Many times when we fish for sharks from a beach,a pier or a bridge our rigs end up stuck on bottom.It might be a coral head ,a ledge,an old wreck or even a old lobster or crab trap that's got you hung up and you want to get home before sunup and don't want to spend an hour trying to bust your heavy line.Sometimes the drag can be tightened down and the rod and reel layed over your shoulder and then you do the "Mule Pull"and the hooks will either come right off the bottom ,you reel up a chunk of coral ,you might straighten out a hook, or remain hung up and the lines does not snap.Sometimes your drag will slip after straining to bust off 130 to 200 lb test and you thought you could not make the star drag any tighter .If you have brand new line with no frays in it this task of breaking off the rig that is stuck can be downright hard work.We've had occasions when stuck on bottom and had three guys doing the "mule pull" with the rod held over the shoulders the three anglers straining to bust off the 200 lb test and the stretch on the mono just slung us back towards the beach and we ended up having to go out on the kayak at 2 in the morning and had to cut the line 300 yards out with the swivel in hand but the hooks stuck for good.
New mono lines in the 130 lb test to 200 lb test will sometimes be almost impossible to break from a land.On a boat I simply figure eight the line on the stern cleat and steam forward until the line breaks or comes loose.On land it is much more difficult.What works for us without having to hit the star drag with a hammer to tighten is taking a towel and wrapping it around the reel and then winding the line two or three turns around the reel so the line is sitting on top of the towel and not touching any metal surface of the reel.What this does is it keeps the reels drag from slipping and protects the line also,,,,,you don't want heavy mono busting next to your head and cutting your ear in half or worst.Most of the time (90 %)of the time we are able to break off just about any line in this way but when using anything above 130 lb test we have had to either go out on the kayak and cut as close to the leader as possible so as to not lose a bunch of expensive line,or cut the line at the reel which we rarely do but i have seen shark fishermen get tired and whine and get lazy and cut a line before sunset because they want to get home and into a warm bed.
Remember tighten your drag as much as possible by hand,wrap a towel or thick cloth around the reel ,and wind the line around the reel 2 or 3 times,and then do the mule pull walking away from the water with the rod over your shoulder hands firmly gripping your rod,hopefully you get your rig back or the line parts close to the rig and you lose very little line.If this does not work and it's late at night and the surf is dangerous you only have a few bad choices left.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
ill have to try the towel trick. one day my 9 got stuck during the day so i swam out and unstuck my leader.
Great post..I've had a few problems with this before and I know what they are..GARBAGE LEFT BEHIND BY THE CRAB A-HOLES..the buoys are gone in the summer but their garbage and ropes are still laid out all over the bottom. If it is a reef or some rocks usually I can pull my rig loose, but the ropes from the crab people are another story. Sharks also get hung up on these ropes when you're fighting them in the summer. I'm all for setting fourth a law that keeps the crab people off the beaches. I was fishing at doctors pass down in naples one day back in the fall and decided to see exactly how big a mess the crab people leave behind, I swam out about 150-200 yds with a snorkel mask to get a look down there and I saw ropes all over the place.
Def helpful, couldve used this a couple days ago, I had to go out after both my lines got hung up.