If you were always guaranteed to catch something every time, they would call it catching and not fishing. With a little knowledge, however, you can help tip the odds in your favor.
Shark fishing should be approached with a goal and the necessary skills to maximize your chances of success. The fisherman who knows the right times and gear to use will significantly increase the chances of achieving his goal. Land-based shark fishing (LBSF) can only be successful when you posses the necessary skills. Certainly, someone who views capturing a big shark as chance or luck will never be successful.
Here a few tips to help you along the way:
- Make sure to choose the right bait. Try to find baits that that included in the shark’s natural diet whether it be rays or bonito. These baits last in the water for over twenty-four hours and are gorged on by big hungry sharks.
- Tide times and moon phases are a primary consideration for LBSF and fishing time must be optimised around certain strategic points. For most sharks, fishing a run-out tide on a new moon will almost guarantee results.
- Rigs must be made with circle hooks that are appropriate to the targeted species and crimped onto insulated wire, as micro voltages generated from bare cable and salt water consistently deter potential customers. Taped coat hanger wire can quickly be converted to a three-prong anchor that should be bound to the cable to secure the bait to the seabed, minimising drift. Furthermore, cable or electrical ties are the ultimate devices for securing a large eel or ray to a rig for optimal bait presentation.
- The right equipment is essential even though it may be a large investment. Penn international 50 or 80 size reels or similar Shimano Tiagra set-ups work brilliantly. Spooling these units with 80 to 100 pound lines and mounting them on 24 or 37kg rods will usually convince most large sharks to turn their head toward the beach. Black Magic belts and Braid harness set-ups are also critical when a strike is converted to a battle.
- Using an inflatable craft powered by a small outboard should be enough for bait deployment. Optimal environments offer a sharp drop off which means bait can be confidentially dispatched into deep water. Deploying baits just over drop-offs or in then to thirty feet of water often produce good results. Remember that deploying baits near the horizon only reduces the amount of line you have to control a specimen.
- Always know the rules and regulations for where you are fishing. Many species of sharks are protected both at a state and federal level and merely removing the fish from the water may be illegal.
There is more to fishing than just chance. Understand that serious knowledge and skill is involved. Don’t be discouraged if your initial attempts are not successful just simply try different locations until you get a strike. Following the above recipe will improve your strike rate incredibly and in a short time you will be predicting your next encounters.
https://www.sharkophile.com/2017/01/01/land-based-shark-fishing-guide/