BAG OF TRICKS
Hey gals and guys---being new here I really don’t know how most of ya’ll are setting up your hooks-weights and baits for shore sharkin—(I’m guessing pier and bridge sharkin is a whole different subject)--this has been an on going process with me--- I have been only sharkin for 4 years,and circles were the way I started and have refined as time has gone on---
It seems the S. fl guys are ‘’mostly’’ using j hooks and with the big results to show for it .
With me-- at 1st I used circles with a weight that was big enough to put a lot of tension on the line when set—if a shark picked up the bait and swam off a little ways it would pull the weight up and the tight tension in the line would set the hook ---I did ok and hooked a lot of toothy critters---but no huge sharks
The next thing was to up size the baits---the hook up went down---I was just pulling the baits out of their mouths before they committed when the weight pulled up—some really bad trips
The next method was to use a sliding trace that was 15- 20 ft long—this is where you use a weight that a mono trace would slide thru-- – the drag is set as low as possible with the intent of giving sharks time to pick up the bait without realizing whats going on and commit and swallow—again I caught some sharks but the hook up ratio was disappointing—again I was pulling the hook and bait out of their mouth before they committed
And now to the present--- I ‘m using a sliding trace that’s 45 yards long - also I have been using the smallest weight that will work-- when a shark picks up the bait I have been letting them run and run even after the weight hits the main line and the weight is picked up – it seems like the sharks run a ways then stop and this is where they commit—I let them start back up and turn the star and let the circle do its work-its seems the longer they run the better the hook up rate—because of the circles we have not gut hook any sharks yet ---some have run 3 to 5 minutes before turning the star--I started using this set up late last yr and what a difference— last trip my son and I went 5 for 5---the last one picked up the bait 3 times and ran 20 yards or so and dropped it---I slowly reeled the line in resetting the trace-- the 4TH time it committed and did not stop—I let it go and go and then turned the star and hooked up an 8 ft lemon
With some of the worlds best sharkers here on SFSC—i was just seeing what info I could pull out of ya’lls bag of tricks---
Maybe an OLD subject but one I can not get enough of
SHARKIN SONNY
my leaders are around 30 foot long 10 foot of 480 wire and 20 feet of 400lb mono. from the wire to mono swivel i have a snap swivel that can slide around 5 feet or so on that snap swivel i snap a anchor to i have a crimp stopping the snap from going to far. then i have just a 3oz egg sinker above the crimp that can slide all the way up to my main line. i only use 1 single j hook or 2 j hooks depending on the bait. but if its a 14 inch bait i will thread the j hook through the mouth and out the gills then thread through the side of the body and have it come out the side. i set my drag really soft if any drag let them run a little 30 to 50 seconds then either lay down the star or put it in gear and set up. i have missed any sharks yet like that.
This may sound a bit bizarre to you but from a beach we simply tie about 2-8ft of 60-100lb mono (depending on circumstances) to a large rock then to our hook, this keeps the bait on the bottom and when a shark grabs the bait he simply cuts the mono with his teeth and you can let the shark run for a mile if you have that kind of line capacity 
, the hook up ratio is great, plus you have no weight dragging bottom to get caught on some type of underwater obstruction like a lobster trap or reef.
I for one am not a huge beach fisherman but have done it quite a few times and prefer a bridge or pier any day, as well as I prefer J's over circles any day. Just my preferences.
Just an average fisherman.