Sharkin'

[Capt Jake]

Read some talk of Sharkin' on AI. What, when where how? Sounds like a lot of fun. Can I get by with my surf gear? Thanx

[Sam]

Soon, my friend... Soon. :-) You can use your gear, depending on how sturdy it is. Medium/heavy should do fine if you don't mind loosing one once in a while. 30lb test min and yes, you can catch them within casting distance.

[Capt Jake]

Come on Sam, you're holding out on me. What size can I expect? Basic rig? Bait?
Thanx, Jake

[Pier_man0909]

fresh fish for bait (heads are great). basic fishfinder rig on surf gear with 8" or so of wire ( I use 125 lb. cable) to a 10/0 mustad demon circle hook opened up and offset just a little. heavying up your shock leader to 80lb. or even 100 would be a wise decision as sharks have sandpaper-like skin and will rub on your leader. that should get you by for casting. Last year I hooked into a 6 footer, fought him for an hour on twenty pound test only to have him break off in the hands of someone on this board. that was not a safe night to yak out a bait, lol, as spinners were freejumping everywhere, you would probably get out 50 yards or so and have a 5 foot spinner land right on your yak! they were everywhere! did anyone else here witness that? that was a sight, like the discovery channel or something. expected size is between 2 feet - 6 feet in my mind and if you put in a lot of time and work at it you WILL hook into larger sharks.

[Coop]

Definitely can catch sharks casting and you will be suprised how little time you can put in to catch one,,,not like the elusive drum or stripers,,,ideal time is dusk into the night for casting,,,just use a simple rig,,,1' heavy malin wire leader with a fish finder rig, connected to 4'-6' of 100lb + line via a swivel that ff slides along and then connected to at "least" 50lb + shock leader via a swivel as well with the shocker tied directly to your main line,,,I like the tapered down approach and seems to work,,,hope that made sense,,,some people may have a problem with casting this rig,,,you may have anywhere from 5' to 8' of line that must be laying on the ground to cast,,,the longer the better and I would recomend at least 6' of wire and heavy line combination,,,6' is pretty easy to cast.

for hooks, I use cheap penn 10/0 j hooks,,,if I shark at night, I am going to grind down the barb,,,those sand tigers can swallow a hook,,,other sharks tend to get caught in the mouth,,,I just want to make it easier to get it out if a sandtiger gets it caught in the throat.

bait,,,just catch some kings, cutem in half and hook em through the mouth,,,you may just want to use the heads if casting,,,bunker works great and mackerel,,,I always have bunker, just in case I dont get into some kings,,,either works just fine.

[Coop]

BTW,,,yes its a blast ,,,caught a nice med/large sandbar with the yak today so they are coming sooner than later,,,they are some great fighters!!

[Capt Jake]

Sounds awsome. Thanx guys. Since I can't seem to beach a striper or drum, I'll try for a shark. I love the beach at dusk. Dosn't sound like rocket science to fish for them either.