First Impressions By Brendan Horan

I was looking forward to last Sunday as it was my first opportunity in quite a while to get out on the ocean with friends and fish.

I was up and ready at 5am - the blue time, as my son describes it. At dawn the sky changes from dark to a translucent blue; many people miss this as they're still pushing zzzs but it is a true joy for the early riser.

By 6.30am we were on the water and the weather was magnificent. The sea was calm and glassy, with not a cloud in the sky.

The fish, however, were not co-operating as, although we could see them on the sounder they were not on the bite. But we did manage to land a few.

At one stage a large blue shark lazily approached the boat attracted by the burley bag. Now, burley smells good to sharks and looks solid but it's actually churned-up meal. As the shark bit into the bag the bulk of the burley exploded in a cloud and drifted harmlessly past the shark, dissipating in the sea.

We managed to get some good close-up photos of the shark before it swam away in search of its next easy bite.

By early afternoon we had enough fish for a feed and headed home. So far it had been a fantastic day but, off the water, it was a far different story for me. I arrived home to find I was front-page news. To say I was shocked and disgusted is a gross understatement. I can't share my side of the story right now as I am taking legal action, but I wish to thank the many special friends and strangers for their messages and actions of support.

The past week has been quite surreal and, as I turned on the news to find out the next instalment, I couldn't help thinking of that lazy blue shark.