North Carolina Shark Fishing

This post has been provided by Bryan - a tried and true Virginia shark fisherman.

Cape Hatteras Light house which is called Cape Point, is one of the easiest places to shark fish and rated the best location to shark fish on the east coast due to the sand bars and the guts that run thru them. The sandbar runs off the north side of the point and continues around to the south side. At low tide, it runs out about 500 ft. When I first started out, I had no kayak, and low tide I was able to walk big tuna skirts out on the sand bar and heave over into the third gut, which drops off into about 12-25 ft.of water. I don't recommend walking the bloody bait out if there are any sharks around. The best shark fishing experience I have had is anywhere from the beginning of June to the end of August and as far as my opinion, set up about 4 hours before dark and fish all night.

The best equipment for this location would be to use a reel that will hold upto 500 yards of 50 lb. test and a heavy action 5-7 foot rod. I generally use a 30 foot, 300 lb. stainless steel liter with a 10/0-14/0 hook(all depending on the size of fish that you are trying to catch), 5 foot up from the hook I use a 14 oz. breakaway sinker. The rip current off of the sandbar when the tides are returning can be a pain. What I mean by breakaway is when I am hooked up the sinker will break loose from the liter line and I am fighting all fish, no dead weight. I use this method for 4-8' sharks and it has proven to be very productive for me. If your preference is surf casting versus kayaking the bait, then I would use a heavy action 12' surf rod capable of throwing 6-14 oz. of lead. The reel would have to hold at least 350 yards of 30lb.test and the only surf casting reel that I know of is a diawa 50 sha. It's got a heavy drag line and is built for duability. The only downfall I have about surf casting is trying to throw a monster chunk of bait, and at Cape Point, the sharks generally run 5-12 feet and it does not take long to spool a surf casting reel. That is why I recommend having your ducks in a row if you are planning to fish Cape Point for sharks. Good luck!