# *shark fishing help!!!!!!!!!



## ratred611 (Dec 27, 2008)

im usually a bay fisherman. but i .I took a trip to holly beach in the past and waded for some specs and reds and loved it. Ive been wanting to start shark fishing the surf but really am clueless where to start. what # test line to use. hooks Best bait etc. id like to fish the high island or gilchrist surf. do tides matter when surf fishing? you dont have to give me your secrets or your honey holes but any tips on how to get started would be appreciated.


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## chazbo (Sep 7, 2006)

The Surfmasters website, and Extreme Coast, are more dialed into shark fishing. I suggest you go there, and do some searches....you'll find a ton of info....


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## daddyhoney (Dec 4, 2006)

Beach front shark fishing is like bay trout and red fishing, you can't learn it all in one season. I would first encourage you to read up by searching old posts on this board just to get a knowledge base. Shark fishing can be just as in depth as you want to make it. 

From the beach there are a couple of three kinds of sharkers. There are those with the mamma jamma beasty boy reels and twenty pound baits who lay in wait for days on end hoping for jaws to take up the cause. Ya got to be physically fit because it is rodeo time and somebody can get hut real quick.

The second and most common group fish the more frequent takers which run 4 1/2 to 6' as the norm and are a whoot to boot. Long rods in the 10-12' catagory are the standard for heaving the "eight ounces of weight and bait" in the direction of the third bar. Sharks will come in shallow but between the second and third is good and past the third is "more gooder." Most sharkers are using conventional casting reels but do not discount a quality spinner in the apropriate size. I use the Penn gs535 reels on 12' Ocean Master rods ($120 at Bass Pro shop) along with a few other variations. My buddy uses Penn gs555 ($129) wich has the same drag but different line capacity as the gs535 and gs545. A good old Penn 500 Jigmaster will handle most of them pretty good also. Fishing Tackle Unlimited usually keeps a few referbished Jigmasters on the table behind the register for about $25. I have used them and they fished well for the money. My fishn buddy and I use mostly 50# Power Pro spectra (about 300 yards) as backing with a 40# mono top shot added until the spool is full. I like the extra line capacity that the Power Pro gives but a full spool of #40 mono is fine.
I used to use all manner of multi strand cable and single strand wire for leader until the last five years or so. The wire and cable was necessary to prevent bite off when using a J style hook and hook set was in the guts some where. Now days most of the guys I fish around use big tuna circle hooks in the 12/0-20/0 size based on the bait available and the target. About 5-6' of 150-200# mono leader keepes down the break offs due to abrasion on the sharks hide and the circle hook is almost always in the corner of it's mouth. I cannot remember the last bite off while using circle hooks on this size shark. While fishing for truely big sharks we opt for the J hooks and big cable, back braided to heavy terminal hardware because of the rugged lifestlye it leads. 


Read up on the leader thing and build your own. Hard to find one of quality in a store. 
As far as bait goes, we mostly buy a couple of mullet to get started with and then cast net the first gut for live voluntiers to finish us off. Sharks love sting ray if you can buy it or catch it yourself. I keep out a small rod baited with shrimp for croker, whiting, and such and personally like to fish a live one of those or a live mullet first. For freash dead a mullet head and about two inches of body is prime and the reds like it too. In the event you get hold of a bonita or jack fish, big chunks that can be manuvered into position a always lucky for me. Something special about a chunk of cut bonita.

The best advice I can give you is to learn in person form a veteran while on the beach. Link up and go fishing. Two rules apply to sharkin that should not be violated: #1-keep your hands away from the sharks mouth and #2 is keep your hands away from the sharks mouth! Good luck


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## ratred611 (Dec 27, 2008)

thanks for the help and thanks daddyhoney for such an extensive answer. cant wait to get out there .


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## fish-n-agg (Jan 23, 2006)

First off alot depends on if you have a kayak or another means of getting baits out. If you do then you can easily fish as big of a reel as you want. I use a penn 6/0 wide loaded with 500 yds of 80 izorline and topshoted with 250 yds of 80 momoi diamond for my big reel. Smaller penns are also good options and dont cost an arm and a leg to purchase. My leaders consist of arout 10 to 15' of 600 lb mono conected to 1000lb coated cable. My hooks tend to depend on the size of baits and sharks being targeted. Large baits for large sharks I tend to use a mustad 18/0 to 20/0 circle unless im using a whole ray. In that case I use two 12/0 mustad J hooks. 

If you do not have a kayak then a penn 4/0 wide on a stout surf rod is a good option for wading out and casting. The casting leader tend to range in length depending on whst your confortable casting. On these use smaller hooks with smaller bait, a 12/0 to 14/0 circle is more than enough. 

How much weight to use depends mostly on the current and the weed. You want to use enough to keep the bait were you drop it and for it not to come back in. This can ruin a trip if it keeps happening. I use anywhere from 8 oz to 2lb worth of weight and they are always spider weights.

The type of bait to use also depends on the time of year. Rays are a great year round bait and can stay out for days at time without crabs destroying it. Jack is another good bait to use that can last awhile. Mullet is good when the water temps start to warm up and the blacktips and bulls move in close. Whiting, ladyfish and sandtrout are good baits to use when you cant get much of anything else but need to be checked regularly because of the soft tissue making it easy for crabs to destroy baits fast.

That should be enough to get you started. I will try to think if I missed anything. Good luck.

fish-n-agg


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## Power Fisherman (May 23, 2007)

Here is the SHARK FISHING HANDBOOK.

This has 11 chapters covering it all.









http://www.tx-sharkfishing.com/shark-fishing/


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## LandShark! (Jul 16, 2006)

Nothing covers it all! Learn something new everytime you go out and have fun. Thats what it's all about.


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## LSUtigeryakker (Jan 27, 2009)

might be a stupid question guys but I have two decent size reels, a Penn 209 and 309 level winds spooled with 300yds of #50 Power Pro braided with a decent steel leader both are on 7' rods. 

Is it my understanding the the 10' rods are for casting purposes only and since I have a yak to bring out baits my 7' rods would work fine? 

will this work for shark fishing? do i need larger reels? rods?


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## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

Whatever you do don't go using weedeater line and smashing your crimps with a hammer...



LSUtigeryakker said:


> might be a stupid question guys but I have two decent size reels, a Penn 209 and 309 level winds spooled with 300yds of #50 Power Pro braided with a decent steel leader both are on 7' rods.
> 
> Is it my understanding the the 10' rods are for casting purposes only and since I have a yak to bring out baits my 7' rods would work fine?
> 
> will this work for shark fishing? do i need larger reels? rods?


Your 7' rods will work find, but if you have good 10 footers they'll help elevate the line a little bit more which slightly helps if weed is present plus better for casting if the surf is too rough to yak or you get lazy. As for the reels, what works best is what someone has available so use what you've got. I think most peeps would like something a little bit bigger, Jigmaster, etc... but don't let it stop you from fishing. Better to have your 309 spooled and catch a bull red on the 209 than to sit at home on the cough saving money for bigger reels.


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## ShawnQ (May 21, 2004)

That 309 will land a lot more than you would think...especially with braid backing.

Here's a blacktip just a little under 6', fat, and angry...landed on a 309 w/30lb mono and a cheap 'TuffTip' 10' rod, as budget-friendly as you can get. It was kayaked out using a Pelican Viper (the world's worst surf kayak)

Blacktip Video


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## LSUtigeryakker (Jan 27, 2009)

thanks guys


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## LandShark! (Jul 16, 2006)

Monster Man : Master Hunter of the Deep
by Robert F. Boggs; 1999; paperback; 2001; 
This is the man!

Fishing for Sharks 
by Pete Barrett; 1997; 
Great tips!

The Complete Book of Shark Fishing
by Milt Rosko; 2003; paperback;

*Savage Shore: Life and Death With Nicaragua's Last Shark Hunters* 
by Edward Marriott

*Shark Wanted! Dead or Alive* 
by Hal Scharp, Mary Scharp

*Fifty Years a Hooker* 
by Jeanette Mundus, Frank Mundus
Another great book!

*Successful Shark Fishing* 
by A. J. Campbell, McGraw-Hill Harvard Business School Pr

*Tigers of the Sea: Shark Fishing Around the World* 
by Hugh D. Wise, Hugh Douglas Wise

*Modern Sharking*
Capt. Mark Sampson

Successful Shark Fishing
A. J. Campbell

There is a list of some good reading. May get some nice tips out of a few of them that would work from shore. Hands down Frank is the man in my opinion. If your just starting you may want to read first. I am more of the hands on type and learn from my mistakes or what works. You may want to go with someone here or on another board that has caught a few sharks here on the coast. There are few left of the old timers that were shark fishing when I was a kid around here. None that I know of still fish much anymore. A lot of work and prep go into it. So be prepared and try and find someone close to where you want to fish that wouldn't mind you tagging along.
Not that this is the only way just my opinion.
Good luck and maybe catch you on the sand sometime,
Ron


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