# Venting My Sharking Frustrations



## HappyHourHero (Jan 31, 2012)

Tonight was lining up to be just about perfect. Water was calm, had fresh rays, weather was great etc. I ran a ray out about 200 yards and kicked back and enjoyed the sun set. Just after it went down I noticed the rod bob a couple times but no run. A few min later my line went slack. I reeled up quickly thinking I had a pick up coming towards the beach. Nope, reeled all the way in and my 80lb mono was chewed through about 50 yards from where I tie on to my leader. Mono was clear. No idea what happened.

The time before that, I ran half a ray and had a short run and then nothing. Waited another hour and reeled up and bait was gone. I guess I didnt put it on there good enough.

The time before that, I hooked up and had my 7 strand bit through.

That is what my trips have looked like since I got my 9/0 set up. I realize these are all learning experiences and I can adjust to hopefully prevent things like the bait getting stolen and I am switching to #19 wire for my bite leaders. But I dont know what I can do about what happened tonight? I guess thats just part of it. 

I welcome any input. Thanks!


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## Chris Gatorfan (Apr 8, 2012)

Pay attention to your line when you make the drop. Sometimes it will wrap upon itself and the leader if there is to much slack. A couple months ago me and Matt (foreverfishing) went out and he had this happen. Shark bit right through his weed eater line and we never knew until we reeled in to check the baits.


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## FishFighter92 (Jul 10, 2012)

If I do not get a bite within 30 minutes I usually check my baits. Like Gatorfan said, when you drop your bait make sure the weight is headed straight down with the bait and not wrapped up. Also, if you dont have enough weight on there the line can move and cause your line to get tangled too. 

I was bit off above the leader once too but not 50ft away. 

I usually run my hooks through the toughest part of the skin but I can hardly get a ray off a hook with my hand much less a shark taking it off so I'm not sure about that one!


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## HappyHourHero (Jan 31, 2012)

Thanks for your replies. I have a heavy enough weight and I always drop the weight and then drop the bait once the line tightens up. I know for sure it was not tangled. My topshot it all beat up. I think a school of something with teeth swam through and just wrecked shop.


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## sharkwrangler (Sep 29, 2013)

Keep trying....it will pay off.


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## Chris Gatorfan (Apr 8, 2012)

Were you using hi-vis topshot. If so that's a good possibility. Spanish mackerel are notorious for doing that.


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## HappyHourHero (Jan 31, 2012)

Chris Gatorfan said:


> Were you using hi-vis topshot. If so that's a good possibility. Spanish mackerel are notorious for doing that.



It is clear mono. I still think it was prob spanish or something. The line was pretty beat up especially the closer I got to where the break was.


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## lowprofile (Jan 6, 2013)

its shallow sand bars and shells. my new 100lb, just spooled last night, is tore up along with my 130lb. pretty sure i would have lost my rig if i had hooked up again this morning. your line doesn't float. i've actually swam out and traced my line to the bait and it was on the bottom the entire way, even burried in the sand at some point. and thats with 12oz sputnik and pulled tight in mouse trap fashion. last night i had 6oz pyramids and pulled semi tight.


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## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

lowprofile said:


> its shallow sand bars and shells. my new 100lb, just spooled last night, is tore up along with my 130lb. pretty sure i would have lost my rig if i had hooked up again this morning. your line doesn't float. i've actually swam out and traced my line to the bait and it was on the bottom the entire way, even burried in the sand at some point. and thats with 12oz sputnik and pulled tight in mouse trap fashion. last night i had 6oz pyramids and pulled semi tight.


Dang, that's a really good idea to literally trace your line all the way to your bait to figure out how it lays once it's in the water. I'd be way too scared to do it though. Haha.


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## HappyHourHero (Jan 31, 2012)

More frustrations tonight. Went out after work and caught a dinner plate ray with my cast net. Ran it out and threw a chunk of mullet out in hopes of catching another ray for later in the week. Once the sun went down, the rod with the mullet on it went off and I landed a nice sized ray. That part of the night was good. 

About 15 min later, my 9/0 goes off and I strapped on my belt and to a solid hook up. Fought it for about 5 min and then slack. Reeled up and my 80lb topshot broke. I am seriously struggling with adjusting my drag once I am hooked up. I feel like my cable got cut the other day and my line broke today because I am putting too much pressure on them. I cannot get used to the amount of stretch mono has. I was used to a short topshot with all braid on the pole I used to catch black tips on. Any advice for getting used to the 9/0? I seriously feel like more of a beginner than I did early this year before I had ever caught a shark.


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## JerseyDevil13 (Apr 21, 2012)

I'll preface this by saying that most of the sharking I've done was up north from a boat, but we still caught the same size sand bars and lots of duskies there and were fishing in a shallow bay from 7-12 feet deep. I got so sick of the mono top shots breaking on me that I went to about a 8 foot cable leader (130lb) that I clipped into a snap swivel with a fish finder ahead of it. I doubled the 80lb braid above it for a good 10 feet also so that I had something to grab when we got them boatside to tag. You can use a surgeons loop to make that double line and a drop or two of superglue will ensure it won't move. I also switched to lighter weights (kinda like what Lowpro mentioned). My hook-up and landing percentage went way up after that. I'm not sure why but I think that they didn't feel the lighter weights when they picked up the bait and if they rolled in it the double braid seemed to take the abuse better. My brother and I landed a few that had one part of the double line broken but the other side holding steady. Again, I haven't managed a shark down here yet as I haven't been able to do it that many times, but my 8/0 has a double line braid (80lb) with the fishfinder rig to the cable leader. I just don't know how this will work since the water is so much clearer. I have started wrapping the circle hooks in electrical tape like Lowpro recommended so we'll see. I live over in AL so I don't get over nearly as much.


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## Ugly 1 (Feb 8, 2013)

HappyHourHero said:


> More frustrations tonight. Went out after work and caught a dinner plate ray with my cast net. Ran it out and threw a chunk of mullet out in hopes of catching another ray for later in the week. Once the sun went down, the rod with the mullet on it went off and I landed a nice sized ray. That part of the night was good.
> 
> About 15 min later, my 9/0 goes off and I strapped on my belt and to a solid hook up. Fought it for about 5 min and then slack. Reeled up and my 80lb topshot broke. I am seriously struggling with adjusting my drag once I am hooked up. I feel like my cable got cut the other day and my line broke today because I am putting too much pressure on them. I cannot get used to the amount of stretch mono has. I was used to a short topshot with all braid on the pole I used to catch black tips on. Any advice for getting used to the 9/0? I seriously feel like more of a beginner than I did early this year before I had ever caught a shark.


 Don't adjust your drag while fighting the fish! I have lost many sharks over the last 10 months because of messing with my drag! I adjust my drag right after running bait and tightening up the slack. I set it moderately but not past the point where I can pull it from the reel by hand without straining. The 9/0 has descent capacity and I let it run. I never touch the drag when the shark is running!! I will refer back to the E brake analogy. Think of your truck moving at 20+ MPH and using the E brake to bring it to a stop and once your fully stopped try moving your truck again without releasing the brake. I was continuously losing sharks because of this! Let the beast wear it self out a bit making runs at moderate drag and only tighten down when the line is static or when in danger of being spooled. Once the shark tires out a bit you can start to safely increase your drag but each time you do grab the line and pull to check the tension. Most fish/sharks will tend to get pissed off when they start hitting the shallows so make sure your ready for last effort bursts of power. And don't get frustrated Zack just get even We both know your efforts will be rewarded with a shark you will never forget!!!! UGLY


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## HappyHourHero (Jan 31, 2012)

Ugly 1 said:


> Don't adjust your drag while fighting the fish! I have lost many sharks over the last 10 months because of messing with my drag! I adjust my drag right after running bait and tightening up the slack. I set it moderately but not past the point where I can pull it from the reel by hand without straining. The 9/0 has descent capacity and I let it run. I never touch the drag when the shark is running!! I will refer back to the E brake analogy. Think of your truck moving at 20+ MPH and using the E brake to bring it to a stop and once your fully stopped try moving your truck again without releasing the brake. I was continuously losing sharks because of this! Let the beast wear it self out a bit making runs at moderate drag and only tighten down when the line is static or when in danger of being spooled. Once the shark tires out a bit you can start to safely increase your drag but each time you do grab the line and pull to check the tension. Most fish/sharks will tend to get pissed off when they start hitting the shallows so make sure your ready for last effort bursts of power. And don't get frustrated Zack just get even We both know your efforts will be rewarded with a shark you will never forget!!!! UGLY


Thank you UGLY! I always appreciate your replies and will heed your advice. It makes a lot of sense and messing with my drag is what is getting me in trouble.


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