Im a little new to shark fishing and want to make sure my reel is good enough for land based sharking..I was in panama city beach a few weeks ago and decided to get a reel to go on my rod,there was no bait runner the whole time I was there and the wind was blowing towards the shore also so the best I could do was pull some line off my reel and sling the bait out as far off the pier as i could get it.I bought a senator 9/0 and had it spooled with 1100 yards of 150# power pro and a 12/0 hook connected to steel cable.Is this good enough and enough line for catching bigger sharks from the beach?Also do you have to have a harness?I didnt get one but I can if its a necessity.Also is it necessary to use a weight if your using bigger baits like a banita?I plan on going back to panama city in december,hows the shark fishing their then?
You're easily good for 6 to 8 footers with that setup. You can get bigger ones but it takes finesse. A harness makes life easy, some call it a necessity. A casting weight on your bonita isn't needed but an anchor weight stops the current taking your bait.
It sounds like you're after the bigger species. You're gonna have a BLAST!!! But for your safety and to help get better catches, definitely do your homework.
So as long as I fight the fish correctly and get a harness I have enough line for a bigger hammerhead or big bull shark?
Do you have enough line? Sure, you did the best you could. I'm not sure having enough line will be your most important factor. You see, your Penn 9/0 reel only has 35 pounds of drag. You'll have a difficult time stopping a 450 pound pissed off shark that's making a dash for deep water. It can strip your reel clean no matter how much line you have.
It can totally be done with what you have, it's been done before. Look for other advantages you can get on it. For instance, that harness is a step in the right direction. Having a lot of beach to chase with helps. Again, do your homework.
The 9/0 has almost 25lbs of drag. You have enough line on there to land the big fish. Lookin back at the 2013 big hammer challenge you will see there was a 9ft bull landed on a 4/0 with 50Lb line (they did a lot of runnin up and down the beach) and a 10ft hammer landed on a 9/0 with 80LB line.
So 150 pound line can handle 150 pounds of drag?If I buy another rod and reel what's a good brand?Im guessing ill need a 12/0 reel also if I get another one?Whens a good time to shark fish in Panama City beach,I went in August and there was no bait runners so I was stuck throwing my big banita bait off the pier as far as I could and didn't catch a thing and I was told the shark guys would be back after September 1st,I'm thinking about going down for Christmas break to shark fish?Also any kayak rentals?im a little nervous about going 400 yards out on a kayak because of the size of animals thatre out there although an incident is highly unlikely I went out on one at the beach once and hated it.
Im a little new to shark fishing and want to make sure my reel is good enough for land based sharking..I was in panama city beach a few weeks ago and decided to get a reel to go on my rod,there was no bait runner the whole time I was there and the wind was blowing towards the shore also so the best I could do was pull some line off my reel and sling the bait out as far off the pier as i could get it.I bought a senator 9/0 and had it spooled with 1100 yards of 150# power pro and a 12/0 hook connected to steel cable.Is this good enough and enough line for catching bigger sharks from the beach?Also do you have to have a harness?I didnt get one but I can if its a necessity.Also is it necessary to use a weight if your using bigger baits like a banita?I plan on going back to panama city in december,hows the shark fishing their then?
Your reel should be fine, depending on what you mean by bigger sharks. There's been some big sharks landed on the 9/0 but it is far from ideal when pursuing the biggest of sharks. Also, if you get cut off a few times with that braid I'd just refill the top with heavy mono, 80-100 lb..it holds up better to abrasion.
No, you do not need a harness. I've hooked a few big sharks that have overpowered my gear before and have never once felt the need for a harness. Many large sharks posted by people here on this site have been landed with no harness. If you need to, you can just sit down in the sand and stick the rod butt in for extra support. If you are on a pier you can just lean the fore grip on the rail and put the rod butt between your legs or your armpit.
I see they catch a lot of nice fish up that way in the winter. It will be cold but the people who stick it out and fish hard seem to be rewarded.