Gummy shark is one of the best eating sharks going and a favourite for southern Aussie anglers. They fight well without being chaotic, and they turn up in plenty of fishable water from bays to offshore grounds.
In Australia, gummies are mainly a southern species, found from WA right across SA, Victoria and Tassie, and up into southern NSW. They cruise sandy bottoms, reef edges, channels and bay systems, from shallow inshore water out to the continental shelf. Big fish often patrol areas with current, broken ground and food moving through.
They mostly feed along the bottom on squid, cuttlefish, crabs, prawns and small fish. Gummies use their nose more than their eyesight, so they are very good at finding a bait in dirty water or at night. They tend to move and feed steadily rather than doing quick burst attacks like some other sharks.
Tide matters because gummies often feed best when water is moving, especially around channel edges, reef drop-offs and bay entrances. Low light is a big plus, with dawn, dusk and night usually better than bright middle-of-the-day conditions. Light to moderate wind is generally easier to fish and can help stir up food, but strong wind makes boat control and bait presentation harder. Small to moderate swell can switch them on offshore by adding movement and scent spread, while big messy swell usually makes things tougher.
A sturdy 6–10 kg boat outfit or a solid surf setup works well, with a running sinker or pulley rig and strong circle hooks. Fresh squid, salmon, trevally and fish fillets are top baits, and a neat bait that stays on the hook matters more than anything fancy. Use enough lead to hold bottom and fish close to the structure or channel edge, not miles away from it.
Despite the name, adult gummy sharks don’t have the sharp teeth people expect from a shark — they’ve got flat crushing plates for crunching shellfish and cephalopods.