I have the gear for shark fishing but maybe not the right knowledge. Is it okay for me to just tie my 5’ wire leader directly to my 40lb test line? Do I need something in between the two? Will be fishing for black tips. I’m thinking maybe I need like a shock leader in between, but then the longer all that is the harder it is for me to cast (toss).
If I were you I would shorten that leader to 3’, to make casting easier, and connect it to your line with a chunky barrel swivel. Are you using braid? If so I would connect a length of heavy mono to the leader to act as a shock absorber and to protect from the fish’s tail. I would say at least ten yards of 60lb or greater mono.
I’m using mono. I can shorten to 3’. No problem. Thanks for the input. Another question I have is how to attach the weight. The way I have it now, it is fixed at the point of the barrel swivel where I tie to my mono. Since the bait is larger and is 5ft away from the weight when i cast, the bait and the weight seem to work against each other. I’m guessing it will still do this with the shorter wire leader. Is there a way to have the weight closer to the bait so they can cast together instead of flipping around in the air and causing drag and shortening my distance? Should I use a sliding weight? Any thoughts?
- Salt Life Travis
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Hebrews 1:3
I would use a sliding weight for sure, probably best to use a spudnik style weight attached to the mainline via a sinker slide
Okay, thanks fishguy.
- Salt Life Travis
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Hebrews 1:3
Here’s my setup:
80# Power Pro braid tied to a 250# barrel swivel. A 185# split ring attaches this to a 4ft section of 300# mono with a thimble and crimped sleeve. Put a bead on the mono to protect the sleeve from the 150g sputnik weight, which is attached to the mono by a barrel swivel and a split ring. This allows the weight to travel the length of the mono.
Another bead goes on the other end of the mono, then a thimble and crimped sleeve. Then a 3ft section of 180# hard wire attached with a haywire twist.
Then the 10/0 circle hook is attached with another haywire twist.
With bait, I can throw this about 30 yards with my 9ft surf rod.
Hope this helps!
Seeing it like that does help. Whast is the purpose of the 300lb mono between the wire and main line? Protection against tail whip?
Thanks Zeppelin (or as I call you now, Shark Slayer)
- Salt Life Travis
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Hebrews 1:3
You shouldn’t need a super-long bite leader. The wire only needs to be 16"-20" or so. You can attach your weight here and only have that short length “dangling” on the cast. You will need a longer mono shock (chafe) leader. The standard surf fishing recipe is to add enough shock leader so that when ready to cast you have at least a couple of wraps on the spool…this way you don’t risk popping the line with the weight of your rig on the cast…you can really sling it out there without worry.
That should get it done for the most part. I’ll try to get a picture up later of a pulley leader. It is easy to cast and gives you an 8-10 ft leader. It comes in handy when you get a big toothy. I’ve had bigger sharks tailwhip my shock leader and cut it off.
Thanks Guys. I’d love to see the pulley leader setup. I’ve changed my setup a bit. I’m now using an 11’ rod and a TLD25 reel. I’m looking for a good spinning reel to use but until then I’m using the Shimano. It may be overkill for the sharks I’m targeting at the moment which is 4-6 ft. Once I get some sharks under my belt, I will target some bigger ones perhaps.
For now, I’m going to use 60 lb braid since I have a large spool of it and I’m on a tight budget with 5 kids
- Salt Life Travis
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Hebrews 1:3