Looking for help with the rigs used for sharking from the shore...
To date we have discovered, always the hard way, that match stick releases are a pain in the ass when you have to cast the whole rig out and down from the shore. They are ideal when you can drift off a boat and gently drop them in to be swept downtide but from the shore, they are a disaster. The impact of the whole Pollack bait (porgies in winter) is enough to smack the balloon off the water and if it hits an incoming wave wrong, off it floats and the bait nosedives into conger territory...
We've been trying various options. One was even a kite purchased online from New Zealand. It was launched into a strong offshore breeze, and promptly did a 180 and smashed itself to sh*te into the cliff behind us = still pulling the piss out of Peter 'the pilot' - six months later.
The best we've got to date is a modified zip slider rig. Wire trace (130 lb IGFA) to choice of hook (8/0 bronzed Shaughnessy) holds the kilo pollack flapper. Swivel to 5 metres of rubbing leader, in my case 100 lb mono. On this is fitted the zip slider. 100 lb mono is tied to 60 lb shockleader which is tied to the braid (600 metres, no fish hooked is going to swim off the reel!) I have to do it this way to avoid swivels because even a small one would make sh*t of the rings on the rod - remember the whole thing has to be cast out about 40 metres to get it into the offshore wind and currents. I'm using a second hand Shimano Beastmaster BX 10 oz from a Bristol Channel wrecker who used it for congers. Tough as old boots. The reel is an ancient Senator 6/0 - massive clunky but again tough as old boots. It's not delicate refined kit.
At present, we have the zip slider rigged to have 5 metres of 15 kilo line on a swivel, to which is attached the balloon. It's stoppered by a big bead which stops it at the top of the 5 metres of rubbing leader (knot to 60 lb line), so the bait is swimming about 6 metres below the water surface. We reckon that is about right for the marks we are trying - its very rough ground, vicious drop offs, lots of white water... so it's not easy to cast. I have to let the 5 metres of line to the balloon lie coiled on the rocks behind me and use an otg cast with the Pollack bait. No lead required obviously. The beachmaster is a 9 footer, so there's enough room on the drop, but its all a bit messy.
Can anyone improve on this please? Would the paravanes they use in pike angling be better, I've never used one?
I've been told that old plastic 500 ml coke bottles make excellent paravanes...
Thanks
Homer moment - of course it should. 