Free Line - Best Way

i usually ballon my baits out to the desired distance then break it off leaving it to freeline ive noticed that ive gotton more hits on a freelined bait then when you use weights. either way it all depends what type of shark your fishing for

i usually ballon my baits out to the desired distance then break it off

How do you break it off???????????

There is certain places you can go through the lip of the ballon when you ballon out. When your bait is deployed to your liking,I normally reel the line tight as I bow the rod down towards the bait & then yank back on the rod just as if I'm setting the hook. This may require a few tries before it breaks/rips free depending on the quality of the ballon & where you hook it.Also,depending on the size of the bait,it may require more than one balloon to get your bait out.Trial & error will tell you what works the best,good luck. On another note,some of the guys I've sharked with in the past at honey moon island will leave the balloon on almost like a bobber & that has produced some pretty good results as well

aahhhhh - balloon is by the hook.

I have only done it up the line a few times. Just like the bobber method you mentioned. Its very cool to watch the balloon and then it.... moves left >>> no right... straight out and the clicker goes off.

Balloon to line to eyelet, fray the line, send it out (if ur at the beach you might need to get everything past the shore a little).

P.S. I have also seen people using their balloon like a bobber on the West coast, but they had some excellent bait.

i usually use the same hook i have attached to the bait i just attach the bottom party of the balloon to the hook until it passes the barb the let the bad boy float out the just crank up and yank and its usually free make take 2 or 3 tries

Chris-just rip the lip about 1/2 way around.Makes it easy to pull off then....Dave

all good way's to do it, but a little reminder,if you use a lighter line to tie you're balloons they will come of easier,use 8-10 lb test , depending if you are on shore or on pier with some depth,if on shore you will have to tie to bait so it does not drag the bottom in close,but if you have some depth to work with tie it to the swible real close,it won't take much to brake it.and then there are lifesavers.

If the wind is blowing off the beach the best way is with a garbage bag. Sea turtles will eat the bag so be shure to retrieve the bags. Take a plastic bag as big as ya can get. Fill it with air and tie it off. tie 20' or so of mono to a second bag so ya have two bags in tandem. Hook the hook in the bag where its left over is below the tie. Carefull not to let it twist. be shure to only hook through one leaf of the bag. it will hold just fine in the water. One bag will do fine but 2 bags will do great. useing the second bag also lets ya hook the surf rod to the bag without the bait and ya can reel the bags back in after ya knock them off. Just set the hook to knock the bags off. Dont use the new flex bags, they stretch too much and ya cant knock it off.

If the wind is blowing off the beach the best way is with a garbage bag. Sea turtles will eat the bag so be shure to retrieve the bags. Take a plastic bag as big as ya can get. Fill it with air and tie it off. tie 20' or so of mono to a second bag so ya have two bags in tandem. Hook the hook in the bag where its left over is below the tie. Carefull not to let it twist. be shure to only hook through one leaf of the bag. it will hold just fine in the water. One bag will do fine but 2 bags will do great. useing the second bag also lets ya hook the surf rod to the bag without the bait and ya can reel the bags back in after ya knock them off. Just set the hook to knock the bags off. Dont use the new flex bags, they stretch too much and ya cant knock it off.

This is a great way because you can retrieve your bags and take out another bait with the same bags.

Heading north for a trip and its unlikely I will be able to yak out baits so I'm considering a balloon, float or free line bait out.

The bait will most likely be Bluefish from 20 to 30 inches. Whats the best method to free line Blue fish?

If you will be fishing where there is high surf a smallish bluefish may have a hard time swimming through the pounding surf while dragging a balloon and i would recommend freelining it minus any float at all.The waves will create drag and tend to keep your bait in close instead of beyond the surf break.Even a stronger bait such as a 5 lb Jack Crevalle might have some difficulty swimming thru a high surf while dragging a balloon and 80 to 130 lb test.Always try and freeline with a lighter line or use a big strong bait while using the thicker line as it creates too much drag on the bait.The shark fisherman on Jensen beach freeline bluefish in the winter months without balloons and they catch more blacktips from the surf then just about anyone else using this method.If you want to deploy a dead bait without a kayak and you have a west wind with flat seas then i would use the garbage bag method like Ernie stated because it acts like a sail and your bait gets pushed out to deeper water fairly quick-this was the method used on the Naples pier in the 70's with great results.
Other times if you want to free line a small bait like a blue runner(hardtail)you can use a balloon tied to sewing string.The sewing string is easier to pop off then 10 lb test so you may have to double it depending on the size of the bait or the amount of current or size of surf.Tie it off to the swivel or the primary hook depending on how deep you want your bait to swim.The sewing string we use on the bridges because you can have a dead bait sink at the exact spot you want it to sink and quickly .When you use a balloon it really does not matter whether you use 10 lb test or sewing thread because the balloon pops when your bait gets slammed,As you can see there are different methods that can be usewd depending on where you are fishing and the conditions on that particular day.

In order to cover all different situations I would advise all land-based shark fishermman to keep in your truck or tackle box 10 lb test mono,sewing thread,balloons,small styrofoam block or popping cork and garbage bags so you can adapt to any circumstance whether you're freelining or just trying to float a bait out into deeper water.

hook your bait under or on top of the tail for a perfectly free lined bait

Great info Ernie and Will..I'll have to put it to work since the surf has gotten kicked up a few notches recently, thanks guys.