# Shark Fishing with Penn Battle 8000



## christerson (Mar 9, 2014)

Hey Guys,
Quick question. 
I want to throw some shark bait out while fishing in a few weeks at Amelia Island. My only fear is getting spooled by some huge shark. How can you limit the size of the shark you are fishing for? Distance from beach? Size of bait? Luck?

Sorry if this is a stupid question. New to all of this.


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## Raymo (Jan 11, 2011)

Ive had the biggest Redfish Ive ever caught eat a speck of clam on a small hook designed for whiting. Katherine and Lydia have come close enough to shore to hit with a rock. The fact is that you cannot control the size of the catch. An 8000 level reel with a decent line can put some serious pressure on a fish. Ive seen 6'+ blacktips caught with lighter gear. Besides...who cares if you get spooled....thats part of the game and a usually a great story follows


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## razor78016 (Dec 24, 2010)

Heh take an extra filler spool just in case


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

You really cannot for sure stop a submarine that decides to take your bait. Usually closer to shore you will run into smaller fish, but you never know.
Many here have caught ~6 footers on drum rigs, so a battle 8000 would be fine for most of what will swim by. There are some out there that will spool almost any setup. Just the way it is.
You can (and should have) a knife on your side in case you run into something you cannot stop with the drag locked down, but an 8000 should handle most fish in casting range.


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## plotalot (Apr 27, 2009)

pods said:


> ...You can (and should have) a knife on your side in case you run into something you cannot stop with the drag locked down...


This is completely unnecessary and a good way to waste a spool of line. If you rig your reel correctly getting spooled means you lose the fish and have to reel in several hundred yards of line, not replace the line. Line that is undamaged will break within a foot or two of the fish's end of the main line almost every time.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

plotalot said:


> This is completely unnecessary and a good way to waste a spool of line. If you rig your reel correctly getting spooled means you lose the fish and have to reel in several hundred yards of line, not replace the line. Line that is undamaged will break within a foot or two of the fish's end of the main line almost every time.


Assuming you are not running a topshot/shock leader, abrasion leader and a bite leader.
If you are spooled I think the weak point is when you reach the spool and have your main line/backing attached to the spool, commonly with an arbor knot.


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## plotalot (Apr 27, 2009)

pods said:


> Assuming you are not running a topshot/shock leader, abrasion leader and a bite leader.
> If you are spooled I think the weak point is when you reach the spool and have your main line/backing attached to the spool, commonly with an arbor knot.


Of course any leader of greater strength would be lost. If you insist on tying a bo bo knot at the spool (arbor knot), then it will be the weakest link. 

Spooling a reel to prevent losing all of your line is not difficult, but it does take a conscious effort. If you run straight mainline just double the line with a Bimini twist and tie a real knot, such as a uni, to attach the line to the spool. If you use backing make certain it is stronger than the mainline and splice it with a good knot with a Bimini on both the main and backing lines. Also, if you get down to the last layer or two of line on your spool, this is the time to pin down the drag and dare the fish to break the line there to minimize or eliminate pressure on the line's connection to the spool.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

I agree that you can and usually will break a fish off if you palm your reel. usually your mainline to topshot knot.
If you are tossing something out there that a shark will bite, in an attempt to get a shark to bite, you might get a SHARK that bites. If you cannot stop him/her and you cannot break/cut your line, and it gets down to the spool, then what?
The main reason why I have a knife on hand is if the line DOESN'T break. Then you are left with no drag and a fish that wants to go to Europe, Cuba, etc. I would rather he did not take my surf gear with him.


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## plotalot (Apr 27, 2009)

If you lock down the drag it will break or on some occasions the fish will quit and you can win some line back. I watched a guy beat a 30# black drum with 8# mono, that had him down to his last layer of line four times. Poor drum couldn't close the deal on any of its runs. Granted a drum isn't a shark and its runs are more like walks, but sometimes sharks run out oomph too. I can appreciate your concerns about a big fish taking your gear to Portugal. I have a fear of a fish slamming my bait while I am not paying attention with a laxed grip on my rod, but it's a good fear since it keeps me on my toes. Trust me when I tell you that the line will break or the fish will give up (at least for then anyways). If you are still worried about any fish overcoming your grasp on your gear before the line breaks, then you're line may be too heavy. Besides bringing you into a comfort zone of being able to break off a fish, lighter line gives you more capacity. Give me capacity over line strength everyday for hard pullers such as sharks or tarpon.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

plotalot said:


> If you lock down the drag it will break or on some occasions the fish will quit and you can win some line back. I watched a guy beat a 30# black drum with 8# mono, that had him down to his last layer of line four times. Poor drum couldn't close the deal on any of its runs. Granted a drum isn't a shark and its runs are more like walks, but sometimes sharks run out oomph too. I can appreciate your concerns about a big fish taking your gear to Portugal. I have a fear of a fish slamming my bait while I am not paying attention with a laxed grip on my rod, but it's a good fear since it keeps me on my toes. Trust me when I tell you that the line will break or the fish will give up (at least for then anyways). If you are still worried about any fish overcoming your grasp on your gear before the line breaks, then you're line may be too heavy. Besides bringing you into a comfort zone of being able to break off a fish, lighter line gives you more capacity. Give me capacity over line strength everyday for hard pullers such as sharks or tarpon.


Using surf casting tackle I have only been totally stripped a couple times, most times a big critter will run off a couple hundred yards of line and your leader or line parts

I have caught and seen some monster Sharks taken with 20 pound test my largest off the beach was a 12 foot Nurse Shark taken with a Daiwa SL30SH and a heaver, that fish was a supposed to be a Cobia but it grew a long brown tail sometime into the second half hour of the battle

Off the piers the Sharks once they start getting over eight feet pretty much wreck your leaders and rigs or tail wrap your line before they strip you, a big Ray can be more of a problem cause they do not have teeth and it is hard to break off a fish on quality 20 pound line that has three hundred yards of it out due the line stretch

I have seen 14/0's stripped in the old days and one Sharking fella I fished with on the OBX had his 16/0 stripped in the 1980's of a brand new spool of 130 pound dacron a 40 foot 400 pound test aircraft cable leader and a 20/0 Mustad Shark Hook

Back in the Day The real Sharkers carried knifes to cut the line because the Big Penn Senator Reels they used had a habit of getting balky sticky drags after they had been smoked a lot and overheated, if your reel froze up and you were fishing 130 pound dacron there was all ways a possibility that you could be pulled of the Pier

As a good friend of ours we know on the OBX once screamed out at the end of the Tee while hooked up to a Monster "Cut the Line!!!! Cut the Line!!! For Gods Sake Someone Cut my Line!!!!!!


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## plotalot (Apr 27, 2009)

Garboman said:


> Using surf casting tackle I have only been totally stripped a couple times, most times a big critter will run off a couple hundred yards of line and your leader or line parts
> 
> I have caught and seen some monster Sharks taken with 20 pound test my largest off the beach was a 12 foot Nurse Shark taken with a Daiwa SL30SH and a heaver, that fish was a supposed to be a Cobia but it grew a long brown tail sometime into the second half hour of the battle
> 
> ...


I personally have been spooled just once. As a runty 12 year old, I hooked into a big jack crevalle with an Ambassadeur 2650. Right hand fingertips slapped by the reel handle spinning backwards at near blur speed. Burned my left thumb trying slow the damn thing down and the spool pulled my thumb into the level wind, which clamped it against the sideplate. Lock up and pow, no more jack.

I have beat a few decent sized sharks from the pier with relatively light tackle while targeting kings. Since our pier doesn't allow sharkfishing or even landing an incidental shark, they all are broken off. A lot of the time, you can see the shark approaching and you can get the bait away from it. It can be great fun for a small group to tease them with their baits. Essentially a game of keep away, if you feed the shark you lose. Spinners are nice since they usually run out 40 - 50 yards and release themselves with an acrobatic jump. They break the line near the leader, destroy the leader (as you noted) or occasionally just throw the hook  I did somehow manage to get five good jumps out of a 4 footer before letting it cut my line on a piling with 6# test and a foot long 30# seven strand leader. 

At other times when the likelihood of catching anything other than a shark are slim and none. Then it is game on to attempt a beat down on Mr Grey Suit. A lot of people don't realize how much pressure you can put on a fish with quality 15-20# mono. I do know and am not afraid to. The instant a fish slows its run in the least, I award it with half turn on the drag knob and only dial it up from there on. It can be a great practice and a lot can be learned beating a fish that you plan on losing in the end anyways. 

You're correct about 20# mono being tough to break with any decent amount of line out. It plays into the point I was making earlier, that just before you are spooled, pin the drag down and hang on tight. Make the fish break the line. If it doesn't, then so what, you're still in this thing.

When it comes to those big Senators and heavy line, I can see having a knife ready. I just don't see a fish pulling anyone over a rail or into the surf with 20# mono.


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## [email protected] (Jul 12, 2006)

if you're getting spooled, it's better for the resource to try and clamp down and break it at the terminal end. Nobody needs 400 yds of mono dragging around out there. Most knots will break on the fish end if you don't get down to the arbor.


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## Surfmantom (Jun 6, 2012)

For the op, just use braid if you can, I use 40lb braid when casting to sharks. As said before, most sharks picking up a casted bait won't be huge but you never know. Break the shark off before cutting the line because as already said, nobody needs line dragging around.


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## christerson (Mar 9, 2014)

thanks guys, really appreciate all the help.


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