Thread: ft. morgan shark fishing

What types of sharks are common it this area, and what would be the average size?

Trying to buy some gear and don't want to small, or to big. I know, I know their is no such thing as to big.

I just don't want you guys down their to know I'm from Chicago, from the over sized gear I use. The object is to blend in to your surroundings. As long as I don't talk y'all never know. (y'all) See I'm learning.

I'm focused on reel size at the moment Penn senator 0/9, or do I pony up the dough and go with 0/12. Any advice would be great.

I have brought 8 foot sharks back to the pier with penn 6500ss spinning gear once I went to a long enough steel leader .....a 706z would catch most anything out there ....

but hey it seems you like conventional tackle, so get a penn 6/0 senator.... but if you plan on bringing it on the pier, better be a 4/0....bring a kayak to get your bait out though(in the surf)...unless the wind is right and you can balloon it out

Originally Posted by john kozicki

I just don't want you guys down their to know I'm from Chicago, from the over sized gear I use. The object is to blend in to your surroundings. As long as I don't talk y'all never know. (y'all) See I'm learning.

I'm focused on reel size at the moment Penn senator 0/9, or do I pony up the dough and go with 0/12. Any advice would be great.

I don't think you will be able to hide your not from around there ....just saying.... equipment might help, but knowing what and how to use it will get you every time....and this is from a fellow googan Yankee

Why hide it man, let the regulars help you out. I wish I would have asked more questions when I was down there the first time, because of that my fishing results sucked! This next time I'm not going to let pride get in my way!

Don't worry about it dude. We are all here to help out. Heck I've been fishing all my life and still learn stuff all the time whether it be tying knots or different tactics for certain species. I think Flip Pallot said one time, "If you think you know it all about something, stop doing it because there is no longer room for improvement."

Unless you're kayaking baits out some of those conventional reels are overkill. I've made quite a few decent sized sharks submit at the hands of a 6500 Penn spinfisher.

Im about to get into the whole land based shark fishing myself. Im gonna try and go after the big boys like 8 + feet long so im about to buy a 12/0 if ur not going to fish for that big of stuff then the 9/0 is good. and remember you can always back that up with braid.

I was running 2 daiwa 600 sealines last year. Landed a big stingray and a couple of sharks 5-6'. This year Ill be bringing the 14/0 for one really long drop. Dutch or Chile Know quite abit about sharking at Fort Morgan

Unless you're willing to invest in a kayak or rent one to run baits, you do not need a senator. You also don't need a senator to have more fun than you can shake a stick at and still bring a 6-7' shark onto the sand. Believe it or not, there is such a thing as coming down with too much gear for the situation at hand when you can have more fun with lighter tackle. I still use A LOT of heavy surf casting gear and land A LOT of sharks with it as well. Beaching a 6' bull shark on casting gear is an absolute blast, and yet still versatile enough to effectively land bull reds, big black drum, large stingrays and all kinds of other hard-fighting fish from the surf.

An extremely versatile heavy surf casting outfit would be a 7000-8000 series reel loaded with 20# mono and a 65# braid topshot of about 10 yards. Penn Spinfishers and Daiwa BG90's are time-proven workhorses of spinning reels for the surf that hold enough line to effectively handle fish in the 6'+ class. Pair it with a 12' Ocean Master heavy spinning rod and you have one of the most versatile heavy surf spinning combos available.

If you prefer conventional tackle, a 30/40/50 size reel by Penn or Daiwa is hard to beat. I have a Daiwa Saltist 30 that goes to the beach with me almost every time I do that is paired with a 10' XH action Ugly Stik that is as tough as they come. I also have a Daiwa Sealine X50SHA that is dollar-for-dollar tough to beat for about $120 with a little more capacity. It holds 350yds of 30# mono and casts easily thanks to the live spool spindle design-also easy to maintain and parts are readily available. The larger reel would feel more at home on a longer rod with enough "umph" to cast 6oz and a big chunk of bait 70yds or more (I like the 12' Ocean Master or 12' Tsunami Trophy rods). The old Penn GS (535-555 sizes) are also popular with some and the old Penn 505HS Jigmaster is an amazing heavy surf reel with a couple magnets added to the spool for cast control.

My point is, don't let the 6/0, 9/0, 12/0 reels lead you astray from the true goal of having a fun time with nice sized sharks from the beach. It's a lot more fun fighting the much more abundant sharks in the 3-6' range on lighter tackle than it is on overly heavy rod/reel/line (it is absolutely zero fun winching in a 4' shark on a huge reel and even less fun having a small shark die on you line and never realizing it.) For what it's worth, one of the 8'+ scalloped hammerheads to hit the beach last year fell victim to an old Penn 309 with braided line. I fish the surf a lot more than I do the pier and usually have at least one of the setups described above on my cart to cover my bases for big reds and sharks if the groceries do not cooperate.

Species are a grab bag depending on the season. Everything from the seemingly ever-present 3' Atlantic sharpnose sharks, to spinners and blacktips in the late spring and fall, scalloped hammerheads in the warmest months, sandbars from December-March so it just depends on the water temps and bait availability. Right now water temps are so cold that no sharks are being caught from the beach. 3-6' sharks are extremely abundant with the larger specimens being much fewer in numbers. Good luck and good fishing.

Dutch

You appear to be the GO TO GUY when it comes to shark fishing. Let me explain myself. I'm moving down to Fairhope in the next couple months with the family. I presently fish up in Wisconsin and Illinois. My main target is Muskies and Lake Michigan for trout and salmon. So with this I have a lot of mid size equipment that would work quiet well for most small to mid size fish in the gulf. I was looking for something a little bigger so not to duplicate what I already have. It's nice to have a setup that may work in many different situations. So what may be over kill here just may be perfect for another situation that I might run in to later. This my thinking when I asked about size of sharks and type and the reason for the 9/0 size equipment.