Boatless Fishing Forum, Reports, Info

I was sharking at john lloyd park on saturday and had some confusing moments, the first shark bait I took out was a whole spanish mackerel, within 5 minutes the clicker went screaming for a good 10 seconds, when I got to the rod it had stopped running, after reeling it in only the head was left with the hook in it after that I took a large porgy carcass and placed it out, after about 10 minutes the clicker went off again but only for about 5 seconds then stopped. After reeling in the bait I noticed the bait was completely unscathed, neither was the wire bent or damaged, what could have caused this situations and is there a way to improve? after that I placed a second hook on the rig but nothing else hit all day, would circle hooks work better? thanks everyone!!

sounds like you had a visit from flipper !!!

Any time I use fish for bait, anything from small bait fish to larger shark bait, I like to hook them through the tail. Most predators ambush from behind, so they almost always hit the tail first. I tried the double hook set up too for shark fishing after a few times of experiencing the same problem: having my bait's heads bit off and left on the hook. I tried this for a few trips, but never got a hit. I've heard shark's can be hook shy, and that's what it seems to me after experimenting with that. So I went back to one hook, and tried hooking through the bait's tail instead. Offset circle hook, 10/0. The absolute sharpest you can find, or sharpen it yourself. I cut down on hardware too, and ditched the snap swivel. I started getting alot more hits after cutting down to a much more natural presentation. Now listen, I have yet to actually land a shark. Last couple trips, I've had some good hook ups, but malfunctions with some of my knots. Just so you're aware that I'm no expert, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but this is what I've noticed so far through my experiences. Also, I'm only targeting medium sharks, using heavy spinning gear. And I don't have a kayak, so I use smaller baits cast as far as I can get them on an 11' heavy surf rod. Good luck!

opiato

what knots are you useing ?

Uniknot to the cable leader, but the one that usually fails me is the sebile knot connecting my 50lb braid to 80lb mono shock leader. I like that knot alot cuz it casts smooth. Think its failing tho cuz im just not makin it solid enough. What I just started doing is finding some kind of structure to tie the end of my line around and pull tight to give the rig a good test before putting it to work. Just started that last trip but didnt hook anything to really test its effectiveness.

this is so funny i have the same problem i fish the north side jetty get alot of hits but cant seem to get them in had some big hits but no luck


using #19 wire size 14 j hooks with a stinger

tiger101 wrote:this is so funny i have the same problem i fish the north side jetty get alot of hits but cant seem to get them in had some big hits but no luck


using #19 wire size 14 j hooks with a stinger

you fish the north Port Everglades jetty? what kind of sharks are usually found? Ive heard reports of good sized lemon sharks.

lots of black tips and spinners 150 to 300 lbs

opiato

your cable is cutting the mono when it tightens up ...


use a swivel and crimp it on the cable and you will fair a lot better ..

Blacktips and spinners to 300 lbs I would pay to see that . As pointed out either crimp your rigs or use a swivel between the wire/cable and line. I have landed plenty of small to midsize sharps ie spinners/blacktips/lemons using heavy mono 125 - 150 lb and a large circle hook.

never had that much luck using circle hooks for sharks and if i did it was a pain in the ass getting the hook out then again when it comes to shark fishing everybody has there beliefs and techniques