# Shark Fishing Rig



## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

Hello,
I am in need of some personal opinions on shark rigs. I have been using a basic rig since I started, but I feel like I may need to change it up a bit to get some more activity. 
I have been using an 6oz Egg sinker on my main line (65Lb Braided), attached to that is a 200Lb Heavy Duty swivel and 10' - 15' of 49 Strand 600Lb fishing wire. At the end of that I use a single 10 ot "J" Hook.

My question is: Where can I improve with this, or what should I look at in terms of better rig set up's?

I have seen plenty of different rigs on the different forums, but I am unsure which would be the "Better" set up. Any advice or opinions would be great! (I build the rigs myself so I am not limited to the shelf bought pre-mades) Again, thanks for your time and responses!
Johnny


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Are you fishing from a boat or from the beach?


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## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

I apologize if I was unclear! I am fishing from the beach.


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## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

Also I Kayak my bait out, if that helps any more... Probably something I should have said earlier.


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## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

we always use 50 lb mono,a 100lb swivel,108 lb single strand wire and a 12/0 j hook. sometimes if im not hooking up good i put a small stinger hook on also.


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## jdhkingfisher (Aug 6, 2010)

i use cable from home depot. and 12/0 circle hooks. my cable leaders usually run about 10 foot.


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## J.Sharit (Oct 3, 2007)

Seen plenty of big sharks lost with wire leader it kinks up and pow he's gone. I use 170 or 250 plastic coated seven strand or similar leader (12 - 15ft long) material. J hooks are okay if they are razor sharp or you'll lose alot on the hook set. I started using a 12/0 circle now and not missin near as many. Use a good heavy duty Sampo snap swivel well worth the extra price. Just what I use maybe not everyones choice but seems to do the trick for my crew.


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## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

Good stuff above, and I agree that wire will kink up on you. I however am not a fan of seven strand (just personal opinion). I think your rig is well made and should be able to handle most anything. 

My thinking is more bites requires a smaller profile, seven strand is generally very thick and if the coating is broken and water penetrates, the leader is pretty much toast. 
I use a 12-14o hook with 300lb steel leader (approximately 9-10ft),to a large well made swivel, then 300lb mono (10ft). My thinking is the leader is long enough to protect from the tail, but short enough to LIMIT (not eliminate) the chance of folding on its self and breaking. 
I then place a large bobber (weighted on one end and made of foam) on the main line with a rubber band to keep it from sliding and controls the depth of the bait. I then paddle it out and drop it. A lot of the time the rod is going off before I can get back. I have been using the same rig for 2yrs, we only shark fish a few times a year while at the beach, but if its well made it should last.


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## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

Wow! Great information there! I was planning on switching to circle hooks this upcoming weekend. I have also been tossing around the idea of using flotation as well. It sounds like a very solid rig that I can imitate very easily. My only concern is, while fishing gulf side, is there any need to worry about my bait floating back in? 
Another idea I have tossed around is modifying my rig to place the weight differently, im just still stuck on how to get my hunk of fish to hang out off the bottom of the ocean.
In my personal opinion, the 49 strand fishing wire is great, but very bulky. I would be hard pressed to find anything to break that off, and with the length that I use, tail whips are a non-issue. My friends and I were turned onto the idea of weed whacker line as a shock leader, but we were unfortunate with a big hook up that broke us off before even that leader.
I think that im going to give it a shot with the bobber idea. I have most of the materials already in the bag. If anyone has anything else that might be of use, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks for the great responses, and I look forward to posting back with giant results


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I make my beach sharks rigs with 15ft of 200-300lb mono attached to a 5ft trace of 275-400lb cable (49 strand) with a 300lb ball bearing swivel. I like the big swivel because once I get my hand on it during landing it will not slip out of my glove. I make my weights out of coat hangers and bank sinkers. I cut the coat hanger in half, run each piece through the eye of a 8-10 oz bank weight and twist them together at the bottom of the weight forming 4 legs kinda like like a giant spider weight. I tape over this with electrical tape and I'm ready to go.


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## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

As far as the bait moving back in, I use no weight, just a very large bait, usually the hook, wire and bait are enough to keep it on or near the bottom. Every now and then I reel in some slack, but with a circle hook, no missed hook sets (just a pain in the butt to get it out of the corner of a sharks mouth). With this being said I usually do not shark fish if its rough or we have a south wind (dont want to get wet paddling baits out). But I guess it would be needed if in larger surf or a strong current. A concrete break away weight would be my choice.


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## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

Good stuff guys! I think I will be good to go! I have a few ideas popping around in my head at the moment, so I wil post back with what i come up with. Thanks for all the great tips. Heres to*hopefully posting back with monster shark pics!!!!


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## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

good idea jsharit. i do lose a lot on hookset with j hooks, i think im gonna try circle hooks myself i like the single strand wire though. we havent had any problems with it kinking.


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## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

does anyone know how braid works for shark fishing? seems like you could put a lot more on a reel with braid but i never hear of anybody using it. it is expensive but if it works better...


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## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

I personally use braid. I spooled up 65lb on both my surf rods, and have been happy with it since day 1. The obvious down fall, it's priceyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy... 

I am picking up a Penn Senator 6ot tomorrow and i'm looking at $150+ to completely spool up with 100lb braid. It is what it is, in my opinion you get what you pay for if you shop smart. 

I like that braid has almost no stretch to it, and the knot strength is high. I have been rubbed against all kinds of stuff with sharks and the line has held up like a champ. 

As far as performance, I have had plenty of success with just mono, you just sacrifice a lot of length with it. I will personally stick to braid. 

I am back to watch, hoo-ray for the mid to 0700  Tomorrow is 1 year with the wife, and shes taking me to spanish fort, BASS PRO SHOPS  Just gotta survive til 0700


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## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

congratulations on a year! thats pretty expensive to spool up but seems like it would last longer too. im with you though it works and you get all the length you need. im gonna give it a try thanks for the info.


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## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks! I spooled up 6/0 this afternoon with 100lb braid and hit the top with 100Lb Mono for the top 125+yds(Nice shock leader). All in all I was able to walk away much better than the estimates I had gotten($65 vs. $150 @ local bait shops) . Plus they threw the mono on for free!

The only part of the line I should need to mess with replacing now is my mono top shot. But 100lb mono is not much at all, easpecially when you're only looking at 125yds to re-spool.


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## J.Sharit (Oct 3, 2007)

jakec said:


> good idea jsharit. i do lose a lot on hookset with j hooks, i think im gonna try circle hooks myself i like the single strand wire though. we havent had any problems with it kinking.


just remeber to just reel up the slack and let the fish set the hook
you can pull a circle out tryin to set it like a J hook


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Johnny said:


> Thanks! I spooled up 6/0 this afternoon with 100lb braid and hit the top with 100Lb Mono for the top 125+yds(Nice shock leader). All in all I was able to walk away much better than the estimates I had gotten($65 vs. $150 @ local bait shops) . Plus they threw the mono on for free!


J/C!!! What local shops told you it would be 150 bucks?


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## Sunshine17 (Dec 11, 2009)

I got 500 yards of 85lb braid and about 25 to 50 yards of mono on the bottom of the spool on my Penn 113h2. I got the line spooled at OutCast for only 70 bucks. Their rate for that I belive is 14 cents a yard. I may be wrong but thats what I was told.


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## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

At OutCast the guy told me it would be $130 for the braid on a 6/0 Penn and about $20 more for the 100lb mono top shot. He was guestimating, but still. maybe he was confused lol. The guy at gray's tackle was only $10 less :/


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## Johnny (Oct 12, 2010)

Just a quick post, I forgot to post back with my final result! I ended up making something very similar to the rig I found on the Texas Shark Fishing web site. I made a shock leader out of weed whacker line. About 10-15' of the weed wacker line attached to a heavy duty swivel. I attached 5' of steel leader to the end of that. I used the 49 strand 480lb wire. Right in the middle of the rig I drop which ever weight I feel will hold the bottom the best. I just tie it straight to the swivel with 20lb mono. If you use the spider weights, be prepared to loose a few... As for hooks, I made one rig with a 10/0 J hook, and 1 with a 12/0 circle with a stinger the same size. 

I have been using this set-up for the last 2 weekends, and i have had a good deal of success with it. I will personally stick with the circle hook set up. Its a pain to try and dig out a J hook if you arent quick on the hook set. Thanks again for all the responses to the thread. I hope this can help any of you looking for a good shark rig! Best of luck to you other shark fishers out there!


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## fishingcanada (Oct 21, 2010)

Rigging your shark bait is vital to hooking up with a shark. You can hook them through the eyes and fish just the head or you can hook them through the tail and fish them live. There are actually several different ways to rig your shark bait but I've only shown the method I prefer. Here's a picture of a very nice bluefish rigged up as shark bait.


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## Cornflake789 (Oct 10, 2008)

You might think im crazy for using this rig but hey it works, I used about a 5 foot long dog cable coated with plastic clipped to cast net swivel wrapped in duck taped and tied to that swivel i have a coat hanger for a steel leader followed by a monsterous circle hook which size i do no know. Depending on how deep i am fishing or the situation of the current i will also use an 8 ounce weight above the dog lead.


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## fishingcanada (Oct 21, 2010)

A spinning rod is a great choice for anyone only shark fishing a couple times a year. You can fish for bait or sharks with this type of rod, so it's a great choice if your budget is of concern. The drawback to using a spinning rod is that the drag will probably melt down after catching couple big 6' blacktip or spinner sharks.


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