Shark! Arguably the most emotive word in the English language. As humans used to being the dominant species on land, put us in the water, an unnatural element to us, and we realise the fear that certain sharks can, and will, literally eat us whole and alive. It's just a nightmare scenario for most us, but it spawns a fascination for a fish that no other can ever match.
As anglers, we want to catch the biggest and best fish we can during our short lifetimes. It's no wonder then, that sharks are high on our list of "most wanted" and will remain so while ever there are sharks swimming our seas. But sharks are big, powerful opponents, able and willing to use every trick in their brains to outwit you and the tackle. To catch big sharks consistently takes experience and skill and that has to be earned.
If you want to try your hand at sharking for the first time and are asking questions like do I have the necessary skill, is it too expensive, how do I start, and where do I go? This feature will answer those questions and much more.
GETTING STARTED
A good way to kick off is to analyse what you've caught in the past. If your fishing has been mainly for cod, rays, pollack etc, then you're going to need more experience at playing a fast running fish before tackling your first shark.
Tope make the ideal teacher, being large enough to make you work and think to land them on light gear, they will break you if you do not have a reel clutch set correctly and use the rod in a smooth manner using all it's available power. It takes thoughtful timing to hit the hook home successfully on the strike, too.
Aim to have at least four or five full trips over a season catching and learning about tope before you move on to the bigger boys. I would not advise trying for shark without this preliminary introduction. A decent sized tope up to 40lbs, pound for pound, fights equally as well as a blue shark of the same size, though the tope does not have the stamina that a big blue shark over 70lbs shows.
[caption id="attachment_14791" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Tope are a good start to your shark fishing career.[/caption]
BLUE SHARKS
Once you've got a few tope under your belt, the next step up the ladder would be to target blue sharks for a couple of seasons which tend to average less than 100lbs in UK waters, with a ceiling of about 200lbs.
A standard 30lb class boat rod is adequate for blues. I like rods with an overall length between 7ft and 7ft 4in. Shorter stand up rods, contrary to what is so often written in the UK angling press, should only be chosen when targeting big fish which fight continually by hanging deep down and directly underneath the boat. That's why such rods are an American design, where many exotic shark, tuna and even bill fish can sit out a period of the fight directly under the boat.
Blues fight away from the boat and at near surface level. The longer rod will play and tire the fish better in these circumstances because more of the rod is being worked and allows manoeuvrability when a shark decides to sit just under the boat trying to chafe the line on the hull or wrap it around the rudder and prop.
You do not need roller rings on a rod of this specification, though the addition of a roller tip ring does reduce line friction on retrieve and when a shark runs, but standard open rings are acceptable. Do though, make sure that the rings centres are in perfect condition to eliminate the chance of line wear.
A size 3/0 to 4/0 reel is a sensible choice for your first blues. It needs to hold about 400yds of 30lb line, have reliable gears, a metal spool to resist mono compaction, and come with a rod clamp and brace to fully secure the reel to the rod and to stop sideways reel twist under heavy pressure.
Ones to look at are the Penn 4/0, Daiwa Sealine 4/0, and even the dated but still serviceable Mitchell 624. All these are star drag reels which give good drag adjustment and are less inferior compared to lever drag reels than some would have us believe. If a lever drag is within your budget, then consider the Penn 25 and 45GLS, Polikansky 4BS, and the Shimano TLD20.
[caption id="attachment_14381" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Getting started with sharks - blue shark[/caption]
PORBEAGLES
Finally, graduate onto porbeagles which easily attain 100lbs in most areas, are fairly common at 200lbs. The UK record now stands at 507lbs and porbeagles are known to grow to 900lbs and may attain the magical 1000lb barrier in the northern seas south of Iceland and in deeper water off Scandinavia. When after porgies, you never quite know just what you might sink your hook in?!
Start your porbeagle career with a 50 class rod. Porbeagle are far tougher and fight with a resilience that few blue shark show, hence the need for the extra rod power. You can drop to a 30lb class rod once you've got the first half dozen under your belt.
Length of the rod needs more careful consideration than before. If the waters you are to fish are generally no more than 100ft deep which means that hooked shark have to run to fight, then the longer 7ft option is the better one. But the action needs to encompass that forgiving tip, but then should start to pile in the power in the upper mid section and reach a full lock up point just above the butt connection point to provide lifting power against a dead weight when needed. A roller tip ring is advisable, though again, still not a necessity.
For waters with a depth exceeding 100ft, then the shorter rod can be the better choice. Porbeagles do use their weight during the fight to go deep if they have the necessary depth and will hug the seabed directly under the boat. The stiffer action of the short rod and it's quicker lock up point gives more lifting power when the line is vertical in the water. All roller rings on a rod of this type is standard.
With fights with porbeagle being of a greater duration than that with blues, the rods fore grip needs to be long enough to allow both hands to fully form around the blank when you reach the stalemate point of fish pulling against man with no quarter given from either.
Retain the rubber butt cap on the base of the rod and use a standard open cup type butt pad. These are more comfortable and less harsh than the old fashioned and rarely seen gimbal type, again often quoted in articles.
Reels taking 500yds of 50lb line and sized as a 6/0 are needed for porgies. The Penn and Sealine star drag models again lead the field being strong geared with metal spools and come equipped with both reel clamps, rod braces and harness lugs for shoulder harness attachment. Lever drag reels, such as the Penn Senator range are too costly for the beginner to consider and are unlikely to appeal at this early stage of your sharking career.
[caption id="attachment_14642" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
A porbeagle is played out beside the boat[/caption]
WHAT ABOUT MAKO'S AND THRESHERS?
These are the rarest of our sharks. Threshers show with some regularity over the Isle of Wight grounds, but even here, it's very hit and miss. Mako's too, were once almost common down in the waters off Cornwall, but none had been taken sine the early 1970's on rod and line in UK waters until the summer of 2013, when Andy Griffith captured a Mako around 200lbs from Welsh Waters. We know both threshers and mako's frequent the Irish Sea, off the south and west coasts of Ireland, and into Scottish waters, but factual information is thinly spread. These fish can be classed as a lucky and casual catch in all but a few cases.
OTHER SHARKS
There are other types of sharks in British waters, but this feature is about getting started in shark fishing and we'll leave these specialist sharks for the future.
SHOULD I HIRE TACKLE FROM THE CHARTER SKIPPER?
Hiring tackle from the skipper can be both good and bad. Some tackle for hire has seen better days and will cost you fish. Something to watch for! Good skippers with a sound pedigree will have top notch tackle available and this is a good choice for the first couple of trips while you decide if sharking is for you.
I suggest you check over the hire tackle, even at the risk of offending the skipper. Remember, you've paid to hire the tackle, so you've every right to see that it is in working order. Check that clutch is working properly and does not try to jam solid when pulled, and that there is easy adjustment on the star-drag wheel, some skippers actually tighten these with pliers to stop customers slacking the clutch off, a sure recipe for losing a fast running fish. I'd also check that the line is not chaffed for the first 30yds or so as you initially feed line out.
Rods should be okay, but see that no rings are loose and that a rod with a roller tip ring fitted is working freely and properly. The skipper should also have suitable shoulder harnesses and butt pads available....but ask, anyhow!
Once you've decided that shark fishing will form a regular part of your annual fishing, then if you can afford your own, do so, you'll never regret it.
SET THE DRAG SETTING ON A SHARK REEL
Immaterial of whether you will be using a star drag reel or lever drag, you need to understand the drag setting for the line you are using.
For all line you have both a strike setting, and then a fighting setting. In experienced hands the strike setting is the lower denomination and the fighting setting the higher pull pressure.
Newcomers to sharking should set the drag pressure on their reels only to the strike setting figure as follows. Fit the reel to the rod and pass the line through the rod rings. Tie the line to an accurate spring balance and use this as the setting guide.
For 30lb line set the drag to give line at a spring balance pull of 7lbs and leave it like this for the initial fight. If you feel confident, then move up the pressure a fraction, but only when the fish is relatively stationary.
A 50 class reel should be set to give line to the spring balance at 13lbs pull, and again left alone. Only with shark under your belt will you develop the experience to gauge when a shark needs working harder and just how much pressure you and your tackle will take. Stick to these reference points for your initial fish and you won't lose many.
TRACES
Don't fall into the trap of buying so called shark traces. These are often poorly constructed and use inferior components. Hiring tackle including traces from the skipper is also a poor idea. If the trace is lost on a fish you have to pay full price for it. Build your own, it's not hard, is more reliable and cheaper.
WIRE
Plastic covered wire is no good for sharking. Better, but still not good, is piano wire which can kink and weaken. Go for multi-strand stainless wire which is more supple and easier to work, plus does not kink so easily. It's disadvantage is that shark can get their teeth between the strands and work them open. To get you started you can use either racing cycle brake cables, or car type Bowden brake cable.
There is no need for a full length wire trace of 12ft plus when after blues. A 3ft long biting trace of 175lb wire will combat the cutting teeth of the shark, but also give you a fighting chance if something other than blue (porbeagle, mako) grabs the bait. You can finish the trace of by using about 10ft of 300lb commercial monofilament which is enough protection from the sharks rough hide.
Porbeagles can roll in the trace, so many sharkers prefer to use a full length of wire up to 14ft long. This is a heavy 4000/600lb biting trace 3ft long, then the rest in standard 275/400lb wire. Alternatively, lengthen the biting trace to 6ft and complete the trace in heavy 400lb mono.
You'll find that in clear water conditions and the sharks working in top 40-feet of surface water that the less visible wire and heavy mono type trace will catch you more fish. In cloudy coloured seas and especially a deeper depths the all wire trace fishes better.
SWIVELS
Only the best will do. Go for Mustad Rolling Swivels, Berkeley or Sampo. Use size 2/0 for blue shark traces which are compatible with 175lb wire. For porbeagles and other sharks, go for 5/0 or 6/0 for all connecting swivels, but drop down to a smaller 4/0, if you prefer, for the swivel connecting the trace to the main reel line. This swivel is only as strong as the reel line it is tied to, so a reduction in size does not matter at this point.
Nickel finished swivels are the better option, as black swivels quickly lose their finish.
Should you graduate to targeting the very biggest porbeagles, consider changing the intermediate 6/0 swivel for a small stainless U shackle used for yacht rigging etc. This is more reliable than the swivel when you haul against the sharks full weight using the trace at the side of the boat while trying to get a tailer round their tail or cut them free.
HOOKS
Your standard hook pattern for both porbeagle and blue should be theMustad O/Shaughnessy 3406 bronzed. This, if need be, can be cut and left in the fish without doing harm. Carry sizes from 6/0 to 10/0 for blues with the 8/0 the best bet for standard sized baits. Porbeagles require either a 10/0 or a 12/0.
For deep water and when bigger porbeagles are possible, then consider the Mustad Sea Demon 7731D. This has a shorter shank than the 3406, so the 12/0 is the best option. If you prefer a hook with an offset point use the Mustad Sea Master 7699D in the same size. Both these patterns though, have a protective Duratin finish and should only be used when fishing heavy for the big ones. The Sea Demon is made in a bronze finish for the American market but seems impossible to get this side of the pond.
Use a file to cut down the inside edges of the hook points to make them sharp, but don't overdo this as a thin point can bend as it comes in contact with a sharks jaw.
TRACE CONSTRUCTION
The biting wire needs to pass through the eye of the hook twice and be wrapped over itself four times, then pulled as tight as is possible. This overlap gives the ultimate strength and spreads the pressure away from the crimp which almost eliminates the possibility of the crimp slipping when the shark is held by the trace at the boat side.
Use a crimp big enough to take the wire diameter three times. This means the actual biting trace, the free end that leaves the hooks eye goes back through the crimp, then is bent over and pushed through the crimp a third time and then the three closed together with proper crimping pliers, not ordinary flat nosed pliers. Close the crimp from the centre and do not shut down the very end. Leave these slightly open to avoid wear contact with the wire.
The free end should not be left hanging from the crimp end as this can cut unwary fingers and hands when trying to hold a shark on the trace.
Use the same system to crimp in a 5/0 swivel, now add the mono or wire upper trace to the free eye of the intermediate swivel. There is no need to use this crimp system for the top trace swivel. This only needs the wire passing through the lower eye once and then crimped with the mono or wire passing through the crimp three times.
OTHER SHARKING ESSENTIALS
A butt pad with an open cup is not really needed for blue sharks, but is essential to protect the groin when after porbeagles and bigger sharks. Shoulder harnesses are useful to have in the box, but you're unlikely to need one on a blue or small porbeagle. Porgies over 250lbs are a different matter. Harnesses should have a wide strap passing over the shoulder blades to spread the weight, not thin ones. Nylon webbing is best, leather less so as it hardens with age. The clips that connect to the reel lugs should be stainless steel, not mild steel and plastic as some are.
Carry a baseball cap, or as I do a proper Australian bush hat with an all round wide brim to eliminate sunburn on the neck and face, and sunglasses with a safety cord attached. Strong gloves are also wise, but choose a pair that offers protection, but are also supple enough to wear when fighting fish.
SHARK BAITS
By far the most successful and most frequently used bait is mackerel. All sharks eat mackerel at some stage and it's the principal diet of the blue shark and a regular food source of the porbeagle and mako, and to a lesser extent the thresher.Blues will also eat pilchards and herrings, threshers take pilchards and herring, with porbeagles showing a liking for pollack, herring, cod and whiting. Mako are more fussy and tend to hunt reef and wreck dwelling pollack and ling, but will target herring shoals when other food supplies are low.
Most baits are best presented by threading the hook in and out three or four times from the tail downwards along the body in a stitching motion and bringing the hook out just rearwards of the gill cover. There are other forms of presentation, but we'll cover these in the near future in features looking at the respective sharks in detail.
THE FISHING
The most common method of fishing is to suspend bait underneath party balloon floats ate different depths and different distances away from the boat. A simple but effective pattern is as follows.......
The furthest balloon needs to be about 60yds away from the boat and set at about 60-feet or 20-metres deep. The second balloon should be allowed to drift 40- feet (15-metres) from the boat and hold the bait at about 40-feet (15-metres) depth. The third balloon rests just 20-yds (8-metres) from the boat and should be set at about 20-feet or roughly 6 metres deep. The depths are set by tying a separate stop-knot or coiling supple telephone wire on to the main line below the balloon which is attached to a sliding swivel (running freely on the main line) and telephone wire.
The skipper will put bags of minced bran and fish over the side which forms a scent lane running off downtide that the sharks will find and follow to source. This scent lane is deep in the water some distance away from the boat, but gets shallower approaching the boat. The sharks come up through this scent lane rising in the water which is why we stagger the depths of the baits.
SHARK BITE!
The balloon does not act as a bite indicator, It is purely there to hold the bait at the right depth. You need to set your reel in free spool, but with the free spool ratchet indicator on. This gives an audible warning when the shark runs. This is the "reel scream" you see in the movies.
To set the hook, let the shark run until it stops. Now hold the rod at a 45 degree angle, put the reel in gear, release the ratchet button and let the shark swim away and pull the rod over in to a full fighting curve. Providing the hook is good and sharp, this rod pressure is more than enough to fully sink the hook in the sharks jaw.
WHERE TO FISH FOR SHARK
Looe in Cornwall gives the best English opportunity to tangle with your first blue. The fish show here by late May/early June, with peak numbers inshore during August. They are still caught here in mid October and later. Pick the bigger tides, and hope that your booking coincides with calm, settled weather. The rougher the seas, the more the bait fish like mackerel and pilchard get separated into smaller tight shoals, the more difficult the blues can become to locate.
Just as good, some say better, would be the south coast of Ireland off Kinsale, Baltimore and Dungarvan and anywhere in between puts you into shark ground. Stocks can be prolific here and it's not so essential to have big tides to fish on as blues show here on the smallest neaps. Blues show right up the Irish west coast too, but will diminish in numbers and the season shortens once you approach Donegal.
For porbeagles the choice of venue is wider. The Bristol Channel off Swansea and Cardiff has a short late June to early August season though fish can be very intermittent in showing. Heavy rain carried by the Severn Estuary at this time will keep the mackerel and shark to far out for serious contact.
Cardigan Bay, especially the ports at Aberdovey and Aberystwyth have a superb record, though numbers caught and released fell during the years '93 to 96 with the sharks showing more in the Bristol Channel grounds, but 1997 saw the sharks return, though bad weather again kept catches low. This area is the ideal grounding for the learner as most fish weighed around the 100lb mark. The season gets underway in mid June and runs through to early September, with the best fishing throughout July. Big tides are best here.
Scottish waters have fewer professional skippers available, but shark fishing is practised to a small degree off the Isle of Whithorn where some good fish show during late summer. Further north off Dunnet and Scrabster is where the current UK record was broken. Small fish are scarce here. Resident shark show in the winter months, especially January through March and appear to be a group of fish that break away from the big porbeagle that frequent Scandinavian waters.
Never discount the Irish grounds, either. Porbeagles occur right along the south and west coast. They are rarely fished for here and little is really known of their movements. Ground off Cork, around the Fastnet Rock, Kerry, Clare and Mayo all offer excellent opportunity, but I'd favour the wrecks off the North-west Coast to be the most favourable, especially during the early autumn period.
CONCLUSION
This has been a brief introduction to shark fishing. As I've mentioned, there will be more features on individual shark types, their habits, fishing methods, conservation and care and much more in the near future.
As anglers, we want to catch the biggest and best fish we can during our short lifetimes. It's no wonder then, that sharks are high on our list of "most wanted" and will remain so while ever there are sharks swimming our seas. But sharks are big, powerful opponents, able and willing to use every trick in their brains to outwit you and the tackle. To catch big sharks consistently takes experience and skill and that has to be earned.
If you want to try your hand at sharking for the first time and are asking questions like do I have the necessary skill, is it too expensive, how do I start, and where do I go? This feature will answer those questions and much more.
GETTING STARTED
A good way to kick off is to analyse what you've caught in the past. If your fishing has been mainly for cod, rays, pollack etc, then you're going to need more experience at playing a fast running fish before tackling your first shark.
Tope make the ideal teacher, being large enough to make you work and think to land them on light gear, they will break you if you do not have a reel clutch set correctly and use the rod in a smooth manner using all it's available power. It takes thoughtful timing to hit the hook home successfully on the strike, too.
Aim to have at least four or five full trips over a season catching and learning about tope before you move on to the bigger boys. I would not advise trying for shark without this preliminary introduction. A decent sized tope up to 40lbs, pound for pound, fights equally as well as a blue shark of the same size, though the tope does not have the stamina that a big blue shark over 70lbs shows.
[caption id="attachment_14791" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Tope are a good start to your shark fishing career.[/caption]BLUE SHARKS
Once you've got a few tope under your belt, the next step up the ladder would be to target blue sharks for a couple of seasons which tend to average less than 100lbs in UK waters, with a ceiling of about 200lbs.
A standard 30lb class boat rod is adequate for blues. I like rods with an overall length between 7ft and 7ft 4in. Shorter stand up rods, contrary to what is so often written in the UK angling press, should only be chosen when targeting big fish which fight continually by hanging deep down and directly underneath the boat. That's why such rods are an American design, where many exotic shark, tuna and even bill fish can sit out a period of the fight directly under the boat.
Blues fight away from the boat and at near surface level. The longer rod will play and tire the fish better in these circumstances because more of the rod is being worked and allows manoeuvrability when a shark decides to sit just under the boat trying to chafe the line on the hull or wrap it around the rudder and prop.
You do not need roller rings on a rod of this specification, though the addition of a roller tip ring does reduce line friction on retrieve and when a shark runs, but standard open rings are acceptable. Do though, make sure that the rings centres are in perfect condition to eliminate the chance of line wear.
A size 3/0 to 4/0 reel is a sensible choice for your first blues. It needs to hold about 400yds of 30lb line, have reliable gears, a metal spool to resist mono compaction, and come with a rod clamp and brace to fully secure the reel to the rod and to stop sideways reel twist under heavy pressure.
Ones to look at are the Penn 4/0, Daiwa Sealine 4/0, and even the dated but still serviceable Mitchell 624. All these are star drag reels which give good drag adjustment and are less inferior compared to lever drag reels than some would have us believe. If a lever drag is within your budget, then consider the Penn 25 and 45GLS, Polikansky 4BS, and the Shimano TLD20.
[caption id="attachment_14381" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Getting started with sharks - blue shark[/caption]PORBEAGLES
Finally, graduate onto porbeagles which easily attain 100lbs in most areas, are fairly common at 200lbs. The UK record now stands at 507lbs and porbeagles are known to grow to 900lbs and may attain the magical 1000lb barrier in the northern seas south of Iceland and in deeper water off Scandinavia. When after porgies, you never quite know just what you might sink your hook in?!
Start your porbeagle career with a 50 class rod. Porbeagle are far tougher and fight with a resilience that few blue shark show, hence the need for the extra rod power. You can drop to a 30lb class rod once you've got the first half dozen under your belt.
Length of the rod needs more careful consideration than before. If the waters you are to fish are generally no more than 100ft deep which means that hooked shark have to run to fight, then the longer 7ft option is the better one. But the action needs to encompass that forgiving tip, but then should start to pile in the power in the upper mid section and reach a full lock up point just above the butt connection point to provide lifting power against a dead weight when needed. A roller tip ring is advisable, though again, still not a necessity.
For waters with a depth exceeding 100ft, then the shorter rod can be the better choice. Porbeagles do use their weight during the fight to go deep if they have the necessary depth and will hug the seabed directly under the boat. The stiffer action of the short rod and it's quicker lock up point gives more lifting power when the line is vertical in the water. All roller rings on a rod of this type is standard.
With fights with porbeagle being of a greater duration than that with blues, the rods fore grip needs to be long enough to allow both hands to fully form around the blank when you reach the stalemate point of fish pulling against man with no quarter given from either.
Retain the rubber butt cap on the base of the rod and use a standard open cup type butt pad. These are more comfortable and less harsh than the old fashioned and rarely seen gimbal type, again often quoted in articles.
Reels taking 500yds of 50lb line and sized as a 6/0 are needed for porgies. The Penn and Sealine star drag models again lead the field being strong geared with metal spools and come equipped with both reel clamps, rod braces and harness lugs for shoulder harness attachment. Lever drag reels, such as the Penn Senator range are too costly for the beginner to consider and are unlikely to appeal at this early stage of your sharking career.
[caption id="attachment_14642" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
A porbeagle is played out beside the boat[/caption]WHAT ABOUT MAKO'S AND THRESHERS?
These are the rarest of our sharks. Threshers show with some regularity over the Isle of Wight grounds, but even here, it's very hit and miss. Mako's too, were once almost common down in the waters off Cornwall, but none had been taken sine the early 1970's on rod and line in UK waters until the summer of 2013, when Andy Griffith captured a Mako around 200lbs from Welsh Waters. We know both threshers and mako's frequent the Irish Sea, off the south and west coasts of Ireland, and into Scottish waters, but factual information is thinly spread. These fish can be classed as a lucky and casual catch in all but a few cases.
OTHER SHARKS
There are other types of sharks in British waters, but this feature is about getting started in shark fishing and we'll leave these specialist sharks for the future.
SHOULD I HIRE TACKLE FROM THE CHARTER SKIPPER?
Hiring tackle from the skipper can be both good and bad. Some tackle for hire has seen better days and will cost you fish. Something to watch for! Good skippers with a sound pedigree will have top notch tackle available and this is a good choice for the first couple of trips while you decide if sharking is for you.
I suggest you check over the hire tackle, even at the risk of offending the skipper. Remember, you've paid to hire the tackle, so you've every right to see that it is in working order. Check that clutch is working properly and does not try to jam solid when pulled, and that there is easy adjustment on the star-drag wheel, some skippers actually tighten these with pliers to stop customers slacking the clutch off, a sure recipe for losing a fast running fish. I'd also check that the line is not chaffed for the first 30yds or so as you initially feed line out.
Rods should be okay, but see that no rings are loose and that a rod with a roller tip ring fitted is working freely and properly. The skipper should also have suitable shoulder harnesses and butt pads available....but ask, anyhow!
Once you've decided that shark fishing will form a regular part of your annual fishing, then if you can afford your own, do so, you'll never regret it.
SET THE DRAG SETTING ON A SHARK REEL
Immaterial of whether you will be using a star drag reel or lever drag, you need to understand the drag setting for the line you are using.
For all line you have both a strike setting, and then a fighting setting. In experienced hands the strike setting is the lower denomination and the fighting setting the higher pull pressure.
Newcomers to sharking should set the drag pressure on their reels only to the strike setting figure as follows. Fit the reel to the rod and pass the line through the rod rings. Tie the line to an accurate spring balance and use this as the setting guide.
For 30lb line set the drag to give line at a spring balance pull of 7lbs and leave it like this for the initial fight. If you feel confident, then move up the pressure a fraction, but only when the fish is relatively stationary.
A 50 class reel should be set to give line to the spring balance at 13lbs pull, and again left alone. Only with shark under your belt will you develop the experience to gauge when a shark needs working harder and just how much pressure you and your tackle will take. Stick to these reference points for your initial fish and you won't lose many.
TRACES
Don't fall into the trap of buying so called shark traces. These are often poorly constructed and use inferior components. Hiring tackle including traces from the skipper is also a poor idea. If the trace is lost on a fish you have to pay full price for it. Build your own, it's not hard, is more reliable and cheaper.
WIRE
Plastic covered wire is no good for sharking. Better, but still not good, is piano wire which can kink and weaken. Go for multi-strand stainless wire which is more supple and easier to work, plus does not kink so easily. It's disadvantage is that shark can get their teeth between the strands and work them open. To get you started you can use either racing cycle brake cables, or car type Bowden brake cable.
There is no need for a full length wire trace of 12ft plus when after blues. A 3ft long biting trace of 175lb wire will combat the cutting teeth of the shark, but also give you a fighting chance if something other than blue (porbeagle, mako) grabs the bait. You can finish the trace of by using about 10ft of 300lb commercial monofilament which is enough protection from the sharks rough hide.
Porbeagles can roll in the trace, so many sharkers prefer to use a full length of wire up to 14ft long. This is a heavy 4000/600lb biting trace 3ft long, then the rest in standard 275/400lb wire. Alternatively, lengthen the biting trace to 6ft and complete the trace in heavy 400lb mono.
You'll find that in clear water conditions and the sharks working in top 40-feet of surface water that the less visible wire and heavy mono type trace will catch you more fish. In cloudy coloured seas and especially a deeper depths the all wire trace fishes better.
SWIVELS
Only the best will do. Go for Mustad Rolling Swivels, Berkeley or Sampo. Use size 2/0 for blue shark traces which are compatible with 175lb wire. For porbeagles and other sharks, go for 5/0 or 6/0 for all connecting swivels, but drop down to a smaller 4/0, if you prefer, for the swivel connecting the trace to the main reel line. This swivel is only as strong as the reel line it is tied to, so a reduction in size does not matter at this point.
Nickel finished swivels are the better option, as black swivels quickly lose their finish.
Should you graduate to targeting the very biggest porbeagles, consider changing the intermediate 6/0 swivel for a small stainless U shackle used for yacht rigging etc. This is more reliable than the swivel when you haul against the sharks full weight using the trace at the side of the boat while trying to get a tailer round their tail or cut them free.
HOOKS
Your standard hook pattern for both porbeagle and blue should be theMustad O/Shaughnessy 3406 bronzed. This, if need be, can be cut and left in the fish without doing harm. Carry sizes from 6/0 to 10/0 for blues with the 8/0 the best bet for standard sized baits. Porbeagles require either a 10/0 or a 12/0.
For deep water and when bigger porbeagles are possible, then consider the Mustad Sea Demon 7731D. This has a shorter shank than the 3406, so the 12/0 is the best option. If you prefer a hook with an offset point use the Mustad Sea Master 7699D in the same size. Both these patterns though, have a protective Duratin finish and should only be used when fishing heavy for the big ones. The Sea Demon is made in a bronze finish for the American market but seems impossible to get this side of the pond.
Use a file to cut down the inside edges of the hook points to make them sharp, but don't overdo this as a thin point can bend as it comes in contact with a sharks jaw.
TRACE CONSTRUCTION
The biting wire needs to pass through the eye of the hook twice and be wrapped over itself four times, then pulled as tight as is possible. This overlap gives the ultimate strength and spreads the pressure away from the crimp which almost eliminates the possibility of the crimp slipping when the shark is held by the trace at the boat side.
Use a crimp big enough to take the wire diameter three times. This means the actual biting trace, the free end that leaves the hooks eye goes back through the crimp, then is bent over and pushed through the crimp a third time and then the three closed together with proper crimping pliers, not ordinary flat nosed pliers. Close the crimp from the centre and do not shut down the very end. Leave these slightly open to avoid wear contact with the wire.
The free end should not be left hanging from the crimp end as this can cut unwary fingers and hands when trying to hold a shark on the trace.
Use the same system to crimp in a 5/0 swivel, now add the mono or wire upper trace to the free eye of the intermediate swivel. There is no need to use this crimp system for the top trace swivel. This only needs the wire passing through the lower eye once and then crimped with the mono or wire passing through the crimp three times.
OTHER SHARKING ESSENTIALS
A butt pad with an open cup is not really needed for blue sharks, but is essential to protect the groin when after porbeagles and bigger sharks. Shoulder harnesses are useful to have in the box, but you're unlikely to need one on a blue or small porbeagle. Porgies over 250lbs are a different matter. Harnesses should have a wide strap passing over the shoulder blades to spread the weight, not thin ones. Nylon webbing is best, leather less so as it hardens with age. The clips that connect to the reel lugs should be stainless steel, not mild steel and plastic as some are.
Carry a baseball cap, or as I do a proper Australian bush hat with an all round wide brim to eliminate sunburn on the neck and face, and sunglasses with a safety cord attached. Strong gloves are also wise, but choose a pair that offers protection, but are also supple enough to wear when fighting fish.
SHARK BAITS
By far the most successful and most frequently used bait is mackerel. All sharks eat mackerel at some stage and it's the principal diet of the blue shark and a regular food source of the porbeagle and mako, and to a lesser extent the thresher.Blues will also eat pilchards and herrings, threshers take pilchards and herring, with porbeagles showing a liking for pollack, herring, cod and whiting. Mako are more fussy and tend to hunt reef and wreck dwelling pollack and ling, but will target herring shoals when other food supplies are low.
Most baits are best presented by threading the hook in and out three or four times from the tail downwards along the body in a stitching motion and bringing the hook out just rearwards of the gill cover. There are other forms of presentation, but we'll cover these in the near future in features looking at the respective sharks in detail.
THE FISHING
The most common method of fishing is to suspend bait underneath party balloon floats ate different depths and different distances away from the boat. A simple but effective pattern is as follows.......
The furthest balloon needs to be about 60yds away from the boat and set at about 60-feet or 20-metres deep. The second balloon should be allowed to drift 40- feet (15-metres) from the boat and hold the bait at about 40-feet (15-metres) depth. The third balloon rests just 20-yds (8-metres) from the boat and should be set at about 20-feet or roughly 6 metres deep. The depths are set by tying a separate stop-knot or coiling supple telephone wire on to the main line below the balloon which is attached to a sliding swivel (running freely on the main line) and telephone wire.
The skipper will put bags of minced bran and fish over the side which forms a scent lane running off downtide that the sharks will find and follow to source. This scent lane is deep in the water some distance away from the boat, but gets shallower approaching the boat. The sharks come up through this scent lane rising in the water which is why we stagger the depths of the baits.
SHARK BITE!
The balloon does not act as a bite indicator, It is purely there to hold the bait at the right depth. You need to set your reel in free spool, but with the free spool ratchet indicator on. This gives an audible warning when the shark runs. This is the "reel scream" you see in the movies.
To set the hook, let the shark run until it stops. Now hold the rod at a 45 degree angle, put the reel in gear, release the ratchet button and let the shark swim away and pull the rod over in to a full fighting curve. Providing the hook is good and sharp, this rod pressure is more than enough to fully sink the hook in the sharks jaw.
WHERE TO FISH FOR SHARK
Looe in Cornwall gives the best English opportunity to tangle with your first blue. The fish show here by late May/early June, with peak numbers inshore during August. They are still caught here in mid October and later. Pick the bigger tides, and hope that your booking coincides with calm, settled weather. The rougher the seas, the more the bait fish like mackerel and pilchard get separated into smaller tight shoals, the more difficult the blues can become to locate.
Just as good, some say better, would be the south coast of Ireland off Kinsale, Baltimore and Dungarvan and anywhere in between puts you into shark ground. Stocks can be prolific here and it's not so essential to have big tides to fish on as blues show here on the smallest neaps. Blues show right up the Irish west coast too, but will diminish in numbers and the season shortens once you approach Donegal.
For porbeagles the choice of venue is wider. The Bristol Channel off Swansea and Cardiff has a short late June to early August season though fish can be very intermittent in showing. Heavy rain carried by the Severn Estuary at this time will keep the mackerel and shark to far out for serious contact.
Cardigan Bay, especially the ports at Aberdovey and Aberystwyth have a superb record, though numbers caught and released fell during the years '93 to 96 with the sharks showing more in the Bristol Channel grounds, but 1997 saw the sharks return, though bad weather again kept catches low. This area is the ideal grounding for the learner as most fish weighed around the 100lb mark. The season gets underway in mid June and runs through to early September, with the best fishing throughout July. Big tides are best here.
Scottish waters have fewer professional skippers available, but shark fishing is practised to a small degree off the Isle of Whithorn where some good fish show during late summer. Further north off Dunnet and Scrabster is where the current UK record was broken. Small fish are scarce here. Resident shark show in the winter months, especially January through March and appear to be a group of fish that break away from the big porbeagle that frequent Scandinavian waters.
Never discount the Irish grounds, either. Porbeagles occur right along the south and west coast. They are rarely fished for here and little is really known of their movements. Ground off Cork, around the Fastnet Rock, Kerry, Clare and Mayo all offer excellent opportunity, but I'd favour the wrecks off the North-west Coast to be the most favourable, especially during the early autumn period.
CONCLUSION
This has been a brief introduction to shark fishing. As I've mentioned, there will be more features on individual shark types, their habits, fishing methods, conservation and care and much more in the near future.
