That was until the team, comprised of Adam Maddalena and Glenn Lambert, decided to test their luck with an early morning bait drop on January 7. 

“This was going to be the quietest time on the river since holiday season was well under way and boat traffic was well above normal for this time of year,” Adam said.

They picked their location in Taree and set in for a long wait.

“Glenn decided to go have a sleep and i said I'd look after the lines and make sure tension was kept on both, because as the tide starts to slow the lines become slack and hook-up rate reduces,” Adam said.

At about 3am, Adam checked the lines.

As he was doing so, his line started to unravel.

“Once I felt that circle hook set in the jaw, I slipped the reel into strike and got a solid hook set and then realised i was about to go into battle against another big river bull,” Adam said.

Adam locked himself onto the reel and began to bring the shark in.

“I’d gain line and then it would take twice as much back taking 200 to 300 metre runs.

“I slipped the drag up to 70 pounds and dropped the reel into low gear and started to crank as fast as i could with Glenn giving me words of encouragement or abusing me for waking him from his sleep, can't quite remember which way it went,” he laughed.

Within 20 minutes, Adam managed to get the shark to the bank while Glenn applied a tail rope. 

Adam said the shark measured 2.76 metres and was “clean and healthy.” 

“We got some quick photos before placing the tag in her for the DPI game fish tagging program,” Adam said.

“We got her on her way and she swam off into the darkness.”

Adam added that anyone can join the tagging program on the NSW DPI website.