Gearing up for Shark

[adambomb54]

Hey Larry,
Caught your shark show a little while back and was extremely interested throughout. This summer a friend and I have decided to go shark fishing in the Montauk Point, NY area, about 7-15 miles off the point, where there are threshers, makos, and blues. My question is what type of gear would you use to tackle these amazing creatures, because every time I look up information someone is saying something different.
For instance, I read in one article that you want a minimum of 500 yards of 50 pound mono, then another said 80, one said 30 and so on. I'm getting confused by all the conflicting statements I've read. I'd rather take your word over ten others, especially after watching that shark show.

What line would you use? Pound test and type, i.e. mono or braid, and amount in yards would be clearest for me.

Also, without breaking the bank, what rod and reel would you use?

And finally, how would you rig it all up? I see Bass Pro has a "Shark Rig" that comes all set up, would that be best to use?

I already know we are going to use bluefish for bait and creating an oil slick/chum, but any other ideas are entirely welcome.

Thanks a bunch,
Adam

[mother ducker]

Well I'll tell you what I use and have caught Blue Sharks on off of Southern Maine. I use 2 Penn stand up rods rated for 40-80 lb line. One is a Penn Tuna Stick with roller guides and the other is a Penn Mariner Stand Up rated for the same line lb. The reels are a Penn 345 GTI level wind and a Penn 113LH, both carry about 450 yards of line. I run 40 lb Ande Mono with a 10' 49 strand wire leader onto a 10/0 or so circle hook. Above the hook is a "hoochie" or plastic skirt (pink or green). above the swivel on the wire leader is a styrafoam slip float. I have landed 3 blue sharks with these rigs and had a blast. For bait I run a large "horse" mackerel which I slit lengthwise a half inch deep and spray bunker oil into. One line is set shallow and close and the other is set long and deep. My chum is a mixture of mica flakes, sand, oat meal and lots of bunker oil. The sonsistancy of the sand should resemble a stiff concrete. The sand will help carry the chum slick deep and attract the toothy citters, the mica will put a flash in the water resembling somthing that was just eaten and the oatmeal will float and create a surface slick but will really hold in the oil. Keep it simple!

Good luck

Andrew

[adambomb54]

Andrew thanks for the advice.

I have a Penn 113 4/0 Senator loaded up with 50 pound power pro. Good to know now that it will handle a shark. I recently paired it with a trevala rod so we'll see how that set up works. I'll work on setting some leaders up like you said as well as a shock leader, probably 300 pound mono. Also thanks for the chum recipe, sounds like a real good one.

Adam

[mother ducker]

I few things I left out. The wire leader is 275 lb. I have used Power Pro on the 113lh but make sure it is wound on super tight or the line will burry itself and part when hooked up to a shark. I learned this the hard way when I hooked a nice thresher. I had a 50lb mono top shot (about 50') above the wire leader (with a Bimini Twist/loop to loop connection to the braid) and the Power Pro actually parted not the mono which shocked me so now I run 40 lb Ande and no shock leader at all. The leaders can be used a few times depending on kinks and cutts. I usually cut them back after each shark but I prefer to keep it at 10'. The wire is a bit pricy and you can go through a bunch of leaders if the sharks are around.

[adambomb54]

I'll give the braid a try. I was planning on running super heavy duty barrel/snap swivels for the connections. I especially plan to now after you mentioned that the lines cut themselves the way they did. As for the wire being pricey, I almost hope i have to worry about leaders because that means that the sharks are biting and that would be a thing of beauty.

[mother ducker]

Just keep things simple. There are so many fancy dancy ways to rig for what ever you fish for but just stick to the basics. What I was suprised at when my line parted was that the mono failed and not the braid and not any of my knots or loop to loop connections, I'm sure it was due to the zero stretch on the braid.

Good luck