keegan, Aston and Caleb went ashore on Pāuanui Beach to bring it in.
The 45-minute marathon was caught on camera by Matt Worn, who runs the Facebook group What’s on at Pauanui, with the video racking up more than 130,000 views since it was posted yesterday.
Worn was walking on the beach when he saw the teenagers had caught something.
“Didn’t expect it to take 45 minutes and be a shark,” said Worn.
A video of four boys reeling in a shark on the beach at Pāuanui has gone viral. Photo / What's on at Pauanui
Once they got the shark on to the beach, the boys worked together to take the hook out of its mouth, with one of them straddling the fish and pushing it back into the ocean.
Quade and Keegan’s father, Shayne Johnson, said they’re a fishing-mad family.
“We’re doing it non-stop. When we’re not working, we’re fishing.”
Johnson said it was “history repeating itself” with the kids going shark fishing – just like he did when he was growing up.
Bronze whaler sharks are common in the area, especially when the water is at the warmer end of its annual range, Johnson said, adding that the species was “pretty mellow” and they don’t go out of their way to bite.
Johnson said the boys catch and release.
“I said to my boys, you don’t kill anything or harm it unless you’re going to eat it, right?
