well guys no luck down at edisto this week. the surf was pretty rough most of the time and the water temp wasnt quite high enough yet. on Wednesday morning we did find a 35 lb crevalle jack washed up on the beach. it was still pretty fresh so we cut it up and used it as bait. has anyone else used jack as bait? I didnt have any luck with it but I still got about 15 lbs in the freezer for the next time i head down.
Fishing is Forever…
Yeah, that jack is good bait; no self respecting shark will turn it down once they get here.
yeah that jack will definitely be good for bait. I was down there over the weekend as well and just cast out one shark rig with a mullet on it with no luck. I caught a ton of whiting though enough for a fish fry and shark bait for my next trip:smiley:
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
what is the best thing to use for shark bait?
I’d say it depends on what kind of shark you want to catch, but in general you want to use something that the sharks would be feeding on in the area in which you are fishing, so any smaller fish and rays that you can catch with a bait rod or cast net should do the trick. For medium sized sharks mullet and whiting are some of the best baits as well as chunks of stingray, skate or jack that weigh about a pound. For really big sharks you can use whole stingrays or 10# pieces of jack. Other good baits are spanish mackerel, bonita, sheepshead and ladyfish. Certain sharks like the bonnethead eat mainly crustaceans so live shrimp or a half of a blue crab is the best bait for them.
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
Chum pretty much covered it. But I just wanted to add, FRESH FRESH FRESH. I killed em last year on believe it or not, fresh nice sized finger mullet!! Dead or alive, they will pick up a fresh bait over frozen in a skinny second. Fresh whiting worked good also. I got a freezer full on smelly shad lol. Im hoping that will produce something nice this year. But I will always be on the look out for a fresh bait!
THE OCEAN IS NOT YOUR SWIMMING POOL!!!
In Florida I would take a chrome spoon on light spinning rod and catch a jack & have bait all day.That or cast net some horse mullet in the intercoastal on the way to the beach. both were very good bait and the jacks really put up a fight.
Has anybody actually caught any jacks from the surf around here?
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
God how I wish!!! I havent caught a nice jack since my days in Hawaii! Now theres a fighting fish pound for pound!
THE OCEAN IS NOT YOUR SWIMMING POOL!!!
Another really good bait is a baby atlantic sharpnose, rigged like a ballyho, especially if trolled behind a shrimp boat. If your shark rig doesn’t have a wire pin you can stick a toothpick thru the nose and the the eye of the hook and wrap a rubber band around it. They troll great and really look alive. I’ve even tried trolling them offshore and have had wahoo hit them.
Just remember there’s a limit of 2/person/day. Wish there wasn’t a limit, seems like there are too many of them around, pesky buggers. They have their place in the food chain though, just wish they’d leave my bait alone:dizzy_face:
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
RACRX, your right about jack! a 5 pounder will fight as hard as a 20lb snook. a 10 pounder will try to smoke your drag
In Hawaii we used to catch Ulua, (Giant Jacks). Talk about smoking a reel!! There is a huge cult following there for those. The state record is over a 100# !!
THE OCEAN IS NOT YOUR SWIMMING POOL!!!
Just googled Ulua. Huge fish.
Just looked up the state record. 191lbs!!! Thats a drag smoker for sure!! God I miss that sound!!
THE OCEAN IS NOT YOUR SWIMMING POOL!!!
For those of you who dont know what an Ulua is, look here. http://www.freedive.net/Ulua.html
THE OCEAN IS NOT YOUR SWIMMING POOL!!!
thats a rather large fish!!!
Fishing is Forever…
Hey you guys know there “are” spinner sharks. They spin when hooked
Yeah that’s why you need such a long leader, not so much for the teeth, but for the skin if they get tail-wrapped. Good rule of thumb for leader length is 2x the length of the shark you want to catch. That’s why I make mine 40 ft long 
(jk)
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
And your hook is 1/4 lenth of your leader, right? lol
And your reel is mounted on the front bumper of your truck right. He fishes with one of them fancy 20/0 Warn Reels lmao.
THE OCEAN IS NOT YOUR SWIMMING POOL!!!