Fly Fishing for sharks heating up!

[Fishfinder]

Now that the water has heated up good enough and the shrimp boats are shrimping and hard at it. The fly fishing for sharks close to the beach is hot! 12 weights and full sinking lines with all white 6 inch deceivers work very well ont he sharks. Most are around the 50 to 100 lb. size with a few larger ones mixed in. The Amberjack fly fishing is heating up as well. There seems to be a good numbers of jacks around this summer. But bring more that one 12 wt. and a spare line. They like the wrecks!

Capt. Joe Shute

[capefisherman]

how exactly do you fly fish for jacks? sounds fun!

[Fishfinder]

All you have to do is to find some structure, usually a wreck or artificial reef that is holding amberjacks. WE use both artificial baits as well as live menhaden and live bluefish to draw the amberjacks up from the wreck and to the surface. Once they are on the surface we tease them with either the artificial lure of live bait and take it away for them undtil they get really turned on. this works best when you are able to raise a good size school of jacks. If there are ony one or two the competition thing doesn't kick in as well. Once they are turned on they will go all over a topwater popper or a big deceiver. The trick is being able to get them away from the wreck once they are hooked and before they shread you fly line on the wreck.

But we catch them all the time on fly and on heavy spinning gear. It's a blast!

Capt Joe Shute

[Dave Sikorski]

What kind of leader systems do you use for sharks?

I spooled up my BG-7 with tuffline-XP 50lb backing last night. 1200 yds....not that I'll ever need that much.

Gotta get a toothy critter this year!

-D

[capefisherman]

Joe, That sounds like so much fun....do you chum the jacks up? Im not really sure i understand the actual process of getting the jacks up.

[Fishfinder]

As far as how to rig your fly rod up for sharks, I use 30 lb. dacron, or 50 lb. spectra backing. Loop to loop connection from backing to fly line. I like to use a full sinking 400 gr. fly line for the sharks so the fly gets down deep quick. I am not IGFA fishing here so I use 50 lb. mono leader about 4' long, the main reason for this heavy mono is so I can control the shark once I get it next to the boat and I can attempt and I mean attempt to get my fly back. Many of the flies end up just being donations to the shark. To the 50 mono I tie a 50 lb. spro power swivel and then I twist a 6 to 8 inch piece of #5 single strand wire to the swivel. Then I twist the other end to my fly. I very rarely get bit off! And usually the fly is in one corner of the mouth or the other. Sometimes if I don't hit the shark quick enough it will swalowl the fly. I find that fishing behind the trawlers a 6 inch all white deceiver tied on a 4/0 Gamakatsu hook workd well.

Capt. Joe Shute

[Fishfinder]

As far as bringing the jacks up to the surface, chumming them with live menhaden works very well! What I do is take a heavy spinning rod ant tie a double hook rig using small gold aberdeen hoks made of very light wire. I space the hooks about 2 feet apart and hook the live menhaden throught the nostril, and do it to the second menhaden as well. This way I have two baits free swimming one behind the other and I slow troll over the structure. If ther aere any jack around they will jump all over the menhaden. I run a very tight drag on the spinning reel. this way when the jacks eat my menhaden the hooks straighten out and the jacks really don't even feel the hooks. Next I start tossing ive menhaden in the area of the strike and the jacks will stay up on the surface eating the menhaden as ling as I toss them out there. That way you can cast your fly or plug in the same area and they will jump right on the plugs.

capt. Joe