Ok Guys,
Let the debate begin. I prefer to use rods under 6' for big fish from shore. I also like rollers. Under pressure, This is a tug of War and you can feel every headshake, and tell quickly if he is making a run toward me. I know some guys like the New avets and two speed variety of Big reels.
I'm sticking with the Monster tackle, Penn 12/0 and 14/0 on a 5'6" rod spooled entirely of 130 lb test Mono, with a 25' 400 lb shock leader. If I can't winch him in with the 14/0. He can't be caught by Me.
I think this is an old school mentality, in a good way! ;)
Call me crazy, call me Old School! This is how I roll! ;D
(http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag93/darondyer/DSCN1714-Copy_zps1f959c3d.jpg)
i have never fished intentionally for sharks,but if i did i would use any red fish for bait.snapper,coral trout red emperor.etc;everytime i hook a top quality fish,thats the one the bloody noah,s grab. ;D cheers
Ok now I agree on the tackle Shark hunter because I have fished for them from the beach for 30 years and a 12/0 to a 16/0 is the way to go to get those monsters, BUT and here is the but. With todays tackle you don't need those giant reels to catch really large animals.I also prefer rods at around 6' or less for standup fishing.
My favorite standup shark rod and reel for beach fishing is a 113H standard width accurate frame, ss Accurate 4:1 gears, ss double dogs, ss yoke, wire line spool and a 7+1 dragstack spooled with 900 yards of 80# spectra and a 100 yard 80# topshot matched up to a 5'6 80# standup rod. I get up to 31# of drag but hardly ever go over 25#.
This year while offshore I got two nice fish to the boat but had to cut them loose without pics because of weather.Both were around 9' Silky sharks and we didn't want to hurt them.
Interesting topic. I've been thinking a lot about this. I live twenty miles from the ocean.
I would go with 2 speed tiagras and makairas if I had a choice, rollers are ok but a lot of maintenance. I have 850-900yds of line on my 9/0, it will take 90% of fish.
Hi All,
As said previously, we have to cast our baits and that brings a whole different perspective to the game of land based sharks.
Next month I'm representing Namibia in an international event against South Africa – 3 days for fishing on 3 different stretches of beach. The majority of fishing will be for shark species as they generally weigh more than edible species, so my tackle choices are as follows:
10-30kg sharks: will be fished for with a 30lb rated 13-6 rod and a Shimano Trinidad 30 loaded with 30lb line and 60lb leader, so I can cast distances from the beach and go wading where the beach is shallow.
50-150kg sharks: will be with a 50lb rated 12' rod, combined with a Finnor 30 or modified Shimano TLD 20 – loaded out with 40lb line. The rod works a little on the 'stand-up' principle with a softer tip that allows casting, but folds over to follow the line once bigger pressure is put on, reduces the effective length to about 10' of pulling power. All finished off with a 125lb wind-on leader.
Won't be using the Shimano TLD for wading, as the drag get really cranky when it gets wet, but it really has good cranking power with the lower ratio. Otherwise all the reels are 6:1 retrieve.
I notice from the picture that you are fishing in some seriously shallow water, show that to an angler from southern Africa, and they would start wading immediately.
Cheers from sunny Africa
Jeri
Jeri,
That water is shallow to about 50 yards, then it drops off dramatically. That is where I drop my baits. About 10 foot past the drop off. Its at least 25 feet there. That's where the sharks are cruising. I would go further out, but then you have to deal with boat traffic. The Sharks in the panhandle of Florida are not far from the beach.
Good Luck on your tournament. I expect pictures buddy! Be safe! ;)
QuoteIf I can't winch him in with the 14/0. He can't be caught by Me.
Nice call mate - I like your style ;) ;D
All the best, Justin
Salty Dog,
I hear you brother on the 113, but the spectra is not going to cut it in the sand. You said you had to release them from the boat. Where I catch my sharks, there are rocks galore and the spectra will be cut immediately. If the rocks don't get the braid, the shells or another curious shark will cut you off like nobody's business. I am done with the braid unless I'm fishing from a boat or the pier.
I know this from past experience. I know there is no other way to make the 113 lethal other than braid. I'm still working on this, because I have the Tank.
I have been fishing the sand for the last 15 years with spectra, now you have to fish differently but it still works. I don't put my line out in places further than my topshot. I always fish just over the first bar and never further unless I am set up for it. I find you don't have to do those 300 to 500 yard drops anywhere unless you just want to.
90% of the time it is the short rods that get the most strikes because that is where the bait is, you have to use a little surfcraft. The fish are where the bait is. Now when we fish we also have rods set up for longer drops but most of the time, 90% of the hits come inside the first bar in 5 to 7' of water or just over the first bar in 5' to 10 ' water,less than 100 yards from shore so the only thing in the water till the time of hookup is the mono.
I like 8ft rods with my Newells.with the 8ft rods I can cast out a bait from the beach. I've found most of the sharks I hook into from the beach or pier are on the smaller side anyway.I use my Newell 550 &631 with 100 yard top shots and braid backing.ring guides or stainless foulproof depending on whether or not the rod doubles as a pier rod.my favorite bait is a filet from a jack crevell.with the filet I found I get bit faster and have a better hook up ratio.
Hi All,
Shark Hunter: Would love to say that we will get pictures, but as we have a manager and a reserve chasing up and down the beach looking after 6 anglers in our team, they might just be a little too busy moving us around or tearing off in the 4x4 to get our fish weighed. As well as the fact that I am in the 'masters' team, which means that we are all over 50 years old, we have to pace ourselves. One of the one day league events in the first area we are going to be fishing – there were over 7 ½ tonnes of combined fish and sharks in an 8 hour fishing event – admittedly that was a special day, but it can get busy – there were 250 anglers competing that day – I only came 22nd, with 116 kgs, and I didn't fish for the big sharks!!!
The first day is probably going to be a huge zone – loads of deep water and reefy areas, then the second day will be in the shallow zone to the south, where there will be lots of wading out – up to 500 yards off the beach. Last day will be the hardest, a mixed area where it really will be luck of the draw. Thankfully, all the days we have an out going tide in the morning, which I like, I find that the water takes the scent of the baits out further – so more chance of a shark swimming across your trail. The need then is to consistently cast to the same spot to maintain the scent trail as we replenish baits quite often.
We use nearly all our reels with a base loading of 300 metres of braid, and then a top shot of about 300 metres of nylon, which generally is enough to cope with most of our sharks, rarely have any problems with the braid cutting off, as once the shark is 300 metres out – the line is so high in the water, the braid is nowhere near the rocks or sand. It gives us extra capacity on the slightly smaller reels that we use, as we are casting.
Top shotting also allows you to readily replace worn nylon, as most spools we use are 600 metres, so you nearly always have ½ a spool lying around. It means that you are nearly always fishing with fresh line, so it is a lot more reliable – we have a lot of issues with 'UV burn' degrading our nylon – this is just another way to get around the problem.
Cheers from sunny Africa
Jeri
Braided backing is the superior method, mono is ok but when you have to replace :o
Ooh, tricky topic. Both are VERY different reels, but I'll try to put in my two cents.
Avets, Makairas, Tiagras, etcetera.
Pros: solid frame, smooth drag and plenty of it, robust parts, smoother, and they're flashy!
Cons: too many parts, tight tolerances mean not as reliable in sandy environments such as beaches, and also price.
Senators!!
Pros: Simple construction, very reliable and easy to handle, cheap, and they're old school
Cons: frame is relatively unstable, drag washers are small and easily overheat, and they are not as pretty.
Conclusion: simply because of the price difference, I would have to say Senator right now. If you think about it, my 12/0 cost me $243 shipped, versus Avet equivalent 80w at $750. Would the Avet be worth three 12/0's? Perhaps, but I could barely afford the one reel. Sure the Avets are reliable, but some people have to accept that they simply will not handle the same conditions a Senator could. Also consider the 14'2 Hammer caught by a shark club member last year. The fish was bought on a 12/0. I'm not paying three times as much for a reel which can not handle the same conditions as the alternative. Believe me, however, the Avets can handle "Jiants", but will require heavy maintenance. Got some sand on the Senator? No problem! Uh oh, I'm rambling.
Braid vs mono? Depends where you're fishing. If you fish on a plain sandy beach such as a North Carolina beach, then fish straight braid on a 30w, no worries. But fishing at Long Key Bridge, for instance, with that same setup, will give you heartbreak and lose you a prize fish, cause if that line touches ANYTHING, like the telephone poles, pilings, coral, barnacles, or almost any marine growth, then kiss that fish goodbye.......Thats why many fish 14/0s with straight 200 lb test mono, cause they have to.
QuoteQuote from: Shark Hunter on September 28, 2013, 09:00:37 PM
Ok Guys,
Let the debate begin. I prefer to use rods under 6' for big fish from shore. I also like rollers. Under pressure, This is a tug of War and you can feel every headshake, and tell quickly if he is making a run toward me. I know some guys like the New avets and two speed variety of Big reels.
I'm sticking with the Monster tackle, Penn 12/0 and 14/0 on a 5'6" rod spooled entirely of 130 lb test Mono, with a 25' 400 lb shock leader. If I can't winch him in with the 14/0. He can't be caught by Me.
I think this is an old school mentality, in a good way! ;)
Call me crazy, call me Old School! This is how I roll! ;D
(http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag93/darondyer/DSCN1714-Copy_zps1f959c3d.jpg)
I'm also old school! The 14/0 is a classic beast, very capable, but can still be powerless at times, as can a 16/0. There are some fish which are simply not meant to be caughtjavascript:void(0);!
Do you follow the sharks down the beach or stay in "camp" to fight them?
When they get close to shore, you have to follow. They won't come right to you. That's when they realize they are not going to win and they do not want to come ashore! Once you get a hold of the leader, its all over. ;D
Some sharks travel down the beach, but Hammers travel away from shore when hooked, and monsters only travel north......
One addition to this discussion would be to have the members mention where they fish. East central Florida is different than the keys, for example, not to mention Africa.
QuoteQuote from: floating doc on September 29, 2013, 10:16:42 PM
One addition to this discussion would be to have the members mention where they fish. East central Florida is different than the keys, for example, not to mention Africa.
Oh good idea. Hammers don't run out only in the keys, If you hook a large hammer anywhere in Florida you can expect it to run hard and fast. Tigers and Bulls are very powerful, but do not run like the hammer. Spinners are a fun fish, they go for short power runs and jump like they're nuts, its quite a thing to watch. Tippers run all over, out a little, but mainly to the sides, and torwards you. Nurses just sit, pretty much. All sharks do NOT want to come to the beach, it can be tricky getting them over the bar. And like i said in the previous post, Monster hammers charge north. There is no stopping them.
I like this thread.
By the way, I don't fish the kEys alot, i was just giving an example of places where braid is a bad choice. Now I'm stuck fishing the Chesapeake Bay.
Quote from: Dynamo on September 29, 2013, 10:27:52 PM
By the way, I don't fish the kEys alot, i was just giving an example of places where braid is a bad choice. Now I'm stuck fishing the Chesapeake Bay.
Coral?
Yes sir, coral is a problem, many shark fish on beaches with coral reefs. Crab traps have cost many nice sharks as well.
I fished the beaches of Fla. for over a decade and have lost my fair share of sharks but the Texas coast in some places can be a real nightmare. Alot of old hurricane debris , old cars, parts of houses, old oil platform pipes and other junk litter the bottom in many places and it takes a little time to learn the places not to fish. Yes I said not to fish, don't rake me over the coals for that one. You learn over time it's not worth the time or money to fish certain areas, like where there are too many people, obstructions, crabbers, ect. There are too many places I know of that it wouldn't matter what you were using it wouldn't hold up, not even 300# mono and an 18/0 Evrol reel which cost my buddy 1800 bucks. Then you have places in Fla. that hold tons of rays and Jewfish that it's like why am I doing this, some can get over 500# and every bait you drop it gets vacumed by those buggers. And on and on and on, basically it comes down to fishing and learning what it takes in the given areas you fish to accomplish what you want. ;D
I love Hammers, they are one of the hardest fighters out there and will test your tackle.
I agree, some places are just not worth fishing. I love all sharks but hammers are my favorite fish definitely, especially Greaters.
All time hardest fighting fish is a giant ray. No contest even from hammers
I've never caught a big shark, but by far the toughest thing I've had on was a ray. If I could have laid it on a 70 Cadillac hood it would have touched the ground on both sides of the car.
Until then I didn't know that they got that big. Our WAG was 250 pounds. It was much bigger than the 155 pound halibut I caught.
Bunnlevel, you might be right pound for pound, but once you witness the power of a large hammer, then maybe you'll become a believer like me.
Floating Doc, you probably caught a monster rough tail. Those things are enormous......
I'm not familiar with the various species, so l did a search. The Wiki page says they get up to 8 1/2 feet in diameter (it was all of that) and 660 lbs. I'm sure it couldn't have been nearly that heavy since I was able to get it to the surface.
I was using an 8 1/2 foot slow action tarpon rod rated for 50 lb, a penn 990 with dry HT 100's and 25 Berkley Big Game. That line overtests at about 40 lbs and I tie off to my swivel with a bimini. Pretty stout outfit, but nothing that would lift a 500+ lb ray off the bottom.
I built the rod, so l know it was splined properly, but it still kept trying to turn over.
I've seen hammers caught, and all you need is plenty of line and drag and to be lucky. With a ray, you had to stop his run like a hammer, then break him off the bottom
For our fishing situation:
Good casting reel, needs to be able to hold about 700m of line (500m 50lb braid backing and 200m 0.55mm mono with a 9-10m 1mm or thicker nylon leader, when using a slide add 1m steel cable to leader before stop ring)
Strong, solid, smooth drag.
Reel must be able to withstand wading.
Rod - 12-14ft rod with big, very strong guides to handle knots, must be able to cast weights of at least 15 oz (bait and sinker), reel must be at bottom. We have locally manufactured rods and some imports that meet this criteria.
This is for the Cape Town area, the only big sharks we get are bronze whalers and ragged tooths and they don't often go over 200kg, so a Torium 30 is a good reel to use, or if you want more insurance then something like a Trinidad 40 or 50 or a Fin Nor OFC 30, they take lots more line. The new trinidad A unfortunately has limited line capacity due to the frame being so close to the spool. If you fill it to the brim it can't take a thick leader. Some of the lever drags such as the Saltiga, Saltist, Talica are becoming popular. A few people are also trying out Avets, but the price had me choking badly. We get massive great whites here but we are not allowed to catch them. The big black sting rays get well over 200kg but they usually don't take much line and if they go sit down you can usually forget about getting them out. You have to pull like crazy to keep them from going down.
Other places you can fish with kite rigs or swim massive live skates out for which big boat style tackle can be used. Not my cup of tea though.
Nice, Capefish! I've heard about the South African way of sharking. Interesting how there are different cultures of sharking. The traditional bridge and palm beach style Floridian, the texan mousetrap, and the new Sharks on the sand avet and circle hook craze, which evolved from Texas shark fishing. Also the South African style. Aussies use short tods with senators off piers and beach. I wonder if they ever lose fish that go under the pilings......By the way, Bunnlevel, When I'm referring to Hammers i am mostly talking about Greaters, they are an entirely different fish and are very powerful. I think you are referring to the scalloped caught with a TRX 50? I think I remember that report......Big hammers are very powerful and it often with the largest specimens doesn't matter how drag you use, they will burn line off anyways.......
Nope that was a greater actually, and ask Tunastick on sharks on the sand about monster rays
Ah, it was? Cool, pretty rare to have a NC Greater off a pier. Still their is a big difference between an eight to nine footer, and the granders that terrorize the tarpon down south. Another 6 inches can make a huge difference........I'm not actually on SOS, maybe I'll log in sometime........
any one using a diawa 600h or 900h reels for sharking?
I'm going to be using my 900H in May if I get my PTO approved. I just got it back from Bryan with a drag and handle upgrade. I'll be using 80 mono over about 100 feet of 80 dacron backing.
I'll fish it side by side with a 115L with the new one piece half frame.
I hope you get approved Doc. I'm bringing a team with me to Git-R-Done! :P
Its only two months away! ;D
Agree with Shark Hunter on all points. In Hawaii, with very large sharks (I mean like 12'+) the rod usually doesn't come out of the holder (which is wedged in solid rock) because we mainly can't stop the initial run, even with a 12/0. If the initial run can be stopped, then it's likely not very large. Our leaders are mono to the hook so that sharks will break off after a while. We don't like to catch sharks.
Hi, here in argentina people uses large senators like 6/0 to 12/0 and also use giant full metal old school spinning reels a lot spolled up with mono, they use custom made 8 foot rods 50/80 class of fiber glass without roller guides. Then rigs, way of fishing is pretty much like south african style!
http://www.pescaenkayak.com/foro/uploads/images/procaster/san_blas_gaby_en_bungalow.jpg