Looking for first shark

[Custodio]

I am wanting to know any locations land based where I could get a shark. Never caught one but would like to start. Any tips or advice appreciated as well.

[dirvin21]

I'm just about to start the same quest, I intend to use freshwater eel for bait, if you search fishing for bullsharks on google they have some good info

[Captain Spanner]

There are some guys that have put out a good dvd as a beginners guide to sharking. Its based on the mid north coast and is mainly land based for bull sharks in the river. They are on Facie as Yep I'm On Fishing. They are getting some nice sharks but you probably don't need to aim that big first off if you just want to catch any shark at all. If you fish off any of the main Sydney beaches after dark with a fish flesh bait like a strip or chunk of mullet, tailor, yakka, salmon and you should find little whalers and gummies. You can just fish with a two hook snell rig (Circle Hooks) on a 2 foot coated light wire trace like Supaweld with a rod length of at least 50lb or heavier mono leader above it. Then you can fish a running sinker rig (similar format to what your bream rig would look like) with a star sinker on a running sinker clip like an Ezy Rig.

So basically starting at your rod; if you have braid then connect a rod length of 60lb mono leader using an albright or similar, if fishing mono just run 50lb as your leader. On your leader you slide on a sinker clip like an Ezy Rig, then your swivel, then a 2 foot length of coated wire with 2 circle hooks snelled on. I find 60lb Supa weld is fine for the little fellas on the beach and you only need a cigarette lighter to join it so no need for crimps. Alternatively a knottable nylon coated wire. You will be able to cast this rig into a deep gutter close to the shore. So no need for paddling surfboards or kayaks into the dark to drop off your bait like the serious guys. You will also get some big rays and a chance at a jewie. Make sure you have something like side cutters to cut the hook of close to his mouth if you're letting him go and aren't able to get the hook out.

Important but often forgotten point. They do bite.

[Mike89]

Great info Captn Spanner, I hope to put it to use some day. I'd love to catch a nice sized gummy.

What sort of size reel would I want for this kind of job?

Edited September 15, 2016 by Mike89

[Captain Spanner]

For the little fellas Any reel that holds 300m of either 50lb mono or 40-80lb braid. I use 65lb whiplash braid for my beach fishing for jewies, which are my main target, I only catch the Sharks if they beat the jewies to the bait. Which happens more often than not The reason I use 65lb is because I like to use 60lb jinkai for my rod length leader for abrasion amd a bit of stretch and 50lb fluoro Carbon trace to the hooks for jewies and when I get spooled by big Rays and sharks I like the line to snap at the hook end so I get all my braid back. Both for my sake and the fishes.

So I use The old B series shimano bait runners size 6500. They only put out about a max of 6-7kg drag when upgraded but they are sturdy and smooth. And have the bait runner function of you have big baits and want to let the fish run. I also have a 12000D bait runner which has been a good reel but I have had a few issues that have been sorted out under warranty.bboth of those reels hold about 300m of 65lb whiplash. If you don't need a bait runner then any reel size 10000 and up will work. I use a 10000 Saragossa for a kingfish jigging reel that would also be fine for the beach application for the little fellas. A 14000 or 18000 will have more drag and more line capacity but will be slightly heavier to hold all night if that's what you do. I have used my 14000 Saragossa off port mac breakwall and it is fine to hold for periods of time. A mate has a penn spinfisher that is fine for that. It also holds heaps of line.

If you want to eventually fish for bigger sharks and Rays, keeping in mind you don't have a lot of control over what picks up you bait, then you will soon want a bigger, stronger reel so might as well go the 18000 in a Saragossa or spheros type reel depending on budget. I have 80lb braid on my 14000. Keep in mind that you need a rod strong enough to put up with the increased drag pressures. A longer stiffer rod can out a lot more hurt on you than the fish of the action isnt suited to you. I have the extra heavy daiwa sensor surf 15' to cast huge baits but the long butt is awkward as I havent cut it down. I have a home made belt that has a little pvc end cap that hangs between my knees to lower the pivot point of the rod when I fight fish with it.

So in short if you intend having a shot at a larger shark or Ray that might take your bait I would go an 18000 Saragossa or spheros type reel with 65 or 80lb braid on a 10-13 foot 10-20kg rod ( I would use a 12 or 13 footer) that can cast heavy weights (over 200g rating). I'm pretty sure the 18000 and 14000 size reels are the same reel by the 18000 spool holds more line. These reels may now come in larger sizes.

Good luck.

[JonD]

What size sharks are we talking? All the sharks I've ever caught have been bellow 50 kg along the shore and can be knocked over on quite light gear. Putting large amounts of pressure through long rods really takes some doing, just try filling a 3lt juice bottle with water and lift it with a beach rod. If you can do that easely then try two 3 lt bottles, now you are getting up around 6kg of lift power ( or drag) which is still well within almost all 6000 sized reels which can hold a fair amount of 20-30 lb braid.

If you are going to use mono then you will certainly need a reel with a large spool to hold enough line but if you use braid with a mono leader joined with something like a pr or ft knot then you can easely use a smaller lighter outfit.

Braid breaking strains are very misleading as many in the 20 lb size will actually break closer to 40 lb. I'm using 7 kg drag to knock over bluefin and Marlin on short parabolic rods with medium sized spin reels I the 10000 size from my boat.

Take a look here to see what many braids actually break at http://www.paulusjustfishing.com/4linetesting.htm

oo

Jon

Edited September 15, 2016 by JonD

[Captain Spanner]

When I say small ones I'm talking 4 foot and under for general whalers and schoolies. We normally make short work of these guys and they are back in the drink pretty quickly. When I'm talking about big ones I'm not sure how big they are sorry because I've never actually seen one of them. I just grab the spool when it gets to the last layer of braid before my couple of metres of mono backing that joins it to the spool.

I agree with jon on the amount of pressure that you are actually effectively putting through the rod and the drag pressures. It is a great idea to actually try that so you realise how little pressure you are actually putting in the fish compared to what it feels like on your end. It's a bit of an eye opener to get a mate to grab the leader (no hooks) and pull the line and walk/run away and you try to pull back with the rod and then swap. You'll be surprised.

[JonD]

Agree there, the most common I used to get in Sydney were about the 4ft size, though I did used to get a few big wobbys after dark ( protected now). Down here on the south coast we tend to get a few bigger whalers chassing the salmon schools ( not saying they aren't up Sydney way but they are more common down here).

We sometimes get gummies over 20 kg and I've had whalers to the shore to big to drag up the beach so release them in the water. The big common black rays are the worst as they can be almost impossible to break off even on my lighter gear and can take up valuable time away from quality fish. Just before Xmas we get a run of small smooth hammerheads around 30 kg along the shore line, these are easier to spot from the boat cruising the surface at the back of the surf.

Jon

[tyrone07]

Plenty of small bronzies off the beach that's for sure, chuck put a fresh slab of fish after dark and you are guaranteed to run into at least one, frustrating when the baits are intended for jew

[Mike89]

Great info here. Thanks guys!

[JonD]

Not sure about the rest of you but I've found it takes about 2 hrs after the sun sets for gummies to turn up. They seem to love shore or sand crabs so will often be very close to the beach.

Jon

[Mike89]

Not sure about the rest of you but I've found it takes about 2 hrs after the sun sets for gummies to turn up. They seem to love shore or sand crabs so will often be very close to the beach.

Jon

Thanks for the heads up. I don't have a good sharking combo at the moment but have a 9ft Penn Prevail 8-12kg with a 650 Spinfisher. Holds about 200m of line. Would that do the job for now targeting gummies at the beach, conditions permitting?

[Captain Spanner]

Thanks for the heads up. I don't have a good sharking combo at the moment but have a 9ft Penn Prevail 8-12kg with a 650 Spinfisher. Holds about 200m of line. Would that do the job for now targeting gummies at the beach, conditions permitting?

Definitely worth giving it a crack and see how it goes. Have you got at least 20lb on it? It should be fine for most of the small fellas that you are more likely to come across and that outfit will be much more comfortable than a heavier, longer setup for fishing with and fighting fish. Worst case is you'll end up connected to something out of your league and get spooled. But this is always on the cards no matter how geared up you are and half the fun. If you decide you like it but need something different after a few trips then you can consider a shopping trip then. There are a couple of other recent beach rod threads on here if you start looking.

[JonD]

Thanks for the heads up. I don't have a good sharking combo at the moment but have a 9ft Penn Prevail 8-12kg with a 650 Spinfisher. Holds about 200m of line. Would that do the job for now targeting gummies at the beach, conditions permitting?

With that I would be confident to stop most things depending on the line you are using. Im not sure if you saw the thread on beach setups but in that one i mentioned the gear I use with a pic of a big gummy.

Firstly let me just say theres no wrong and right, its more about having a bait in the water at the same time. With that in mind the guys who recommend the big heavy gear are just as much on the ball as my way with lighter gear, its a bit like some people target big humpy head snapper on plastics and 10 lb braid while others use 80 lb hand-lines.

In the previous thread I mentioned taking a couple of friends who were desperate to land a fish over 2kg and drove all the way up from Melbourne just to have a try at my local beach. Looking at their gear I offered them my daughters sub $70 Angler advantage 3m 8-10kg rod (mt8120m) with a shimano spheros 4000 fb. Things were quiet with only one bream until about 2hrs after dark (around the full moon) then we had an action packed few hours and left the beach with the fish still bitting. We caught several salmon and tailor which were cut up for fresh bait to catch the gummys, they released 8 or 9 with a couple of thumpers.

All of this was with powerpro 15 lb braid and a mamoi diamond mono leader and the same strength traces. We do get bitten off by tailor but rarely lose gummys, the lighter line lets me pack more onto the spool and the casts were only about 40m out, the longest fight would of gone about 12mins. I dont like using wire as tends to get tangled and kinked but you may need some if targeting the toothy ones, wire will reduce your jew chances though.

If you look up the lines Im using in the earlier link you will notice that both break well above the stated strengths meaning my gear is closer to 35 lb braid and 40 lb leaders. Some manufactures like Daiwa tend to have much more accurate ratings with their line.

Hope that helps and if you are ever down this way let me know and I can put you in the right area. Tilba beach to my south is a great gummy etc beach but most of my shore fishing is on the beaches heading north from Dalmeny. I dont target the beach so much as Im mostly in my boat these days but it will be interesting to see how things are since all the big storms over the last few months.

Jon

[JonD]

By the way Ive got a few longer heavier rods (that haven't been used for about 10 years) but find it much easier to take on big fish with shorter softer rods that bend through the length of the rod rather than a fast action tippy rod.

Jon

[Mike89]

Thanks Jon, wealth of information there. When is the best time of year for gummies in NSW?

[JonD]

Thanks Jon, wealth of information there. When is the best time of year for gummies in NSW?

We do better in the cooler months and spring. This is when we turn our attention from kingfish and and game to snapper or chassing salmon on the shore. Must admit they have been quiet lately and hardly any salmon either, don't know what's going on!

Jon

[DMG]

Night time /beach/big baits.
or if you go swimming it will be easy the shark will come looking for you
The question is why ?
They fight like a dead body unless its a Mako,then it fights like a flying dead body.
I dont think its a good idea to fish for sharks off a beach anymore,we dont need to attract them anymore than they are already.
I think they need to cull them back,professionally.
Especially the man eaters.
I dont care if its cruel.
Either cull them or close the beaches,cause eventually no one will go there anymore.

To be honest I think fishing for sharks near a beach should be a crime unless your professionally contracted to cull them.

But I guess were talking fishing for small sharks.

The only good shark for me is a dead one.

Edited September 27, 2016 by D.G

[Raymondo]

WOW!

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[tyrone07]

I disagree DG the Sharks have and always will be there in numbers shark nets or not. It's their natural habitat that we as humans make a decision to go in knowing full well that the potential to be attacked is there. Due to increasing populations etc etc we come into contact with them more frequently. I don't know if you have ever fished a beach after dark but I can gurantee there are more then enough toothy critters out there

[JonD]

I dive and snorkel on the south coast Narooma area, I'm in the water around three times per week either doing survey work, photography or hunting. I do this with my daughter and rarely see any sharks other than port jacksons and wobbys, we even freedive and scuba around around headlands at night as this is the easiest way to photograph some species. People put to much fear into the extremely low chance of ever getting any hassel from sharks, with 750 people dying last year from falling off chairs I would be more worried about what you are sitting on!!!

Jon

Edited September 28, 2016 by JonD

[JohnDory]

Night time /beach/big baits.

or if you go swimming it will be easy the shark will come looking for you

The question is why ?

They fight like a dead body unless its a Mako,then it fights like a flying dead body.

I dont think its a good idea to fish for sharks off a beach anymore,we dont need to attract them anymore than they are already.

I think they need to cull them back,professionally.

Especially the man eaters.

I dont care if its cruel.

Either cull them or close the beaches,cause eventually no one will go there anymore.

To be honest I think fishing for sharks near a beach should be a crime unless your professionally contracted to cull them.

But I guess were talking fishing for small sharks.

The only good shark for me is a dead one.

Wow

I'm glad that the Very high majority of Raider members have a bit of common sense and realize that sharks are a essential part of the marine ecosystem that we all enjoy!

M8 time give yourself an upper cut and learn a bit about nature and ecology.

Very glad a lot of Fish Raiders WOULD NOT AGREE With your comments.

..............................-................................

Edited September 28, 2016 by Johndory

[NaClH2OK9]

Night time /beach/big baits.

or if you go swimming it will be easy the shark will come looking for you

The question is why ?

They fight like a dead body unless its a Mako,then it fights like a flying dead body.

I dont think its a good idea to fish for sharks off a beach anymore,we dont need to attract them anymore than they are already.

I think they need to cull them back,professionally.

Especially the man eaters.

I dont care if its cruel.

Either cull them or close the beaches,cause eventually no one will go there anymore.

To be honest I think fishing for sharks near a beach should be a crime unless your professionally contracted to cull them.

But I guess were talking fishing for small sharks.

The only good shark for me is a dead one.

I'm looking for the...

Report post as bollocks.

Button.

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[Adsy91]

More people die from falling coconuts than sharks and I don't see too many coconut trees around

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[Guest]

and all this banter has got to do with catching your first shark ............NOT ONE BLOODY THING ( pun intended) stick to the topic please