# What does it take to start shark surf fishing??



## Lpguy (Jul 15, 2004)

I have wade fished for trout for a few year but never fished in the surf.. What would it take to start shark fishing in the surf for someone who doesnt have a whole lot of start up money for it??


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## gundoctor (May 20, 2004)

A entry level rig for sharks in the surf, can be as cheap as a used Jigmaster 500 reel from Ebay on a Shakespeare Ugly stick from Academy. A use jigmaster in good shape, will serve you well for many years. The Ugly stick on the other hand, is not the best bang for the buck. 
I like graphite rods for surf casting. The better ones, like Breakaway, will cost you a arm and a leg. A better rod for some one on a budget is the BPS Ocean master 12ft or the Tica 12ft. Those rods will run $90-$120 and work very well with a Jigmaster size reel. Load it with 30# mono and you are set for sharks up to 5/6ft.
If you want to upgrade the reel, get something like the GS 545/555 Penn. This would still be a 30# class rig.


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## herefishy (Jul 9, 2004)

This site might help ya. I'm new to this too. Gave me an idea of what to go with before I got on this board.
http://www.surf-masters.com/articles/Deaver/tackle.htm


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## ZenDaddy (May 22, 2004)

*Gettin' ya' started for less than 100 bucks!*

Depends on how serious you are. If your first love is trout fishing spend your money there. I started surf-fishing with a 50 dollar surf-rod (12' footer) from Bass Pro Shop and a 39.99 Diawa spinning reel. I'd recommend 25 or 30-pound test. I prefer the Cajun Red Lightning - not sure why. Could be the color, the fact it casts nice and has held up well. I also use a prepackaged leader from BassPro shop. It's the Red Drum Rig from H&H tackle. One leader will run you about $3.00. If you are ambitious you can cut the J hook off and add a larger circle hook and crimp it on. Pick up a couple of leaders and some heavy surf weights. The weights will run you another couple of bucks. Get the heaviest weights they have. Heavy weights may not resonate correctly with a wade fisherman, but the heavier the better. It will allow for a longer cast, it will keep your weight on the bottom longer and it will slow the shark down when you are reeling him in. 



I know the comment about a heavy weight will help a longer cast will cause all kinds of clamor on this board â€" but the reality is for us newbieâ€™s a heavy weight will pull more line out. (It is not an excuse for good technique and practice â€"but it works.)



Youâ€™ll be surf fishing for shark for less than $100.00. Iâ€™ve caught up to 4 Â½ foot sharks with the rig I outlined above. For bigger sharks I used exactly what GunDocter recommended. A 12â€™ foot ocean master with a jig master reel. Iâ€™ve love taking it out in the surf with me. I think I may upgrade to the Penn 555. From here you can start making your own leaders. Check out Skipjacks web-sight for ideas. Here's where it gets expensive.



Not sure your fishing expertise, but I start with sharks in the 3-4 Â½ foot range. Pulling them out of the water is a little trickier than I imagined. They get kind of crazy at the thought of being beached. A little experience with smaller sharks is a necessity before moving up. Iâ€™ve had many spit the hook in a couple of feet of water.



Read the article Herefishy posted. There are also great articles about the beach and setting up pvc piping etc.



Oh yeah, a lifejacket is cheap, keeps the sun off your body â€¦ and may just save your life!


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## TexLax33 (Jul 4, 2004)

*good guide*

this has a good guide from a page that surfrat told me about.
http://www.floridasharkfishing.net/Default.aspx?tabid=91


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## herefishy (Jul 9, 2004)

Here is an overall outlook of shark fishing. I've been using the tips and just started sharkin.

http://groups.msn.com/SHARKFISHINGGROUP/welcome.msnw


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## Lpguy (Jul 15, 2004)

Thanksfor all the replies, I love trout fishing but catching a shark just seems like alot more fun. Ill pobably have to make a run to basspro or something to shop around.


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## herefishy (Jul 9, 2004)

lpguy..
Like i said I'm new to this as well. Ant honestly not that successful so far, only been out a couple times. If ya wanna hook up and give it whirl sometime let me know.


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## shrky2413 (May 22, 2004)

Unlike Gundoc I love my Uglystiks. I also have 3 12' OceanMasters. You can get the OM's from Wendell at catfishsupply.com He has had killer deals on them in the past. His email is [email protected] drop him a line and tell him you are from the CSF board. I think I payed $90 plus shipping for mine. As far as reels go you will probably get 100 different answers. For casting a 4/0 penn is good and holds enough 30# line to handle pretty good fish. Check out your local pawnshops and ebay. You may also consider Okuma's reels. They will not out last a Penn by any means but they are good casting reels and are very inexpensive at Academy. I also have a penn 3/0 I love. For casting I prefer a reel that will hold 300 to 400 yds of 30#mono. Hope I have helped. If you have any further questions email me and I will give you my phone number. [email protected]


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## ArtificialOnly (Jun 21, 2004)

What do yall usually use for bait and how do you rig it? do you use 2 peices of bait per rod? When is the best time to shark fish? Is shark fishing at night more productive than in the day? Do the tides have much impact on this type of fishing? I wade and kayak for trout alot but want to try this shark fishing, it sounds like fun. How far out in the surf would you recomend kayaking and droping the shark line to get into some 3-6 footers? thanks in advance


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## gundoctor (May 20, 2004)

ArtificialOnly said:


> What do yall usually use for bait and how do you rig it? do you use 2 peices of bait per rod? When is the best time to shark fish? Is shark fishing at night more productive than in the day? Do the tides have much impact on this type of fishing? I wade and kayak for trout alot but want to try this shark fishing, it sounds like fun. How far out in the surf would you recomend kayaking and droping the shark line to get into some 3-6 footers? thanks in advance


I put shark baits as close in as the wade gut and as far out as 500 yds. It all depends on water conditions, where the bait is in the surf and the size of reel I'm using.
The best bait is usually something out of the water you are fishing in. Mullet, shad, skip jack, whiting, sand trout, and sheephead are all good bait, either as cut bait or whole. Those fish used as live bait is even better. If you are casting out your baits, cut bait is easier to get long distances with.
Big baits like a ray or big chunk of jack, on heavy tackle, are generally put out past the third bar.
If you are yaking out your bait, I wouldn't recomend going past the point where you have at least half the line left on your spool. You got to have something left to fight the fish with if you get a hookup.
Bigger sharks seem to come closer to the beach in the late evening and stay until morning. Smaller sharks are there all the time. At least that has been my experience.
I only put one bait on a rod, I may put several hooks in that piece of bait, depending on its size. 
Questions about tides will get more answers than you want to hear. I fish when I can get to the water and don't worry to much about the tide. I do prefer a falling tide.


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## Sharken (May 21, 2004)

balls


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## Mont (Nov 17, 1998)

Sharken said:


> balls


 lmao


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## jonfshng (Jul 16, 2004)

If you know what to look for you might want to try some pawn shops. I picked up two penn 6/0 reels with senator rods for under $100 each.


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