# My first shark! Okaloosa Island



## Destin Red

Hit a couple ladyfish immediately and used for bait, had one hooked up for 20 min and he broke line. Threw out my shark rigs with and wasn't getting any bites... so I re-rigged my trusty ol surf rod with only a 1' wire leader and small 3/0 hook on 25# mono line. hahaha.

10 min later my rod bends over and the spooling begins. Managed to finally land my first black tip. Had to baby the drag of course. On Okaloosa island.

Also there was this guy out there with his wife that was trying to totally rain on my parade, as i'm catching him he's standing over me saying how he's caught hundreds of sharks, and mine was 'a baby'... and bla bla. total dbag. so buddy, if you are reading this, next time, please keep your trap shut and let the fisherman enjoy their catch instead of acting like a 'know it all'.


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## Destin Red

oh yeah, i also caught a pompano too!


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## Dragsmoker

Very nice job! And don't worry about that guy


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## HappyHourHero

Nice catch! I would be so happy. I have been after them for a couple months now and I lost one at the beach. Other than that, no dice for me on the sharks.

Thanks for the report!


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## tank banger

Nice catch I have been wanting to try and catch one for a while just haven't made the time. I would be trilled to catch one that size:thumbsup:


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## Ugly 1

Great 1st shark Red! Okaloosa has been producing some good looking sharks. The addiction begins!! Start practicing the Hi my name is Red and Im addicted to shark fishing!!! There is a Monday night support group at Navarre pier....... UGLY


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## MoganMan

Nice shark! And ignore that guy, he's just looking for attention


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## MrFish

Congrats on the shark! You get all kinds of pros on the beach, I've noticed.


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## hjorgan

Nice one. So many folks that fish with me want to catch a shark ... the first time. After one or two they get less interested. Those things just keep pulling.


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## Destin Red

Thanks for all the nice comments! Yeah, I didn't let that guy ruin my day, but you would think a fellow fisherman would know better. I have only been actually trying to catch sharks for a couple months now and every time i go, i get bites. Sometimes they will take the bait and drop it after 15 seconds, or they will break my line, etc. But everytime I go to the beach I at least 'hook' one. Anytime of the day too... 10am, noon...yesterday I caught that one around 5:30pm.

I usually get bloodline or scraps from seafood markets, but fresh caught ladyfish seems to work wonders, very bloody. I dont put em on whole, I just cut cross sectional chunks of em... about 4" each. I used to 'butterfly' them, but i dont do that anymore as it encourages smaller fish to rip the bait apart. There must be hundreds of sharks that cruise in between the first and second sand bars daily. They are everywhere! Good luck everyone!


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## Destin Red

He was 61".. so just over 5'!!


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## johnf

Cool that's a keeper. Caught my 1st one this year, about a 4' Atlantic Sharp nose. 2nd one was a 10' Hammer and it was a beast. Would like to catch one like yours next year, I'm jonesin' for some fresh shark. 

Congrats.


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## Ugly 1

My favorite bait by far is cow nose rays! stays on for hours in the surf, resists crab, small fish, catfish, and attracts big fish! UGLY


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## Destin Red

Thanks for the tip Ugly. We actually caught a 'regular?' sting ray yesterday... wasn't a cow ray for sure. We were about to cut that up for bait, but thats when the shark hit. I've heard sting rays were good bait, but i didn't think they were that bloody? Maybe i'm wrong? probabaly very durable though like you say. plus if it's fresh, i think it's hard for sharks to turn down. I hear they can actually sense when bait has touched ice... they can sense the chlorine in the ice and it turns them away. So when I get scraps, I bag it and then put it on ice. But always go fresh if you can!! Ladyfish are super easy to come by and plentiful as you all know.


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## Destin Red

@johnf... Are hammerheads frequent just off the beach? I hear people have been spotting more. I always tend to see blacktips and huge bulls when i'm out. I've had a couple 8-9' bullsharks 'check me out' in the water before... not a fun encounter.


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## tigershark

Nice shark ! Southern stingrays and cownose rays are my favorite The addiction begins


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## johnf

Destin Red said:


> @johnf... Are hammerheads frequent just off the beach? I hear people have been spotting more. I always tend to see blacktips and huge bulls when i'm out. I've had a couple 8-9' bullsharks 'check me out' in the water before... not a fun encounter.


I don't know. I'm only down there for a week at a time. This was my first try at shark fishing. Now I'm addicted. Already looking for new setup for next year. GOT TO HAVE SOMETHING BIGGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Surfster

Very nice! What kind of surf rod and reel were you using??


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## Destin Red

This was not caught on a 'shark rig'. I do have a Penn Senator 6/0 with 100lb. power pro spliced with 100lb mono. I use 12/0 J hooks, and sometimes bigger circle hooks.

This one was caught on a $100 rod/reel Penn combo from Bass Pro. Nothing fancy. It was luck and hilarious that I was able to land him using only 25# test mono line, 1' wire leader and a 3/0 hook. I had to keep the drag loose so the line wouldn't break, but with some finessing I was able to land him.


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## johnf

So the two hamerheads I caught were a lot bigger than your fish and I caught them on a Penn 309 with 30# line. Are blacktips a lot stronger or did I just get lucky?


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## devinsdad

Very, very nice. Way to go! We may be going this weekend if you can make it over this way.


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