We’re heading down to Islamorada in July. As always, we will continue to work on getting better catching YT’s on the reefs but, this year, the boys have said thay want to catch some sharks. I have a rod/reel capable of handling small sharks (Battle 6000 w/40# braid and a Penn 320 GT2 w/50# braid). What I am unsure of is the terminal tackle. I would think you would want fairly long steel leaders. Can you buy loinger steel leaders or do you guys make your own?
Any tips, etc, regarding tackle or shark fishing tips would be appreciated.
Thanks
“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
I never use steel leaders and all I catch are sharks. They aren’t that big - maybe 5-7 lbs, but they have mucho teeth. I use 20# flouro leader usually and it seems I usually catch them on live shrimp.
13ft Whaler with 25hp Johnson
If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.
I am hoping for bigger and I have read that the big ones will break mono leaders when it rubs against them. I may not land one but we’re hoping to hook a couple of big ones.
“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
Yeah, the bigger sharks would tear a flouro leader up in seconds… I would try Charleston Angler or Hadderls… Its been a long time since I went after shark, but steel will be the way to go.
A bad day fishing is much better than a good day at work.
Single strand wire leader 30#-50# with haywire twist on each end (also can use multi strand wwire ith crimps on each end to make the loops). Hook on one end & swivel on the other end. Leader needs to be long because the rough skin of the shark can break the main line if it keeps rubbing against the fins. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEKjXXtmjHM
I use mono and land my fair share of big fish. 125lb or more leader whatever length you prefer, 7/0 eagle claw circle hook. This rig is on a battle6000 that landed a 40 plus pound fish today.
I always used about a 2 ft 80lb single strand wire leader with two 7/0 j hooks (same I use for trolling small baits) and a 150 lb swivel. I set the second hook back like a stinger with a 6-8" piece of wire and use a 10 ft 80 lb shock leader.
This caught 90% of my sharks in the keys. Other wise I’d go with thicker wire and bigger hooks but the same basic set up. A shark is not going to swallow the bait 2 ft into his belly before you can set the hook so no need to make your wire any longer. 80 lb mono is plenty for a shock leader as long as you’re not trying to drag them in. You’ll be limited with the 40 lb test but you can land just about any dang shark you can expect to encounter down there with it.
Guess it depends on how many sharks you are going to catch on each leader. I know from Cobia fishing that a 80lb leader gets chafed pretty bad from a 3-4ft shark.
Surf fishing in TX I had much better luck using 16/0 and 20/0 circle hooks with 2’ twisted 400# mono bite leaders (crimped) attached to 7-8’ long straight 400# leader with a snap swivel attached in that section for the spider weights. My mainline was 65# power pro typically and this was for kayaked baits and targeting 5-6’ bulls, spinners and blacktips (and hoping for 7-8’ sandbars and lemons). I would also attach a plastic rattling popping cork near the bite leader to add some noise and to help float the bait off the bottom to keep it from getting crabbed out.
I would shorten larger leader up for my casting leaders and use a 12’ oceanmaster with a Penn 4/0 wide and a 10" Tsunami with an Okuma Eclipz spinner reel.
I never had as good of luck on steel leaders with bites/hook-ups and 95% of my sharks were hooked in the lip with the circle hook so the bite leader was outside of the teeth…
In the TX surf, it was hard to keep the redfish from biting when you were targeting sharks and they also readily bit these rigs, even using 14"+ long live mullet and whiting. Some days, the 45"+ reds would plum wear you out (20-30 fish days).
If I had access to Imagshack from work, I’d post some pics of the leader I am talking about.
the leaders i make now are about 8 feet of 300lb mono for the skin/tail, heavy barrel swivel, then about 2 feet of 175lb single strand wire for the jaws with a 9/0 circle hook. i attach to the main line that has the heaviest snap swivel i can find so i can change out rigs depending on what i want to do. the heavy mono i definitely use crimping pliers to secure it. battle tested vs a 7 foot sandbar shark the leader is pretty well untouched. the shark was hooked in the corner of the mouth with no crimps in the wire and the 300lb mono wasnt frayed or roughed up at all.
Tournament Mako and Thresher - Mako up to 300#, never an issue.
Or you can go cheaper - we hooked into what looked to be a 10’ 250-300# Dusky (?) at the Y-73 3 weeks ago. Penn Senator 6/0 spooled with 50# test, and an el-cheapo Wal Mart 3’ Bluefish rig. Fought the fish at max drag for over 1.5 hours… main line broke with fish boatside.
I have fished that area for many years. You will have to use wire. For big sharks I use 2 to 4 feet of single strand haywired to a swivel and then a length of larger mono leader (150 to 300lb depending on the size of your target)
For smaller sharks use 3 to 6 feet of single strand haywired to a swivel and tied to a doubled main line.
Remember, down there you not only using a leader to avoid cut offs from teeth and tails but also the coral
I have caught plenty of sharks down their and would be glad to point you in the right direction
We don’t use steel leaders, my friend says they tend to kink which weakens the wire. We use 80-100lb mono chicken rig with a long shank shark hook. Chicken rigs are inexpensive and you can tie them quickly when they become scuffed.
Key to landing the shark is to try to stay on top of the shark so that the line does not cross from one side of the mouth to the other.
Notice the hook in these photos.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 19 year old (boy of leisure)
1 - 1 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
