You should never deploy your bait so far out away from the beach that the line left on your reel will put you at thhe risk of being spooled if you hook a large shark.Knowing how far you should drop your baits will come to you thru trial and error and learning the sharks in your area and the seasons when they are prevelent. With heavier lines that have much greater stopping power you can take the chance and keep less line on your reel speciually if you have a braid backing, but if you have a smaller reel lets say a 9/0 or 12/0 you've got to be careful how much line is left on your reel once your bait is deployed.
A modern reel with a greater drag system can tire a fish quicker then a big reel with less drag.I won't get into a full discussion of what is better the new lever drag reels versus the OLD STANDARD the Penn Senators but i can say that a a land-based shark fishermen who wants to land the biggest of sharks has got to watch line left on his reel with a clinical eye and become a good judge of Shark Power -per species Targetted.Don't be silly know that a Hammer will outpull a Tiger most of the time unless you're talking of Tigers above 13 feet then the power goes up expenentially.
As a general rule I always try and keep 1/2 a spool or slightly more for fighting a shark,,3/4 with a packed spool is even better.If using a reel with backing I can make a farther drop and retain less line on my reel.When using a Penn 16/0 I can make the farthest drops and nor worry much about being spooled.Where you are fishing often will dictate how far you have to drop your baits to get a hit.In this case choose the reel with the proper capacity,,,,don't get caught with your pants down or you will have an interesting story of how you got spooled.Some beaches or deep channels you can make a very short drop in the trough and hook big sharks but many more places you have to drop baits far in order to get the bait to deeper more desirable grounds.Learning where the big sharks swim at any given time of the year is a key secret to "Catching Monsters".Many rookie sharkos think that "the farther the drop the bigger the shark" but time and expierience teaches them that this is not always so.Every beach is different depending on many variables including Depth,Beach Contour,Underwater reef -lack thereof even sandbar formation at certain times of the year can vary and will dictate where you will drop your bait in any given season.
A big shark or a foul hooked big one will make line disappear from a reel at alarming rates so always leave enough line on your reel so that you can allow the shark to run and swallow a bait and still have enough left over to put the brakes on.The bigger the bait the more time you will have to let a shark swim with the bait---all things to consider when deploying a bait.
If and when a bait is dropped too far and not enough line is comfertably left on the reel you can always remedy the problem by reeling in the bait until you have enough line left on the reel .Learn what level of line you need for the sharks you may encounter and you will be ahead of the pack.Good luck.
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
My basic rule is 1/3 in the water 2/3 on the reel I even mark my line so my "rod watcher" can flag me when I reach the mark if I am not using a top shot, with a topshot it is easy the mono gets wet the braid dosen't.
Bob
Ive seen the ultimate tug of war, no joke, done by ray of Dirty South Sharkers. We hit up a beach up by boynton and i think it was on a 12/0 or 14/0 but he must of had only about 50 yards of line on the reel, the shark hit ( ended up being a foul hooked 8ft hammer) with about 25 yards left, he locked it up and held on for dear life. colby and i had to hold him down because the shark was pulling so strong he was being lifted from the ground. It was a crazy fight and a crazy night. But i dont recommend that to anyone, be safe, have a lot of line left. Ray is just unique and lucky 
Eddie C.
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