Thread: Line size for shark ?

Will be down next week and can't wait!- I will be staying at ft Morgan and want to try and catch shark (son and I)- what size line do I need to use ?

I would say some 50lb braid with nice long 75-100lb wire leader. I've brought several blacktips and spinners to the pier with 20lb berkley mono(breaks around 26# i think).

disclaimer.... i've NEVER targeted sharks, so i dont know jack diddly. i'm just guessing.

Can only give experiance, but ive hooked several sharks from the pier and brought them in to break off using 65lb braid and a 61lb wire leader, including a bull shark everyone estimated being between 7 and 8ft, probably wouldnt handle any monsters but good enough to handle most sharks you'd find within casting distance of the beach, if you have any luck i'd be interested in the details, i'll be down in a few weeks and considering shooting out to fort morgan to try and get a blacktip for the grill

Why does everyone say you need 50-65 braid for shark casting when you're only going to be using 10-20lbs of drag?

That depends on your gear and what size sharks you're targeting.

The small-medium sized Blacktips & Spinners on a 5000-6000 class spinning reel, I'd have minimum 30# mono.
That should handle most sharks up to 6' caught casting between the surf and bar.

My big spinners are Penn 9500SS loaded 65# Sufix 832 to 50# BBG
These should be able to catch most sharks up to 8', maybe even 10'.

Then I break out the big guns, Penn Senators in 6/0 Wide, 9/0 and 12/0.
6/0 W: 500+ yards of 50# mono.
9/0: 600 yards 130 JB hollow core topped with 400 yards of 80# mono.
12/0: 1000 yards of 100# mono.

Leaders
Casting leader
I like coated 135# AFW Surflon for 4-5' long castable shark rigs.
9/0 - 16/0 circle hooks, 150# barrel swivel, 150# snap swivel and crimped connections.

Regular leader
Mustad 39960D 20/0 circle hook
Ten feet (10') -480# stainless steel 49 strand coated cable
550# swivel
600# snap swivel
Twenty feet (20') -500# Mono
550# swivel.
All connections double crimped with copper Nicopress sleeves
Leader/mainline connected with a 4 turn San Diego Jam Knot.

Originally Posted by PierPluggin

Why does everyone say you need 50-65 braid for shark casting when you're only going to be using 10-20lbs of drag?

Do you fish 10# line with 10#s of drag, or more like 3-4#s?

Max drag is usually 1/4-1/3 of the line's rating, so 10-20#s of drag would mean you'd want 30-40 or 60-80# line.
Of course I know a few people who fish drag at 50% of line rating.

When using braid I go pretty heavy for added abrasion resistance, you can go big with braid due to its small diameter.

Thanks for clearing that up Chile. Not trying to stray off topic, but could a surf sharking reel in the 8000-9000 size range loaded with 65lb braid also serve as a vertical jigging reel?

Sure, but jigging a 8000-9000 reel's weight might tire you out very quickly.

Originally Posted by PierPluggin

Why does everyone say you need 50-65 braid for shark casting when you're only going to be using 10-20lbs of drag?

I'm not everyone by no means, I simply stated my opinion. I personally have my 8500 spooled with 20lb mono.

No telling how many sharks I've caught (biggest was about 6') and the only lines I've ever used on my 8500ss is Ande 25# or Trilene Big Game 25#