Land Based Sharks

[brettmann86]

Hey Raiders, had a little spare time on my hands the past few days so decided to write a semi in-depth guide to land based shark fishing anything I miss or anything you want to add go ahead the more info the better.

Surf fishing for sharks is one of the most fun, rewarding hobbies I’ve every taken part in. Shark fishing is one of the least appreciated types of fishing especially when you’re doing it from a beautiful sandy beach. Most people think of sharks as ‘creatures of the deep’ or ‘man eaters’, but they are actually some of the best sports fishing to be had from the beach or boat. If you’re looking for something to do while enjoying the beach, shark fishing can provide an adrenaline-filled experience and a picture worth 1000 words.

Keeping in mind raiders this is a very demanding style of fishing when you’re actually “hooked on” and when you hook into a shark of any species from 4ft and upwards they will put any other species available from beach or rock to shame. Keeping in mind some species get big and when I say big I mean BIG! And they will put a real hurt on you and your rod and your reel and all your terminal tackle so it pays to equip yourself with the right stuff.

There are 2 styles you can fish here, you can fish with a heavy class surf rod of between 10 & 12 foot between the 12-15kg line class matched up with either a heavy spinning reel holding at least 200metres of 40lb line although this outfit aids in casting and versatility it’s limited to a fairly small amount of line to be fighting such heavyweights. The preferred outfit would be to most people a 24+kg line class rod of a bout 6foot in length fitted to an overhead reel capable of holding 400metres+ of 40lb line.

Although I myself use a heavy class surf rod paired up with an overhead reel carrying 350 meters of 50lb line, this has worked for me many times and I’ve never had a problem.

As for your tackle i.e. Trace, hooks, sinker, swivel & sinker the easiest way to put this is too much is never enough! What would be more than necessary to go catch kingies or Jews will not hold up against a large whaler or bull they’re skin is like sandpaper and they’re teeth are razor sharp! Always go oversized! My steel trace consists of 5 foot of 200lb nylon coated mutli-strand wire connected to a 300lb test swivel with 9 foot of 100lb shockproof leader with the sinker being attached on the loop where swivel goes reason for this it’s so you can set your sinker in the sand wind up the slack and have the bait flowing freely so when the shark picks up the bait it essentially springs a trap the sinker lifts from the sand and all the tension you wound up springs for and helps to set the hook! Hook sizes should never be below a 6/0 but from there the skies the limit as regularly I catch small sharks under the meter mark on hooks in the 10/0 range they don’t mind as long as the food’s there! Not to anyone who wants to practice catch and release if your planning on releasing your catch circle hooks are the go as with standard J type pattern hooks they tend to hook in deep and can rip the inner lining of the shark and kill it! So if you want to release your catch and just have a photo then use a circle hook as these are much friendlier to the shark.

As for bait, well it’s really quite simple sharks are a predator but also will not turn down an easy meal, so nearly anything will work as long as it’s a big stinky bait yes some baits work better than others and there are some that surprise people but they work all the same, here’s just a few of my preferred baits as they’ve all worked for me in the past, freshwater eel, stripe tuna, stingray (whole or cut), mullet, bonito… now keep in mind that’s just a few of them it’s always a good idea no matter what your bait to soak it in some tuna oil just to add to the stink!

Berlying up is a major part of shark fishing although please don’t start Berlying up on a crowded beach use your brain and either wait till everyone leaves and it’s getting on dark or find somewhere else.

For berly it’s a good idea to load up on a lot of cat food seafood platter works well although any will work. Just get the cheap stuff. Also old fish frames work a treat when tied in a keeper bag to a length of rope and left in the surf. Once you get them interested they’ll be looking for food so it’s a good idea to have your bait out prior to berlying. If using cat food as a base start a slick with say 4 cans then top it up every ten minutes or so with another can this will keep the interest. Then all you have to do is relax enjoy the scenery and wait!

Locations

Almost all of Australia’s coast holds sharks but some areas are more productive than others. Sydney’s land based locations that run hot during summer are Stanwell Park beach, mona vale beach, long reef beach, palm beach, Clifton gardens, balmoral manly beach, and the more you head towards QLD the more productive they get as I have only fished at these locations and prefer them over others I cannot really comment on other places please feel free to add any that I’ve missed, as far as QLD goes I’ve only ever fished off the north side of stradbroke island and had decent luck there. Although a word of advice is a beach with less surf is preferred as this makes it easier to land your hard fought catch after all you don’t want to spend an hour reeling in a monster just to loose him in the wash do you?

The species you’ll encounter off the beaches more often than not are whalers and bulls, hammerheads will also be caught and if you’re really lucky you might hook a tiger shark, as for me they are the Mecca and the tiger shark still remains on my elusive list. All of these sharks are considered “dangerous” to humans so pleas safety first when dealing with them. They are all very powerful and can grow very large although the larger specimens are not likely to be encountered to close to land they are still there.

As for deploying baits well it depends on your set-up if you have a spinning set-up this is easier although you’ll be casting a heavy rig with a big bait it’s still easily done with practice, with the overhead style reels you have 3 choices, throw your bait and rig as far as you can, wade your bait out (this is not recommended) or use a small canoe to take the bait out the required distance. You may also be able to cast your overhead reel but avoiding a bird’s nest may be difficult. Keep in mind gutters close to shore will hold sharks as these animals have no problem travelling into knee deep water to get a feed.

As far as landing a shark goes well that all depends on what you want to do with it! If you plan on catch and release then cutting the line as close to the hook as possible with a pair of bolt cutters is a good idea but if you want photo’s of it on the sand then you will have to tail grab it.. which yes it does mean getting into knee deep water grabbing the shark by the tail and dragging it backwards up the beach. If your method is to eat it then a simple gaff will do the job nicely. Always remember these are highly dangerous creatures and they have all the available tools to do real damage to you if you’re not careful...

I hope what I’ve written here is helpful to some, anything I’ve missed of anything that wants to get added should be added as I’m always keen to learn more.

[cameldownunder]

Interesting read.

I wont be doing any shark fishing (at least not on purpose), to afraid of them, and also following the philosophy "I dont harm you and you dont harm me"

But I have a question, combining parts of your "instructions".

Location: Balmoral beach (I know there is a netted part, where you're supposed to go to swim to avoid sharks)

Berlying up: "...Berlying up on a crowded beach use your brain and either wait till everyone leaves and it’s getting on dark.." + "...If using cat food as a base start a slick with say 4 cans"

Do you really think it is a good idea to throw cat food in the water (even if at night) where people might swim during the day? To attract sharks?

I think that if sharks get attracted to a beach, because of burly, they will check out that beach also the following night or during the day, don't you think?

I think people passing by, and seeing a fisherman throwing burly in the water at such a place, to catch sharks, gives the wrong image of the fishing sport,

and could cause a total fishing ban.

[brettmann86]

Interesting read.

I wont be doing any shark fishing (at least not on purpose), to afraid of them, and also following the philosophy "I dont harm you and you dont harm me"

But I have a question, combining parts of your "instructions".

Location: Balmoral beach (I know there is a netted part, where you're supposed to go to swim to avoid sharks)

Berlying up: "...Berlying up on a crowded beach use your brain and either wait till everyone leaves and it’s getting on dark.." + "...If using cat food as a base start a slick with say 4 cans"

Do you really think it is a good idea to throw cat food in the water (even if at night) where people might swim during the day? To attract sharks?

I think that if sharks get attracted to a beach, because of burly, they will check out that beach also the following night or during the day, don't you think?

I think people passing by, and seeing a fisherman throwing burly in the water at such a place, to catch sharks, gives the wrong image of the fishing sport,

and could cause a total fishing ban.

I'm rather surprised that you have not seen berlying up done in that area before?? have you not seen people burlying up for mullet or bream?? i'd be surprised as this is quite commonly done to attract fish, and well when you attract alot of fish to an area the predators come in to find out whats going on.. over at balmoral clifton gardens and the likes i rarely need to use burly as it has already been done for me by mullet fisherman, so in response to that whether you berly with bread, corn, biscuits or what have you sharks will eventually come in for a look around and to even suggest that berly could result in bans from fishing is very extreme.

[cameldownunder]

whether you berly with bread, corn, biscuits or what have you sharks will eventually come in for a look around and to even suggest that berly could result in bans from fishing is very extreme.

Well I disagree that burly up with corn and bread to get the yellowtails and mullets on the byte and burly up with cat food to get the sharks biting is the same.

And going to extreme length, to have Blood in the water or have small fish in swarms swimming around does not have the same effect on sharks (IMHO)

Concerning the ban: I have the feeling that Balmoral/Clifton gardens are already close to a ban, and the people pushing for a ban should not be fed another reason to do it. That's all.

It really doesn't concern me any more as I have a boat, but I was fishing both places before, and it would be a shame if the fishing would be banned as they are good spots.

[brettmann86]

Well I disagree that burly up with corn and bread to get the yellowtails and mullets on the byte and burly up with cat food to get the sharks biting is the same.

And going to extreme length, to have Blood in the water or have small fish in swarms swimming around does not have the same effect on sharks (IMHO)

Concerning the ban: I have the feeling that Balmoral/Clifton gardens are already close to a ban, and the people pushing for a ban should not be fed another reason to do it. That's all.

It really doesn't concern me any more as I have a boat, but I was fishing both places before, and it would be a shame if the fishing would be banned as they are good spots.

I was actually one of the people who had a sitdown meeting with mosman council a few weeks ago over their proposed ban of fishing at clifton gardens, the ban there was due to rubbish being left behind and the overall state of the jetties that they were being left in, it had nothing to do with varied fishing practices in the area, next time i go to clifton gardens to target noahs, i will be sure to take photo's for you that increased activity in the water created by attracting baitfish such as yellowtail also brings in the larger predators such as sharks.

as i stated originally it is a common sense issue, as berlying is a standard practice for all types of fishing. one makes they're own judgements on what to use in what areas.

[luderick59]

the 15 to 20 people that swim from mona vale beach out to the point every morning would love to see you throwing that much berley in to catch bronzies ..........not

peter

[brettmann86]

the 15 to 20 people that swim from mona vale beach out to the point every morning would love to see you throwing that much berley in to catch bronzies ..........not

peter

far out guys negative much?? honestly i learnt from watching other anglers do this and reading up on the subject.. all i did was write it down here so if someone else was interested they didnt have to go through 800 different websites just to get something... this is ridiculous... shark fishing ain't going anywhere.. being negative just shows how small minded some people can be when it comes to the world of rec fishing.. different styles need different gear and require different methods... i did not invent them!!!!!

[st00ge]

guys he was just trying to give us extra information that hes collected for awhile and just wanted to share it with you guys.

He's trying to help out those that are chasing sharks or want to start chasing them.

thanks for the information mate =] should be helpful for those wanting to catch shark

[luderick59]

try it without berley you may be surprised or fish stockton beach where the real sharks are

peter

[brettmann86]

guys he was just trying to give us extra information that hes collected for awhile and just wanted to share it with you guys.

He's trying to help out those that are chasing sharks or want to start chasing them.

thanks for the information mate =] should be helpful for those wanting to catch shark

Thanks St00ge that's all i was trying to do, as i've talked to a few people and alot want to catch a shark but seem at a loss at how to do it, the info i've gathered and had other well seasoned fisho's tell me how it was done all i simply did was put a loose idea of how it's done together so if other people were interested they didnt have to fight through what i did

[wannabefisho]

Hey Mate- I too am an avid Shark Fisho from the beaches and I go up to Broken Bay for Jewies, Sharks and anything else that will take a large slab and give a good fight, and maybe feed my family.

I berley with my left over off cuts and frames and bread and chook pellets (Bread + chook pellets= mullet/Whiting/slimeys/yakkas) and the frames and off cuts are for jewies, I just happened to find that Sharks and likely other bigger predators are by-catch but berley is the key to ANY kind of fishing- who except for the "jiggers" dot berley for bait fish and even to get the predators at the back of the boat???

Anyway if you want to go sharking one night then let me know, I dont shark where there are swimmers and I only shark open beaches (ie. not in the harbour) or immediate vicinity of any crowded areas.

I usually go every weekend off the beaches for the predators, and during the week I fish for Bream and Whiting and Flatties on Lane Cove River and Parra River for a feed.

Anyway mate flick me a PM if you wanna go soon I got a truckload of Mullet and Slimeys I have to use and what better way than to nail a nice Bronzie or Hammer - and maybe I can learn a few things about sharking as I only seem to catch School Sharks, Port Jacksons and the occasional Wobbegong or seven gill shark, nothing monster but all between 110cm and 180cm and I want a BIG shark to tussle - last time I went I fought a big Noah for 25mins before it severed through doubled 80lb mono from my favourite beach.

Chat soon hopefully

tight lines

Anthony

[AndrewNR]

I would also love to go shark fishing off the beach. If you ever need a gaff man pm me. Cheers Andrew

[Steveo76]

Nice post Brettman. Great to have people on here share the information they have spent a long time gathering via research and experience.

I have caught a handful of sharks in my younger years although I can't offer much advice, I agree they are great fun to land.

Look forward to targeting more some day soon.

[luvbigfish]

nice read brettman and as for the berley issue,i dont know any real fisher people that have not used berley in the pass,oh and would pilchards be reguarded as cat food!! please!!!!!!!!! lmao..and good luck with those missing species brettman.

[brettmann86]

Guys Thanks for the positive comments,

was getting a bit put off there by all the negative stuff being said... good to see i'm not a barbarian.. glad i could give some of you some help... LBG is great especially when targeting noahs their initial runs are something to be amazed at.. and anthony, andrew if you guys a really interested maybe we should organise something down the line??? get out amongst it and have a real go?? let me know if you guys are interested

[wannabefisho]

Guys Thanks for the positive comments,

was getting a bit put off there by all the negative stuff being said... good to see i'm not a barbarian.. glad i could give some of you some help... LBG is great especially when targeting noahs their initial runs are something to be amazed at.. and anthony, andrew if you guys a really interested maybe we should organise something down the line??? get out amongst it and have a real go?? let me know if you guys are interested

Im def interested...

my only pittfall ATM is I'm studying and go back to classes next Monday and they go till first week in July, then a 3 week break then back for last class @ end of July, I am still free weekends and some week nights though.

I'll send ya a PM with my details we can arrange an outing somewhere maybe on Nthn Beaches or elsewhere... I got own transport and gear and yes, I would even swim the bait out on my Mal if needed- but I sure hope I dont get "nabbed" in the process

Chat soon brettmann

Anthony

[jew chaser]

me and a few mates used to do this style of fishing all the time ! on a alot of well populated beachs(central coast) ,weve hooked big sharks on sun set with surfer still in the water and not useing burely alot of the times!! good fun!

[vemanner]

yeah i have to agree. I get sharks off the beach all the time even when i dont berley up. i've also seen a big hammerhead 20 meters away from swimmers who would never have known. there are always sharks around and in healthy fisheries. berley will bring them to your baits from other parts of the beach. but it wont bring them from the deep blue yonder to your beach... they're already pretty much there.

thanks for the guide. shark fishing is a great fun and such a positive thing as most people i know let them go afterwards. Maybe if we start respecting them more as a sport fish, we may become as active about preserving their numbers as we are with billfish and tuna.

i read an article about berleying up once. it said dig holes at low tide, fill them with fish frames, pilchards and little tuna oil and then come back and fish there on the high tide. Still haven't tried it, but am keen to give it a go.

Marty

[brettmann86]

yeah i have to agree. I get sharks off the beach all the time even when i dont berley up. i've also seen a big hammerhead 20 meters away from swimmers who would never have known. there are always sharks around and in healthy fisheries. berley will bring them to your baits from other parts of the beach. but it wont bring them from the deep blue yonder to your beach... they're already pretty much there.

thanks for the guide. shark fishing is a great fun and such a positive thing as most people i know let them go afterwards. Maybe if we start respecting them more as a sport fish, we may become as active about preserving their numbers as we are with billfish and tuna.

i read an article about berleying up once. it said dig holes at low tide, fill them with fish frames, pilchards and little tuna oil and then come back and fish there on the high tide. Still haven't tried it, but am keen to give it a go.

Marty

Hey Marty,

Ive heard roughly the same story!! way i heard it though was cows blood frozen into ice cream bucket blocks and buried at low tide... be very interested if anyone else has heard about this style of burlying.. i might have to give it a go sometime soon.. good to know someone else has heard one of these rumours

[Fester]

We fish for jews and any other momnster who wants to snack on our mullet slabs or tailor etc, on a very busy little beach up here, always catch bronze whalers of a night, school sharks etc, all within couple hundred metres of beach where everyone swims by day, we dont use berley, no need too, always things on the chew.

[xib]

thanks alot for the info brettman i have wanted to chase sharks from the beach for a while now. i wouldnt mind trying blacksmiths beach at swansea. its 4wd access and doesnt have to many swimmers and often has deep gutters and holes.have you ever tryed 400lb mono and a circle. all the whalers and hammers we get off the boat have been caught on mono while marlin fishing at places like the banks.and also do you get many through winter?

matt

[brettmann86]

thanks alot for the info brettman i have wanted to chase sharks from the beach for a while now. i wouldnt mind trying blacksmiths beach at swansea. its 4wd access and doesnt have to many swimmers and often has deep gutters and holes.have you ever tryed 400lb mono and a circle. all the whalers and hammers we get off the boat have been caught on mono while marlin fishing at places like the banks.and also do you get many through winter?

matt

Hey Matt,

i use mono as a genjeral rule because of the stretch factor in it, it has alot more give and it just feels more comfortable under pressure, i generally use between 40 and 100lb mono as i find this is sufficent, just depending on the size of the shark depends on how much drag to use, an overhead reel is preferred for heavy mono as eggbeaters don't hold enough line, although in using overheads you'll need a way of deploying your bait like a kayak or something.. and yes you still get a fair few during winter you just have to be patient and the overall size drops off during winter because all the bigger models have gone to warmer waters leaving the younger ones hanging around sydney although you still do get the odd 5-7 foot one showing up every now and again. during wintyer just look for open beaches with plenty of bait activity areas that have cleaning tables close to water work extremely well due to alot of people throwing their empty frames in the water when they're finished.. hope that was a help there matt

cheers Brett.

[xib]

hi brett

thanks for that i might give it a try soon. and with the mono i was refering to leader.we still use mono main line between 10-24 kg.but plan to use 80lb braid and a 20ft windon leader on a stella 20000 from the beach so should have heaps of stoping power if i do hook a good one.

cheers matt

[brettmann86]

hi brett

thanks for that i might give it a try soon. and with the mono i was refering to leader.we still use mono main line between 10-24 kg.but plan to use 80lb braid and a 20ft windon leader on a stella 20000 from the beach so should have heaps of stoping power if i do hook a good one.

cheers matt

Matt, best advice i can give about leaders is the only advice i know myself persoanlly i use as i said between 40 and 100lb mono main line my leader is usually around the 150lb mono range that sections about 6 - 10 foot long then a further 3 - 6 foot off 200lb nylon coated wire fitted to anything around the 10/0 14/0 J or circle hook.

but as i said previosuly with shark fishing it does not pay to be forgiving always go oversize, the downsize to not having wire while beach fishing sharks is their skin will eventually rub through mono in and around the breakers of a beach as they quite often roll the wire trace just gives you that extra confidence when dealing with them.

sorry for the mix up before didnt quite read it well enough.

anymore questions i.e locations and so on PM me i'll be more than happy to help