Saltwater fish are tough. They have to be.
Everything out there is trying to eat something else. In that regard, a lot of them are pretty serious about their dental work. Almost any saltwater fish has prominent teeth and the ones who don’t make up for it in some other way.
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In order for us to catch these toothy denizens of the waves, we have to be aware of which ones they are, what we need to do to be prepared for them, and how to actually land one when it bites our offerings. If you don’t have the proper tackle rigged the right way, some of these fish will be gone before you even know you had them on. Sharks and bluefish come to mind right away, but there are lots more.
Sharks present a problem. If you don’t want to catch them, they will appear and mess up your day somehow. They will steal your fish off the line and mess up your tackle. If they eat your presentation and you are not prepared, you’ll lose the tackle you spent time and money preparing.
I’ve literally had to hook a shark on purpose with a beat-up old plastic lure that I knew would immediately be gone, just to get it away from a school of redfish I was pursuing. However, if you look at them as a target to be pursued themselves, they can present great sport on their own and a couple of the ones we have are awesome gamefish in their own right.
Blacktips will jump and run like tarpon and give a great accounting of themselves. The big bull sharks will try to tow you across the ocean and there are more big hammerheads swimming just off our beaches than the local chambers of commerce will ever want you to know about.
If you want to get one on the end of a line and actually land it, you need to have the right leader. All the fancy rods, reels, bait, and lines aren’t worth anything if you don’t have the simplest thing correct. Rig a leader for shark fishing with six feet of 14-guage stainless steel wire. Twist one end onto a circle hook of at least size 16/0 (circle hooks are required in North Carolina when fishing for sharks). The way to do it is a knot called a Haywire Twist.
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On the other end attach a 300-pound test swivel. Then tie on a 3-foot section of very heavy monofilament and attach that to your main line.
When the fish is boatside, grab your heavy line section, not the leader, with a pair of gloves. Many people will simply cut the line close to the hook. If you are good at it, and you have an extra-long (and extra-strong) dehooking tool (the stainless steel kind that looks like a J hook at the end), remove the hook using that. Don’t mess around if you are not experienced.
Luckily for other toothy critters it’s not quite as complicated as all that.
The next big toothy fish that most anglers will encounter is the king mackerel. A rather specialized leader system is needed to slow troll with live baits the way most of the big tournament pros do it.
You’re going to want No. 4 or No. 7 wire. The clearer the water, the thinner the wire you’re going to want. Attach a size 2/0 hook first. Again, use the Haywire Twist. Now you are going to add a stinger hook. This is going to be a size 4 treble hook. Get the ones that say 4X strong on the package. Attach this to the eye of the first hook so it hangs back about 4 inches. The first hook goes into the nose of your bait, the second hook attaches in the back but some people let it hang free. This is usually the one that hooks the fish when it hits.
I’ve hooked kings on cast lures and jigged spoons when I didn’t have a wire leader. It’s over pretty fast.
This rig will work for you if you’ve never done it before. If you decide to get more serious, as with all other kinds of fishing, there are tricks the pros use that you can get into as you gain more proficiency. I won’t get into it here, but there’s a bunch.
Bluefish are often called “Yellow Eyed Devils” because of their propensity to show up when we aren’t prepared for them and steal the baits and lures we’re using for other species. Fortunately, the fix for them is proportionately easier than what we’ve shown already.
For our purposes, for the size blues we normally see around here, less than 5 pounds, all that’s usually needed will be a length of 40-pound test monofilament attached as a shock leader. Tie it to your lure using a No Name Loop knot. You can attach it to your main line using a Uni-to-Uni knot or simply by using a 50-pound test swivel. If you find that you’re still getting “snipped,” having some stainless steel leader wire that can be knotted on hand can save the day. It’s a product that you tie knots into just like mono and helps prevent bite offs. Get the 50-pound test version.
Spanish mackerel present a different set of problems. They have extremely sharp eyesight and the prey they pursue is often very small. This means that anything that is out of the ordinary or unnatural will be ignored. Or, even more maddening, they will swim along behind it and leave it alone.
This is when I will break out the fluorocarbon. A length of 30-pound test flouro will virtually disappear in the water, or at least the macks don’t seem to mind. Do NOT use a swivel. They will bite that and cut your line.
Cast a small jig or spoon into a melee of feeding fish and you should be okay. Sometimes one will manage to get you anyway. Check the leader for nicks and frays as you go along to stay ahead of them. Going to heavier leader may mean you don’t get any strikes.
Finally, let me add that I use at least 20-pound test leader when I am fishing with topwater plugs during the summer. This way I prevent cutoffs from oyster shells and any other various obstructions that might get in the way. Again, I do not use a swivel. I simply connect the leader to my braided line using a Uni-To-Uni Knot. Seems to me I get more strikes that way.
Having the right leader, no matter what your target is, will get you more strikes and help you land the ones that do.
