shark trip, cork 2/8/07

Boat: screeming reels

Crew:myself, siert, dezzer

Date:2/8/07

Location:cork area

Duration:8 hours

Tide:high to low plus 3 up

Weather:overcast, ligfht s/w winds 2-4

Bait:mack, rag, crab

Rigs:250lb wire trace, 50lb mainline

Results: 1 Blue shark, 3 missed runs. pollock, red and grey gurnard, whiting,ling, cod, mack,


Report: well was determined to get a blue, and at last managed to get one this year.
set off in lovely weather, with flat seas making the spin to the cork bouy area nice and quick. the dubby was already made, and with the addition of a few fresh macks was sone producing a nice slick. lines were rigged, and baits feed out , and the waiting began.
Patience is a virtue in shark fishing, and this was the case today, it was 2.5 hours before we got our first run, it was a very slow take of the bait, very slowly the fish moved a way from the boat and after 100 meters it stopped, it seemed like an age not to strike, but then it moved off at speed. strike one, missed!! much cursing, re-baited.
our second run was an hour later, and this time much more positive, waited for the pause then strike 2, this time resulted in a small but welcome blank breaking blue approx 20/30lbs! happiness.
re-baited, and within 10 mins another great run, strike 3, fish on , then gone,line break!! much cursing again, stripped 20 yards of line off the reel. re-rigged .
as the balloon was on its way to the back of the boat , crash , the bait was hammered, and was as much as i could do to stop the reel birdnesting.
there was no strike needed for this one as it tore off deep, drag was set stronger and stronger, and still line poured off the reel,i handed the rod to dezzer, as it was his turn, and as i was collecting a butt pad for what i was expecting to be a long fight, came the cry, its gone!!!, line break again, serious cursing !!!!
That was the last run of the day, and we headed in to do some general fishing before returning.
lessons learnt? CHANGE my bl...y line every year!, i only use the reel for big stuff and the line was 3 years old, its now in the bin, it will not happen again!, at least all my end tackle was up to the job, there's nothing worse than putting a lot of effort into a trip to be let down by gear failure, BUT, when shark fishing it will soon let you know how good your tackle is!!!!

And for the sake of 20 quid or so,we now have 2 sharks swimming around with hooks cable wire and yards of line trailing after them....
Mono will not last on a reel for more than a year.

well!!,
Do i get the impression that you think it was deliberate and that i knew the line was perished before i set out??
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!!, if we knew about everthing in life before it happens, life would be bl...dy boring, its like saying president kennedy decide to save a few quid on petrol , and not go for a drive through dallas, because he knew he was going to get shot!
Sorry you feel that way about whats happened, the line broke at the swivel, so the wire trace was left only, still not desirable i agree, but if you hav'nt lost terminal tackle on a fish, then i salute you and your tackle preperation.
regards
screeming

hard luck on the line breaking but at least ya got one! well done!

hi screaming,

you wouldn't get away with much on this web site! I don't think the hook is a problem. If a shark or tope is caught on a charter boat, a big tag is bolted on to it and it is fine and can show up 1,000 miles away as happy as larry

you wouldn't get away with much on this web site!

Agree.... Some people can't wait to have a pop..... :x

Hard luck on the lost fish... I'm not sure if Braid is any good for the Blue shark, but it might be worth switching over, Braid lasts years on the reel without any problems.......

Kev

Had a similar experience to Screamings last year

Just to argue with Mac,last year I lost 3 tope/conger in one day on a reel filled with whiplash braid. Had to bin the whole spool, and you only find these things out on the day

After I lost the first fish, I supected a poor knot, after the second fish I was suspicious. After the third, the whole lot got binned in disgust
1 season braid had somehow perished

As for mono only lasting a season, unless the mono is exposed to lots of sunlight, no danger this year, it can remain perfectly serviceable

And in hindsight , replacing line annually is probably a good practice, but not essential

Kev

PS
Hope to meet some blues myself this year.

Hi Screaming panic not the Shark will shed the hook after a few days once its Stomach juices and saliva start to work on it.

What do you think happens to Shark that you cant remove the hook from and have to cut the trace ??

RE Line I have had line on reels for more than a year and had no problem with it as Kev said Sunlight does the most damage, you did say that your line brook at the Knot and that is always the weakest link

Cheers Danny

I have heard some similar stories about the older whiplash Kev. I have heard that the new product line is good, but I always go for Berkley Power Pro myself. I have had a few spools over the years and have not had any problems. I have heard that there is a lot of fake Powerpro on Ebay, so I only buy locally and haggle.. :D

Seaguar Flurocarbon is UV resistant, so if stored correctly, you should get a few seasons, but the extra cost might not be worth it.

Kev

Kev,

Not taking a pop :lol: :lol: :lol: honestly :twisted:

I would never use braid for Tope or Shark in general, if the fish rolls on it, that stuff cuts very easy and very deep....I prefer mono, plus the stretch helps a bit too.

Screaming......better luck next time mate, like has been said, least you landed one 8)

Tom.

i'd agree with tom, never use braid on blues. seen quite a few which have rolled and cut the braid like cotton.doesnt appear to have the abrasive resistance of mono.

Mono will not last on a reel for more than a year.

Not always the case! I've had some diawa sensor on a spinning reel for more than 5 yrs and it was still fine :lol:
Sean,

Hi Martyn,

Never mind! I'll get the 2 traces back for you during the week :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Never use braid for Sharking for a number of reasons!

It will cut the shark, It will fray from contact with the shark, Knots always seem to be a problem for some, and the wind will cause you all sorts of problems with a few braided lines set up to 50m from the boat all going out in the same direction :roll:

Use the cheapest 50-60lb mono you can buy and spool up new line regularly. The main advantage of braid is bite detection believe me you will detect a shark bite on old 1" rope.


Jim

Has anyone got some 1 inch rope for sale !!!!!,
screeming

50 or 60 lb mono seems too strong to me. I have read that if you fill your reel with 30lb mono and run it through the rod rings and tie it to the side of your house, you will not be able to break it. Was afraid to try this for obvious reasons but i believe it.

there is a six page shark supplement in the july sea angler based on dave lewis experience aboard whitewater 3 and he advises 30lb mono and i think this is correct. your average blue could be landed on much lighter gear, but this would be ok if something really big comes along

Guy's, Please don't think that I am taking a pop at you, and I certainly don't think it was deliberate on your behalf, both heat and uv light will degrade line, and the cheaper the line the more marked effect, not many people are aware of that, and if you were I am sure you would have changed the line before going out.
Big game fishing is the pinnacle of our sport, and shark fishing is about as high as you can get in this country.
Tackle preperation is of the utmost importance when you are going after shark, espically if you have never caught one before, and there is no excuse for having your mainline snap whilst fishing for shark, espically at the knot.
I have been lucky enough to have caught several fish over 100lbs both in ireland and abroad on lines between 15 and 30lb b.s and I have never ever lost a fish through my mainline breaking, it's not a boast, just a statement of fact. I change my line before setting off at the start of each season, I always use a double line with a bimini twist to attach any wire traces, double check my knots, and re-tie any i'm not 100% confident in, and always set my drag with a scales, and never have the drag set at more than 1/3rd of the line breaking strain for the strike.
All these are basic steps that only take a couple of minutes, and that any angler can do, and when completed you will have 100% confidence in your tackle, and will know how much pressure you can exert safely, and more importantly you will feel better that a fish won't be trailing a hook and trace around, and contrary to most peoples belief's a fish hooked in the jaw can have the hook lodged there for years depending on the type, and its only if the hook is lodged in the stomach that the acid's can dissolve it.

Again i'm not getting at anyone, but you wouldn't go to sea un-prepared, without knowing exactly how much fuel you had, or what the forcast was, or without a lifejacket.... the same should apply to your tackle preperation, and you will find that it will pay you back.

for the matter of braid, it's not the ideal line, mono is far better for sharking, also I back up the comments about Berkely whiplash braid, it is without the worst braid on the Market, it has no shock resistance, and can snap on the strike, it is a loose weave, and as such frays easily, and catches more water and needs more lead than other braids, it also knots far too easily on casting etc, try 30lb fireline, and you won't go back....

Dave

50 or 60 lb mono seems too strong to me. I have read that if you fill your reel with 30lb mono and run it through the rod rings and tie it to the side of your house, you will not be able to break it. Was afraid to try this for obvious reasons but i believe it.

there is a six page shark supplement in the july sea angler based on dave lewis experience aboard whitewater 3 and he advises 30lb mono and i think this is correct. your average blue could be landed on much lighter gear, but this would be ok if something really big comes along

why would 50lb mono be too strong?

Blue sharks can reach well over 150lbs + here on the south coast

It's all very well to read this stuff in a magazine that hires a charter boat for an article to sell the magazine, but back here in the real world tackling a large blue on light gear will not make you popular with the other anglers onboard. They will have to reel in and sit and watch you fighting the shark for anything up to 2 hours, generally it will be 2 or more hours before the first run, then if you put out the rod again and get a second shark that is the day over for the others.


Jim

Guy's, Please don't think that I am taking a pop at you

There has been a little of thisgoing on lately IMO and I wasn't looking at you specifically Dave, but if you look at your first post, maybe you can see why people might think that..... It didn't have any of the excellent information that you took the time to post above... :wink:

Moving on,

Not taking a pop :D :D honestly :twisted:

No problem Tom,
I wasn't sure if Braid was up to the job for proper sharking myself.... just though it might have some applications.... Maybe with a Mono rubbling leader and good knot selection :lol:

I can understand where you are coming from with the 50lb line Jim, especially with the bigger sharks. Personally I like the idea of fishing lighter for them, but I also wouldn't like to be the guy waiting for 2 hours before I could get my bait back in the water..... :roll:

Kev

i rather sceptical of the claim that it takes 2 hours to land a blue shark using 30lb mono on your reel, but that by upping this to 50 or 60, the fish could be landed quickly :roll: :roll: :roll:

i rather sceptical of the claim that it takes 2 hours to land a blue shark using 30lb mono on your reel, but that by upping this to 50 or 60, the fish could be landed quickly :roll: :roll: :roll:

I said "up to 2 hours" Read it again!!

And just how many Blue Sharks did you say you had the experience of catching again :roll: :roll: :roll: :oops:


Jim