What am I doing wrong

Just got to put in the time. Eventually it will pay off.

The way I look at it is if you have a bait in the water you WILL eventually catch a fish and if your foing the right things then your odds only increase.

Good luck

Ok thanks

Hang in there, buddy. A while back, I had a streak of NO fish for almost a year. When I finally got one on the beach, it was the best feeling in the world!

Ok I will keep at it hopefully soon I'll get one

The first time I saw someone LBSF I asked him what I needed to get started, he said "patience." I've only been shark fishing for a little over a year and just recently caught a shark worth posting. Countless hours on the beach will pay off if you're just patient. just have a good time while you're out there and it'll come.

I am assuming you have all the right gear. Would be helpful to know what your rod/reel setups are and how many, what pound of test you are fishing, what size of bait you are using etc. But I can tell you right off from my experience, 5 hours is not enough time to wet lines and maximize your chances of being on sharks. Try 24-48 hours on the beach; utilizing right baits, and right set-ups will give you the best chance. I imagine you are fishing in an area you have seen fish come out of from others. Selecting a suitable fishing hole is key too. Well good luck to you.

If I were to use a mid=class reel like a 12/0 Penn Senator, I would run 130lbJerry brown hollow core with a 300 foot topshot of 130lb mono. I would put anywhere between 700 lb to 1,200lb 20 -30 foot of trace on it with a claw weight and floats, and attach a shackle to a 6 foot 1,000 - 2,200lb cable with either two J Hooks and or one 20/0 Circle hook at the far end. This is just a basic setup. Ive had a 3.5 foot sharp-nose hit an entire Bonita and stick to the hook. You are in FL so I would use an entire bonita for each rig, and I would run a minimum of two or three reels like that out spaced out. If you can get your hands on a jack crevelle and cut him in half even better. People have their own ways of rigging but what works for me is to always face the hook points toward the head. If running three setups place one over the second sand bar at 10 oclock, one 300 yards out at 2 oclock and one 500 or more yards out at 12 oclock. If you leave them out long enough something will get hit. Good luck

I use a penn international 50w and usually only have runs on Bonita or fresh mackeral I never have luck on anything frozen except for bonita I've used jacks ladyfish mackeral and all baits like that but only fresh is getting hit

Hang on a second... You're getting hits? But not hooking up? Do us a favor, take a pic of how you bait your hooks and post it here. That has to be frustrating.

usually only have runs ........ .....getting hit

What do you consider a run? Describe what you do during the run and what type of hook do you use?

I consider a run like the line will start going out fast like yesterday I was fishing and lost two on whole bonita the first one ran slowly n took the bait off the hook and I hook them in the nose but I think my drag was two heavy and my breakaway line was to heavy I reeled it in there was no bait and the wire was bent a lot the second one just ripped the bait of the hook after running for a few seconds i keep my drag kinda tight so the waves don't pull out line should I loosen it?

When they run they pull out line and the clicker screams I use 18/0 circle hooks they will run for a second and the bait will b gone I hook them on the nose and I keep the drag tight enought to keep the line tight and so waves can't pull it

Keep your drag as loose as possible to keep your line tight and the current from pulling it out. Let them eat it with a circle hook and then just tighten the drag, don't set the hook.

I keep mine loose enough so that the clicker will click a little bit some times. When the reel SCREAMS, that's when I get out of my chair. But I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think you would benefit by taking a look at how you're hooking your bait. If the shark is ripping the bait off the hook, then we can fix that so you hook the shark! Let's start by doing a better job than just hooking the bait in the nose.

Take a look at these two hooked baits
This bait will get ripped off the hook before the hook can do it's job:

This hook isn't going anywhere no matter how hard a shark pulls at it. The shark is going to get hooked!

See the difference? The wire leader goes through the whole fish. No matter where the shark bites, it will have your tackle in its mouth. If you imagine the wire leader as an extension of your hook, then your hook goes everywhere the bait goes. IN A SHARKS MOUTH!!! Does that make sense?

Yes thank you I'm learning a lot from this site I'll give it a try tommorow