Shark Fishing Guide: Deploying Shark Bait
Casting Shark Bait
Casting shark bait can be quite difficult since you’ve got to throw a pound or more of shark bait that is connected to a 6′ leader with an 8 oz. leader. What you need to remember is that sharks have an incredible sense of smell and have no problem coming into waste deep water. If you can only cast your shark bait 10-15 yards don’t worry. Walk it out as far as you can, just make sure you are in the gut (between sandbars). Once you get good at casting you should be able to throw a hunk of shark bait 30-40 yards.
If you’re casting a Penn Senator 113 or similar bait casting rod you’ve got a whole new challenge. Keeping your reel from ‘bird nesting’ is a must. There is nothing worse than getting a huge spool of line all tangled up and wasting precious time with which you could be catching bait. A lot of times a big tangled mess means cutting the line and starting over. You can’t afford to be cutting 50-100 yards of your spool. My first suggestion would be to tie on a weight and practice on the beach for several minutes. Once you feel comfortable add a little more weight. Remember a 6oz weight and a 20-30oz hunk of meat weighs a lot! You’ll eventually get the hang of it and it will be quite easy to cast. If you have major issues with casting I have another suggestion. Loosen the drag as light as it will go and throw it has hard as you can. With the drag enabled at all times it will not birds nest at all. I’m sure this is not good for your reel, so it’s best to learn to cast properly.
One other safety concern to mention when casting shark bait. When your heaving a ton of weight from the end of the pole the line as a tendency to slip in your fingers. You can get a deep cut on your fingers if this happens. Consider using some surgical tubing or a leather glove when casting. There is nothing worse than nursing a deep wound when you’re going to be on the beach all day.
Kayaking Shark Bait
Kayaking your shark bait is the best way to haul out those large baits. Two recommended kayaks are the Scrambler XT or the Frenzy. Both are made by Ocean Kayaks and are great for kayaking in the surf. If you get serious about shark fishing and buy a extra large reel you can haul out your baits several hundred yards and go for the big boys. Additionally they are quite fun to play in the waves when the fishing is slow.
Once you’re happy with your placement you can walk back to the beach and place your rod in a holder. I recommend a 2-3″ PVC type rod holder about 4-5′ long. This will keep your reel out of the sand and the corrosive salt water. Also having the rod this high will keep the line out of the sand therefore prolonging the life of your main line. Once its in the rod holder be sure to loosen your drag. You want it tight enough so the waves don’t pull it out, and loose enough that a shark won’t realize he just picked up a dinner.
Have a tip or see something I missed? Want to ask a question? Just drop a quick comment below and I get back to you before your next big shark fishing trip.
I didn’t see anything about tying the bait up to a surf board, having one of your retarded buddies paddle it out, drop it in the water and watch his friends running toward the fishing pole because the line went ZING! seconds after the bait was in the water.
Doh! It helps if you read the whole post.
Hello, we use a baloon to get our bait out when peir fishing, it works great.
Another way to get your bait out is to use a cardboard box. This requires having the wind blowing in the general direction you want the bait to go. You just take a box about 18″x18″ (or bigger, depending on the size of your bait) and tape the bottom with a little paper tape. Lay the bait in the bottom of the box. Cut a slit about 2″ in a top corner of the box and secure your leader by pushing it down into the slit, leaving the rest of the leader outside of the box. Put the box in the water and let it sail away as far as you want it to go then give it a good yank, pulling the bait out of the box. The bait goes to the bottom and the box will sink when it becomes waterlogged and disintegrate.
Hello,
I travel to fort lauderdale FL every year. we have a place on the ocean and i am learning how to surf fish for sharks. Last year i brought a huge lady fish over from the gulf and had it out for 1/2 hour and BAMMM gone and all my rigging with it. does anyone have any suggestions or comments about this area for sharks. i fish early about 4:00 am when no one is around. there are some reefs straight out where i live about 150- 200 yards out. should i kiak my bait out there ? also what pound test line is safest for large sharks ?
this year is my year. (my wife hates this shit, i love it. Any help would be greatly appreceated. I leave aroung mid dec. and stay till early jan.
JOHN
There are various shark species in Fort luaderdale. You might hook up with hammers, bulls, lemons, blacktips, spinners, nurses, and others. I wouldn’t yak out baits unless you have the gear to catch a large shark. A minimum would be a 9/0. I use braided line, I like to stay on the fish at all times. PowerPro is a very reliable braid, if your going to use braid, don’t use anything smaller than 65lb.
What kind of set-ups do you have?
Email me if you have any questions and i’ll gladly answer them, blacktip_hunter@hotmail.com
Here in South Africa shark fishing has moved on a bit.
We use SLIDE RIGS.
Basically you have a mainline (0,45mm mono) , attach a 3-9 meter flouro leader (1.0mm)
and end off with 225lbs wire tip of about a meter long.Next you attach a stopper ring , another 45 cm of flouro and then a 10 ounce grapnel sinker.
The non return clip has two 10/0 or 1x 10/0 and 1x 8/0 on a 80cm 225lbs trace.
We normally use Bonnitos or skipjack as bait which are attached to the hooks similar to the article above.
Cast your line into the water (150m-200m) and then attach the non return clip and slide the bait down.By gently jerking your rod for about 10min the bait will work its way down to the stop ring.
If any one wants more detailed info please email me at lucarottaro@gmail.com and ill send some more info.
Cheers
MY QUESTION IS HOW TO WIND THE LEADER ON THE REEL AND MAKE A CAST? COULD I USE BRAID TIED TO MY MAIN LINE THEN STEEL ABOUT 1 FOOT TO THE HOOK?WHAT POUND TEST BRAID WOULD BE BEST FOR THE SHOCK LEADER?
Your main line should be braid. Then a shock leader. about 10-20 yards of 110 mono. You can use a uni-to-uni knot to make the connection. In general this knot will slip through the guides on your rod. To the shark leader you’ll want 5+ ft of steel leader. You should be able to leave the steel leader at the end of the rod to make the cast. The shock leader will wind up on the reel.
This shark fishing sounds fun but I think I would use a kite to deploy my bait or maybe a remote control boat on a calm day. Maybe a wave runner. This may sound kind of goofy but its got to be better than carrying bait out on a surf board or kayak when a big Bull shark may be around and mistake you for the bait.
this post answered all my questions,..thanks~!
I have plans this summer to spend 10 days on the beach at the south ponte vedra area. Our plans are to do some shark fishing from the beach. I will be using a penn senator 113, and doing pretty much as your article says with tackle, line weight, bonita for bait etc. My plan for deploying bait will be with kayak, 75 to 100 yds out. Here is what im using to hold bait out: I want to deploy an anchor with a small lanyard attached to a jug float out to desired distance from shore; at the bottom of this anchor i will attach my line through a breakable clip that will hold my bait and line out. The bait and steel leader will be deployed several yards down current of the anchor. When shark takes the bait it should feed unobstructed through the breakable clip until which time i decide to set the hook and break and release the line. Am I looking for problems with possible tangle with lanyard.
I don’t think you’ll have any issues getting your line tangled in the lanyard. After your trip I’d love to hear just how well this idea works out