Hello everyone,
This report is for the final week of our participation in the Big Hammer Challenge, and overall just fishing hard in South Carolina.
If you missed the first set of reports check them out here:
Report 1: http://www.requiemfishing.com/big-hammer-challenge-april-11-12th/
Report 2: http://www.requiemfishing.com/categoryfishing-reportrequiem-fishing-bhc-update-april-21-2015/
Report 3: http://www.requiemfishing.com/bhc-update-3-april-24-2015/
Report 4: http://www.requiemfishing.com/requiem-big-hammer-challenge-report-may-1-may-2/
Final Report: http://www.requiemfishing.com/bhc-2015-wrap-up/
Charleston Fishing has issues with numerous image tags or from them being hosted on facebook, so if you like the above pictures- read the reports 
For more reports and photos follow us on http://instagram.com/requiemfishing
Great job guys! That hammer is humongous! How did you place overall? Stan, you seem to be the tiger whisperer now!
Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W
Congrats on those monsters, Just checked out sight I appreciate you guys for helping. I recently changed reels and now am using penn spinfisher 8500 has 300yd/30lb capacity paired on the 9ft6 avid st croix. MH 2- 6oz 12-25lb. I use mono as I suck at tieing braid to mono. The reel has up to 35 lb drag. I like to fish for reds and 4-5ft blacktips and spinners. Is this enough for the sharks? Do I need to put on additional top shot heavier than the 30 lb mono in addition to metal leader as I have been using a shorter 36 inch steel leader because easier to cast on carolina rig? Please for some advice or do I need to switch back to the costly braid?
If your reel has 35 lbs of drag with 30 lb mono on a 9’6" 12-25 lb rod, you are definitely doing it wrong if you want to try for big sharks. With any luck, the line will snap before the rod does when 35 lbs of drag smashes that rod. As a rule of thumb, your line strength should be bare minimum 2 times stronger than max drag, sometimes 3 times stronger than your max drag of you are really planning on using all of the drag. Also the line rating on the rod should generally match the line you are using. So for your reel, you could put probably 500 yards of 65 lb on a rod that will actually hold up to it, like a heavy jigging spinning rod of maybe 7 feet in length.
Also, uni knot for braid is suuuuuper easy. If you just learn that, it will make your life a lot easier.
Mr. Millacd, thank you so very much for helping not what I wanted to hear,but needed too. Im in a dilema not being a rich man I need my surf rods to be able to fish reds and sharks as cant buy but so many. Im a caster,dont have kayak so I like the longer rods. I will learn that uni knot as it has caused me problems with line capacity. I have landed probly a dozen 4-5 ft black tips over the years, and have broken a couple of rods due to rays and sharks I need to beef up but dont want reds to be to easy to reel in either. I saw on last page shark set up from other requiem gentleman He said he uses the same reel paired with 11 ft st croix mojo . the reel rated 35 drag.the pole rated up to 40 and he used 40 lb braid. This requiem site recommends the 12 ft heavy mojo,but is that not going to make reeling in an average sized red feel like a whiting? I do like the st croixs as they come with great warranty that they have no problem honoring. Im trying to walk a fine line between the two and hate to say every once in awhile i loose. Your info is a big help and I will need to make some costly adjustments or I will continue to loose and end up with a handful of tooth picks every couple of years. Good luck out there sir, once again thank you.
I also forgot to thank the requiem site its incredible- love the stories it feels like your standing right there.
Roger on the longer rods. I kayak or surfboard baits out so we are in two different schools of thought I suppose. I’ve never been much for longer rods just for the fact they are a hassle for me to have around/travel with. I suppose there is the theory that longer rods absorb a significant amount of the shock of a surging fish due to flex and would possibly therefore allow for a somewhat lighter line than I normally use per the same amount of drag. Regardless, I’d never use line that’s weaker than the drag my reel can put out.
Also, you’re not that far off from having a great rig. That reel is phenomenal, and if you are set on a long rod, I can’t give you any specific recs (because I don’t use them) other than there has to be something cheaper than a st croix that still gets the job done.