this has happened to me three times now, im bottom fishing at the jetties with a heavy jigging rod, 50lbs braid and about a 12" leader with usually a piece of cut bait on the bottom. well the line starts screaming and the second i begin to fight the fish the line breaks. im quite certain that a shark is the culprit, what im looking for is what do i do so i can land whatever is on the line. im tired of #1 breaking my line, and #2 knowing that im leaving a hook in some fishes mouth. all help and suggestions are appreicated, thanks and happy fishing out there!
That’s got to be a sizable fish if it is causing a heavy jigging rod to scream!!! As far as getting cut off you need to see where the problem is. What rig are you using? A carolina rig? What pound test is the leader? When you pull you line back is it just the main line or is the leader actually cut?
If your fish is biting through the leader it is probably a big shark. You can switch to wire leader and even the score. A lot of fish shy away from wire but not sharks. I think sharks actually prefer wire leader. If your pulling back only your mainline you may be having knot failure. A 30 inch plus redfish will put all of your connections to the test. That’s for sure!!!
Tie up your rig the way u have been. Pull 5-10’ of line off your reel and cleat it off. Then grab the hook with a boga and pull away to see what gives and go from there. Tying braided line is an art form imo!
I use 20lb braid with 40lb mono leader… Tie a double uni with 3 or 4 loops on the leader and 5 loops on the braid and my knots have held fine… 47" reds is my largest to date…
I use 20lb braid with 40lb mono leader… Tie a double uni with 3 or 4 loops on the leader and 5 loops on the braid and my knots have held fine… 47" reds is my largest to date… Make sure you have at least 12’ of leader from your knot…
Sounds like it’s time for a wire leader, until you catch one and see what’s doing that to you. IMHO, a big red is going to feel like a dog yanking on a sock, shaking his head back and forth (don’t know of they growl, tho). A shark pounds some but less head shaking. Dead-weight-steady pull, you got a ray.
“Faster Cars, Younger Women, Older Whiskey and More Money” [Tom T. Hall’s secret for happiness.]
Using wire at the jetties is overkill. I catch plenty of big fish on 50-100lb mono leader about 4’ long. If I’m targeting sharks specifically I use 200lb mono leaders.
I had to remove a short wire leader from a redfish the other day. The mainline was at most 15lb test if not less. Not sure the purpose of the wire if your mainline can hardly support it.
Yeah I’ve been using the cheap wire leaders with the clip Carolina rigged with crab on bottom and crab on top about 18 inches under a float. The bottom rig handles 4+ ft bonnet heads so the clip isn’t that weak but the float line always gets straighten out after a few seconds as the run is heating up before I really get to feel any distinctive trait of whats on. (area mouth of Green Creek the Oyster side by sign)
Sounds like it’s time for a wire leader, until you catch one and see what’s doing that to you. IMHO, a big red is going to feel like a dog yanking on a sock, shaking his head back and forth (don’t know of they growl, tho). A shark pounds some but less head shaking. Dead-weight-steady pull, you got a ray.
“Faster Cars, Younger Women, Older Whiskey and More Money” [Tom T. Hall’s secret for happiness.]
Thanks for all the tips and advice. Sorry to take so long to reply, it was a Carolina rig I was using, I think I’ll try the mono idea first I have some 50 pound test I can try, I’m thinking the way the line is running off its a shark. But hopefully we will see soon.
Have you checked the drag on your reels? Make sure they don?t grab, jerk, or catch. A quick and easy way to check a drag is by tying a piece of rope to a tree, hooking one of your rigs into the rope, and then just slowly walk backwards away from the tree with your rod bent the way it looks when you have a fish on; your drag should slip smoothly as you walk away. If you don?t have a bad drag this will also help you find drags that are set to tight, bad knots and weak line.
Use a longer leader. Make sure your egg sinker isn’t fraying your line. May want to try doing a double line on your braid. It makes your uni much stronger and gives you some insurance when you get a big fish on.