# Jensen Beach Jan. 5th sharks in the surf



## fin&scale (May 7, 2008)

Went to Jensen today...originally with the intention of pompano fishing. Dug some beautiful fleas in anticipation late the day before so hopes were high. I also got two dozen live shrimp from the "Nook" for good measure. In my last post I mentioned wanting a castable shark rig and after 1 1/2 hours of soaking baits and one after another angler coming off the beach mumbling about the lack of fish I decided to trade my dropper rigs for a few of the shark rigs I tied recommended to me in my last thread. I found the results informative and thought I would share what I learned.

First I should describe what I tied and how these baits were deployed. I had one short single stand cable (180lb) about two feet...large J hook on one end and a heavy swivel on the other. Another was the pulley style with pyramid on one end and 24" of bite leader and circle hook on the other...this is the one that folds in half when casted and deploys hanging your bait suspended off the bottom. A third was straight 100lb mono 24" with a circle hook and a heavy swivel at the other end. Shock leader on the rods used was 80lb about 25ft....the other end connected to my main lines. I used 4-5oz pyramid sinkers so the baits would hold in the sand. Bait was chunks of fresh blue fish and pieces of a whole frozen cero mack I brought from home.

I had three rods with me rod one was a short stout stand up boat rod with a penn jigmaster reel. Not really appropriate for the surf but I fish with what I have. Another was a 12ft Ugly Stick with a giant Daiwa spinning reel. The third is a Wally World 10fter with a med large spinning reel.

The results...first let me say all rigs as described got picked up. I had a total of four bites. Of these 3 hooked up and the hooks bit in and held well. The only one that failed to hook was...you guessed it...the J hook. I know nobody recommended a J hook but old habits die hard and I was in recon mode and wanted to see for myself. Second let me mention that 80-100lb mono leader is waaaaaaaay too light if your intention is to keep these spinners buttoned up. Again I was warned about cut offs on the lighter leader material but a friend of mine has my crimper and I couldn't make it to a tackle shop to pick up something closer to the 400lb mono recommended by some of the "pros" at this beach BT and spinner sharking thing.

I had some observations on the negative side for some of the rigs and I will describe them here. First with the fish finder style rigs.. whether it was the cable or the mono when casted your bait and sinker do not seem to travel at the same rate as the two seem to separate in flight robbing you of some distance. Second (and this is my only complaint about the pulley rig) it is imperative the bait weigh less than the sinker. I know this was pointed out in the write up of the rig but it is important enough for me to mention again as it didn't seem important for me to remember it until it became obvious while trying to deploy my bait.:redface:

Now for the report. I had a blast and made something of an impression with the people vacationing here. Of the four bites three hooked solid and gave impressive aerial displays. One made it as close as 100ft from shore but sadly each eventually chewed through the mono leader. I will be switching to a heavy mono and experiment some with coated cable and crimps as well. From now on it is all circle hooks for me on sharks...I'm sold...at first I was worried my 20-25 lb main line wouldn't be enough to sink them but a sharp circle hook doesn't seem to need much force to drive home and stay put.


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## Cerberus (Nov 1, 2007)

Good report, thanks.

I tried to get up there this past weekend but the wife was sick and we just stayed home. Will be up this weekend and probably the one after. Hopefully the shary conditions will continue.

Yes, you will lose a few running straight mono, but you will catch more other fish while fishing. To specifically target biters wire is required, but I still use as little as possible to keep the rig castable.

How far out were the sharks? Were they hitting the baits in close or past the outside break?


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## fin&scale (May 7, 2008)

The sharks were in close....very close...just outside of the first trough about 100ft out. I went again today and I switched to 300lb mono bite leader and a 80lb shock. My shock was plenty long enough but the 80 couldn't handle the tail slaps of the spinners. I hooked up a total of 10 times. I only landed one very small 4fter and had a 7 fter on the shore break with the leader at my rod tip but nobody would hold the rod so I could drag it up on shore. Finally the main line snapped at the connecting knot to the shock. I was fishing alone and had a pompano fisherman next to me who was not too happy about my shark fishing next to his pomp rigs. I am determined to drag a few ashore so I am beefing up my rigs so I can get that accomplished. BTW the mono bite leader worked perfect...not a single shark bit through it as I was using circle hooks (10/0) and they seemed to be hanging in the corner of the mouth as they are designed to do. I'm thinking 125 lb shock might be able to handle the abrasion of the sharks skin...if anyone has any input on this please reply.

PS I went through 2 huge ladyfish and a big blue fish in bait today..the sharks seemed to love it or maybe their winter run is in full force because it was non stop action today.


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## Power Fisherman (Jun 4, 2007)

Thanks for reporting in. Do you have any pictures from the there. Sounds really exciting.

Deaver


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## eaglesfanguy (May 1, 2003)

Awsome report.. Excellent details.. Now thats what a fishing report is all about.. great job..


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## snook hunter (Dec 7, 2008)

I went shark fishing in Boynton a couple of days ago and had no bites. I would like to head north. Can you direct me to a fishable beach in west palm or just north? I'm not looking for any secret spots, just a beach that can be fished and a car can be safe. Thanks


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## NateM (Jan 9, 2008)

Sounds like you got into some heavy sharks man, next time Im in town Ill need to beef up my gear. Thanks for the report.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Great report.


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## Cerberus (Nov 1, 2007)

snook hunter said:


> I went shark fishing in Boynton a couple of days ago and had no bites. I would like to head north. Can you direct me to a fishable beach in west palm or just north? I'm not looking for any secret spots, just a beach that can be fished and a car can be safe. Thanks


Juno Beach / Jupiter is a good place to start.


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