What kind of shark action is up close on casted baits? I know a lot of the bigger sharks are way out there and a yak is used by a lot of guys to deploy but I wanted to see what kind of sizes or species are up close near the shore for guys like me who do not want to fool with a yak. I've caught sharks before but never really targeted them, and I know they are up close because when I've fished for other stuff, them sharks were all over the place, grabbing my catches, big ones, too. I've actually seen some near the rolling surf but don't know what kind they were. Just checking around to see who fishes with casted baits and what is usually expected. Thanks for the input.
When I first started shark fishing, I fished an entire year completely on surf casting gear. Mostly caught 4 to 6 footers with a variety of different species. I started kayaking baits after a stretch of not catching anything and had more bites, but the fish were about the same size with the occasional bigger fish.
That's not to say surf casting is less productive. TC.Orlando is a great guy I met from this forum, he strictly surf fishes for his shark. We went fishing in late July one year and he caught more shark than the 5 kayaked baits that were out that day. If you're interested, this is a link to the fishing report:
http://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/foro/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=7241
When it comes to surf fishing, TC.Orlando has developed a skill greater than mine and that's why he got the bites. I hope you become as good a fisherman as him.
It is going to depend on the location the most. There seem to be fish closer to shore when you are near an inlet.
When my buddies used to fish regularly with me, we were getting hooked up with large fish on casted baits. We got lemons, tippers, juvi hammers, cuda, tarpon, eagle rays, and I even got a massive monster goliath grouper. All on casted baits.
I went out with the penn ssv10500, then my buddy bought one, then his buddy bought one, then his buddy bought one. Lemons for all! we all also got cut off by sharks that were longer than our casting rigs. I suspect those were lemons too.
Here is an old report. Scroll through. I added a couple more catches to the initial report.
Thanks guys. Good information and those sharks look to keep anyone busy on surf gear. I use a Fin Nor Lethal 100 spooled with about 400 yards 65lb PP on a 12ft Ocean Master heavy 6-12oz. Should get the job done. I mainly fish Juno beach or Boynton inlet or the Sebastian beaches close to that inlet. My main bait tactic is to cast out with a regular Mojo surf rod and bring in some fresh bait and then use it for the sharks. I've hooked into some big fish at these locations, well, I've hooked jacks or whatever and then something big grabs them when I'm reeling in and and then rips the line out. So I know some big stuff is creeping around the surf close in at those locations. Just got to get a buddy to help with this venture. Not really a solo sort of sport.
Yeah, a second help helps a lot. I have landed some good fish solo. Most of the time there is a bystander that can snap a pic for me. I set up a 10' foot rod that i can drop big baits with when i am alone, then fight from the ground. I dont like big stand up gear, harnessed in, when i am alone. Been dragged down to the water a couple times with a 14/0 and a trx 50w lol.
That lethal 100 should be very very similar to the cabo 80. I used the cabo to land a monster goliath grouper. The reel was spooled with 65lb braid too. You can land the beast if you can avoid the tail rub. I have a detailed report up of the grouper.I was using rigs with six ft of mono and one foot of wire but had to up it to seven feet of mono because we were gettin cut off, fast! Then we started landing the sharks. Still easy to cast with a twelve ft rod too.