Shark Fishing Central Coast

[Central Coast Fisherman]

G'day Raiders,

I went fishing last Saturday night on North Entrance beach. It was pretty quiet. I managed two good tailor and an extremely large salmon. When i got the salmon in i noticed it had a large gash around 7cm long by 3cm wide on one side of its body. It was obviously a fresh cut as it was bleeding. I'm assuming some sort of shark had bitten the salmon. Anyway, its got me thinking about perhaps trying to target some sharks from the beach, given theres not much else around during winter. I'm thinking about going back to north entrance beach again tomorrow night.

Can anyone give me some advice on targeting sharks from the beach.

Are there any beaches on the coast that produce more sharks than others?

What sorts of sharks am i likely to encounter this time of year?

I've got a reel spooled with 50lb braid, will this be up to the task of battling a shark?

What size steel wire should i be using?

What size hooks should i be using?

Should i use berley?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Cheers,

Phil

[LeoB]

G'day

I'm no shark fishing expert and most of it is done off a boat. I always use nylon coated wire or weld lock as I've heard (dunno if it's true) that sharks can sense the electrical disturbance set off by steel and water. There is still the hook though so have my suspicions...

Also I use a leader about 1.5-2m long due to their sand paper like skin, wears through line in no time.

As for tackle, I've got about a 10-11' tiger shark to the boat on 50lb line with an 80lb leader when up in Townsville. Hope all that is of some use.

Cheers Leo

[customcasting]

the bite might be from a good tailor this time of year you do get them above 7 kgs and the bigger tailor will bite the the 7 kg ones .north ent use to hold some big tailors ,this year there are around in good numbers above 4 kgs

these came in from up that way 2 moons ago

Edited July 1, 2011 by customcasting

[sinbad66]

off the beach bronze whalers are the most common

ive hooked some 8 footers and fought em hard for 30 mins before letting them go on my old 30lb alvey setup with 13 foot rod

most ive caught have been with ganged 2/0s but hell theyll bite anything

unfortunately finding a friend who will wade in and help land 6 foot plus sharks seem hard to come by lolol

also be prepared for rays [they run a bit stop a bit run a bit suck to the bottom a bit]

although again as ive found out getting your mate in the shallows with an angry 6 foot ray is also an impossibility

oh and be prepared to be stuffed and virtually at the point of collapse after battles

i tracked up and down newport beach one night for near 90 mins with an estimated [saw him] 8-10 foot bronzey after cutting him loose i collapsed for an hour to drink a 6 pack

that nite i was using a wire trace which in retrospect was a testing mistake

although alveys did make the going easy in some respect i dont think id like that strain on an eggbeater

definately give it a go

any decent slab of meat will get em

as for burley well sharks are scroungers

maybe a trail of pigs blood will help

but ive rarely had problems hooking them [landing them is a different story]

just do what i do decide to target jews

then your sure to hook sharks

Edited July 1, 2011 by mtcolah

[brettmann86]

Hi mate, I've done plenty of shark fishing from the beach.. Generally what your going to encounter this time of year is either a dusky or a bronze whaler or a bull shark, all pretty mean customers if ur not careful...

Gear I'd be using would be around a 1.5m of 120lb mono down to a 60cm 100lb+ trace of 49 strand steel wire single hook rig will do the job start at a 6/0 and work from there I use a 9/0 gamakatsu.. Use a heavy rod to cope with the pressure cause jeez do they pull... Baits are pretty standard.. Striped tuna, bonito, tailor.. Mullet if you are hard up for bait but soak it in some tuna oil first.. You'll be wanting to fish from an hour before last light and an hour after sun up.. Tides play a fair role in it rising or high is the go although a nice deep gutter will do for low tide.. Moon phase doesnt matter too much although checking my notes I do better around a full moon.... Burley is angood idea any old fish frames pinned in the wash will do plus catfood works great.. Now after you've fought the thing for a while and your close to landing it u gotta decide if it's dinner or a happy snap and release either way you have to be careful... Ideally ur gunna want 1 person holding the mono leader and essentially drag it up outta the wash DO NOT USE A GAFF ON ANYTHING OVER 5 FOOT they go mental when pinned and will ruin ur gear and you in the process if u have a flying gaff that would in theory work but then again I've never tried it.. Most the sharks you'll catch will be under 6 foot generally these are great eating size perfect for the plate and easily managed on your own over this size it's better to get a pic n let it go.. Now releasing is very tricky.. After de-hooking u gotta wade the shark out to make sure he's swimming ok because they waste themselves in the fight stand behind the pectoral finnwith one hand on the pec fin and one on the dorsal once he has his wind back he will swim off the last thing on their mind is turning around to have a go.. I've caught and released countless sharks of many shapes and sizes this way and never had a drama.. Biggest landed off the beach was 10'2 and happily enough he swam after some pics.

Hope that helps mate any more questions just PM me look up some of my old posts too..

I'd say we will go for a shark session sometime soon but I like my warmth too much ha ha ha summer is much more pleasurable

Edited July 1, 2011 by brettmann

[Central Coast Fisherman]

Thanks for the reply guys.

I went and got some 10/0 big bait hooks from my local tackle store. I also found some 480lb game wire i bought a few years ago and never used so i'll use that. I also bought 5 big cans of cat food and make a berley mix of cat food, bread and water and have put it in the freezer so it can slowly defrost in the wash.

Do you ever get gummy sharks around the central coast? I hear they are great to eat so i'd love to catch one. However a small bronze whaler should be great to eat too.

When shark fishing, do you ever get jews as by-catch? i have heard people catching sharks as by-catch when jew fishing so does it work both ways, or does the steel wire put the jews off?

At this stage its only me and my 8 year old son going tomorrow night. My dad cant go as hes away for work and my usual fishing mates all say its too cold... bloody girls.

I guess if we get one on my son and i will just have to wing it to land it.

Cheers,

Phil

[Gatte]

Glad I found this thread! Been thinking about some more regular beach fishing after mucking around with it lately. Sharks do sound like fun. Any good results fr avoca beach lately or is it beat to get in the car?