Sunday we caught lots of shark out by the end of the Edisto. This is the time of year when we go after them pretty hard. No keepers on the boat yet, except for some amazing bonnet heads.
We missed half our hookups because of a new style hook that just didn’t work as well as I though it would. I’m going back to the tried and true.
I know that not many people around here target large sharks, so does anyone have any intel on a couple big boys terrorizing their honey holes? I would be happy to have a look.
What’s your usual rig?
First, Most, Biggest
I want to catch them all
We keep it simple and cheap.
Start with an 8/0 big game hook - steel, not stainless.
2.0 diameter mono leader about 5 or 6 foot long, aluminum crimps - easier than cable but 275 lb stainless cable can work too
Small but high quality 50 lb swivel tied to a 50lb main line
Roller tip rod with high line capacity
There are not many sharks around here you can’t catch with that rig, but the big boys take time to wear down
Have caught some really big ones in St Helena while fishing for cobia. We know from Mary Lee that big ones get well up into that sound. I have never hooked any real big ones in the S Edisto or channel. You probably know way more about it than I but they used to have the Big Daddy shark tourney every year so there have to be some experienced shark fishermen in the Edisto community.
Hydra-Sport 3300VX
18 Key West
i dont make a trip without my alutechnos 50w loaded with 150lb braid splices with a 200 top shot…
eagle claw 20/0 circle
7 Strand Brand 49 Strand Stainless Steel Leader Cable
on occasion i will use a 400lb mono shock leader but i have found my 200lb top shotto do more thanwhat i need.
also on occasion i will run a few beads with 2 knots where i will use a 5lb mono with a balloon to fload out a whiting or diner plate ray… kinda gives a simple sliding trace and you can still fish a light drag… if i dont have fresh live bait a head of mahi or something is a normal 1st or 2nd release.
personally i avoid the mustad 20 and lp 20 hooks… way to bulky and hookup have been missed due to semi dull tip from the factory…
i have also used a few 10/0 2x thick ebay hooks for targeting 4-6ft sharks but non are shy of the 20/0 just bait presentation can get sketchy…
That sounds pretty serious.
Maybe next summer when my budget looks a little better I will upgrade and start chasing the monsters too.
Right now I’m looking for something eating size.
Where can you reliably find a shark that big?
We caught a pretty good size shark at Grillage last fall. Fought it over an hour due in part to current; chose not to pull anchor. Was well after dark when we finally got it to the boat. By then my son and I were worn out. Had it on 65# braid, jigging rod and spinning reel with ample drag for that line. Have also seen some fair size sharks on surface around the Sixty. They are definitely around.
Roger
Years ago, before the Savannah light tower was somehow run over and destroyed by a container ship, makes me wonder how a container ship can hit a 90’ tall structure 12 miles offshore that had a serious light, a serious horn, and an RDF beacon on it anyway. Seems hard to miss to me, but I do miss it for the fishing.
I was running a short 4 hour trip for some conventioneers one day and we were there trolling for spanish and kings. There was a big convention in town, forget what it was, but we were running 3 -4 hour trips a day, trying to take everybody fishing. There had been a huge hammerhead that showed up at the tower every trip and was robbing almost every fish we hooked for half the week. A really big one, half as long as my 30’ boat. The tourist loved it, but we couldn’t hardly get a fish to the boat because of it.
So we had a 2 pm trip, ran out and put out light trolling lines and were hooking spanish 4 at a time, shark came again and we couldn’t get 1 in 4 to the boat. One of the clients said, Capt, $100 bonus if you can hook me up with that shark. My beautiful and capable first mate Kathy was all over it, she got out our largest rig, a 12/0, a fighting harness and a belt, and told big mouth to sit down and hang on. She rigged a live spanish and dropped it in the bait tank, then waited until we hooked another and had the shark behind the boat chasing it. Then she pulled the bait and switch trick and threw it the bait with the big hook, and it was on[:0]
It was on for a long time! That shark pulled a 30’ T-Craft from 12 miles offshore all the way into Calibogue Sound, the 4 hour trip expired, client said they would pay for 4 more, stay on the fish, so we did. Everybody on the boat took turns on the rod. It pulled us upriver above Harbor Town on HHI, then turned down river and pulled us past Haig Point on Daufuskie, then turned again and headed back to sea. It was past dark. I told him his second 4 hours were up. We were a long ways from Savannah. Client said he’d pay for 4 more and $100 more if we c
(**() Larry you should have said you would tow it back for $1000. To hell with bringing a monster like that in a boat alive.
First, Most, Biggest
I want to catch them all
Never heard of such, did you lose engine power or something?
quote:
Never heard of such, did you lose engine power or something?
I admit I might have prolonged the fight longer than necessary and could have ended it sooner, but for $150 an hour I wanted it to last as long as it could. Customers were happy, we were making money, and the fish wasn’t even tired 
quote:
Larry you should have said you would tow it back for $1000. To hell with bringing a monster like that in a boat alive.
The mate did have the shotgun out once and I told her to put it up. There was no way I was going to kill that fish, just so money bags could hang it on the dock and brag about it. That ain’t me. Fish was probably 100 years old. Hope she lives another 100. Sharks and I have always had an understanding, I don’t kill them and they don’t eat me. Worked out OK so far.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
So, after that long fight, did the tiger make its way back to the Light to steal more catches?
It was a hammerhead, and yes, it was eating spanish again at the tower the next day.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
I could have killed her and put in on the dock and that would have been the end of her, or I could let her swim, hook her again in the morning, turn her loose again and make another $2,000 a day for 3 more days:smiley:. And turn her loose again. Us commercial guys are ruthless. Just ask Warbler. Speaking of which, I think the cat ate the bird:smiley:
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper