Shark fishing from the surf

I'll be visiting GS in June and plan on fishing the surf and maybe the Peir. I've been reading up on catching sharks from the surf and it sounds like a blast. I'd love to leave GS knowing I cought a shark, it doesn't have to be a big one, just a shark. :shark Have any of you cought sharks from the surf? If so how did you do it? What did you use? I'd love to hear your story.
Thanks,
Jed
Louisville Ky

We got one last year that was over 7ft. Caught it down on fort Morgan road.

[quote author=the original pier pest]
We got one last year that was over 7ft. Caught it down on fort Morgan road.
[/quote]
[font=comic sans ms][size=12pt]Here are a couple pics of the shark and there are 80+ more on the pier fb page that show how it was done.
btw - That is the closest thing to a smile you will ever see on OPP's face :poke1:
LINK to fb page:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...610&type=3

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/...psbd962703.png

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/...psf5cbf52a.png

i dont think you can fish for shark from the gulf shores or orange beach, beach's. but i know you can fish for them at the point on fort morgan road you also catch bull reds down there to.

gonna pipe up with a question that might sound dumb haha but outside of sport is there another reason for shark fishing? eating any good? its got to be a lot of meat haha

shark is ok to eat but right after you catch them they need to be gutted or they will not taste as good.

Aside from restrictions on where you can fish for them for obvious reasons are there any other restrictions like size and such?

i dont think so

[quote author=kingkiller7255@gmail.com link=topic=2708.msg24406#msg24406 date=1361379753]
i dont think so
[/quote]

Dusky sharks are protected, also sharks in Alabama must have a 54" fl

[quote author=kingkiller7255@gmail.com link=topic=2708.msg24401#msg24401 date=1361379203]
i dont think you can fish for shark from the gulf shores or orange beach, beach's. but i know you can fish for them at the point on fort morgan road you also catch bull reds down there to.
[/quote]

Anyone one else know if you can Shark fish from gulf shores?

officer I am fishing for bull reds!!!!

[quote author=DUCK link=topic=2708.msg24410#msg24410 date=1361382819]
officer I am fishing for bull reds!!!!
[/quote]

I can t pull off that excuse with the equipment that we use.
[quote author=FinChaser link=topic=2708.msg24400#msg24400 date=1361377657]
[quote author=the original pier pest link=topic=2708.msg24398#msg24398 date=1361375598]
We got one last year that was over 7ft. Caught it down on fort Morgan road.
[/quote]
[font=comic sans ms][size=12pt]Here are a couple pics of the shark and there are 80+ more on the pier fb page that show how it was done.
btw - That is the closest thing to a smile you will ever see on OPP's face :poke1:
LINK to fb page:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...610&type=3

[img width=720 height=809]http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g446/finchaser1/Forum%20Only/NON%20REPORT%20PHOTOS/shark2_zpsbd962703.png[/img]

[img width=720 height=960]http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g446/finchaser1/Forum%20Only/NON%20REPORT%20PHOTOS/shark_zpsf5cbf52a.png[/img]

[/quote]

They did get me with one last year when I caught that cobia

[quote author=habeeb17 link=topic=2708.msg24409#msg24409 date=1361380842]
[quote author=kingkiller7255@gmail.com link=topic=2708.msg24401#msg24401 date=1361379203]
i dont think you can fish for shark from the gulf shores or orange beach, beach's. but i know you can fish for them at the point on fort morgan road you also catch bull reds down there to.
[/quote]

Anyone one else know if you can Shark fish from gulf shores?
[/quote]
[font=comic sans ms][size=12pt]You can not shark fish from Gulf Shores, Gulf State Park or Orange Beach beaches.
There not many public access points outside those three areas, but there are a few. If you know someone with a beach house way down on Fort Morgan peninsular that would work.
If you are not experienced with handling a pissed off shark, you should go with someone who is. :shark
You can usually, accidentally hook one on the pier and pop it off at the pilings. No sense killing it if you aren’t going to keep it and eat it; in fact that goes for any fish.

[quote author=firemansam link=topic=2708.msg24405#msg24405 date=1361379712]
Aside from restrictions on where you can fish for them for obvious reasons are there any other restrictions like size and such?
[/quote]

Daily limit of one Altantic sharpnose and bonnethead sharks with no size limit,

Prohibited species: Atlantic Angel Shark, Bigeye Sand Tiger Shark, Bigeye Sixgill Shark, Bigeye Thresher Shark, Bignose Shark, Caribbean Reef Shark, Caribbean Sharpnose Shark, Galapogos Shark, Narrowtooth Shark, Night Shark, Sevengill Shark, Sixgill Shark, Dusky Shark, Longfin Mako Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Basking Shark, Whale Shark, White Shark, Smalltail Shark and Sandbar Shark (unless angler possesses valid NOAA sandbar shark permit)

no shark fishing nor landing of sharks on any State Park beach.[/b]
http://www.alapark.com/parks/pdfs/Ru...egulations.pdf

Quote:

---

(f) It shall be unlawful to fish for sharks or use any type of shark fishing gear on
any Gulf State Park Public Beach or on the Gulf State Park Saltwater Fishing
Pier. It shall be unlawful to land or to attempt to land any shark on any line
originally cast from said State Park Pier or Beach.

---

You can shark fish at most public beaches if you're smart about it, i.e. not doing it next to a busy swimming beach, in front of Hotels/Condos and/or making a huge stinking chum slick. Common sense and decency go a long ways to not being bothered.
Miles of open beaches with little activity, especially in areas where access is limited or unknown except to the locals.
Back in 2008 this was put into effect, http://www.aonmag.com/article.php?id=1450&cid=182
I do not know if it was ever rescinded, so technically it could be still against the law... I don't know for sure.
Again, common sense and being subtle, not much difference between heavy duty surf gear and shark gear.
"Officer I'm fishing for Bull Reds or whatever else will take my cut bait."
It would probably be hard to pull this off when fishing with 80# rods and 6/0-12/0 reels. ;)

From the beach, tossing into the gut or just over the the bar, you're more likely to hook into small-medium sharks.
Casting over the bar and/or yakking baits into deeper water you've more of a chance for medium-large sharks.
You can target small to medium sized sharks, which would be a bit easier to safely handle for two people who have a decent clue as to what they're doing. Do you have a buddy and do you both have a clue?... Not being a jerk, being serious.
If you've never seen it done a few times, or better, actually participated in landing sharks on the beach... You better be damned careful, cause you can get bit, injured by the sharks fins/abrasive skin, tangled/cut in the leader and etc.

Ideally you need a few sharking tools in your toolbox.
A friend or two with common sense and clue as to what they're doing.
Rod&reel combo & right terminal tackle.
Fighting belt and harness, a small fighting belt is very helpful on small to medium sharks, a belt/harness combo for medium-large.
Tail rope, much safer than grabbing by hand, better control and easier to beach.
A couple types of dehookers that are long enough to keep your digits/hands away from the sharks toothy grin.
A bolt cutter, if it can't be dehooked, cut the leader very short or cut the barb to remove the hook.
If your meat fishing a gaff can be helpful.
Sharking at night, good headlamps to see what you're doing and light for better pics.

CPR needs to be done in a very timely manner to ensure a healthy shark, this takes at least two people working together as a team.
As soon as it is in the shore surf, leader, tail rope, beach, dehook, tag, pics, back to water and revitalize/release.

Killing needs to be done quickly and humanely, e.g. sever the spinal column.
And to prevent the urea from spoiling the meat, the shark needs to be immediately and thoroughly bled, butchered ASAP and the meat needs to be put on ice.

Want a good personal fishing guide?
Call Pier#r aka David Thornton, and see if he'll guide you on sharking the beach?
He is highly recommended for all shore,jetty and pier fishing and I heard he knows fishing as well as most people know breathing.
http://www.gulfshoresfishing.com/Pie...hing-Guide.htm

If you want to go sharking over the summer I'm sure I can convince Dick to go another round. My only stipulation is that you rent the kayak to paddle the baits out with and no large amounts of Alcohol involved while fishing for them.

this a great conversation. I am an eager surf fisher, and I have always returned my sharks as quickly as I can, cause I rarely know which are protected, and I rarely have cooler space for that much meat. Ft. Morgan area is great, with many other large, fun fish in the water.

[quote author=the original pier pest link=topic=2708.msg24443#msg24443 date=1361411462]
rent the kayak to paddle the baits out with
[/quote]Yo OPP, who has the best rates for daily and/or weekly rentals in the Ft. Morgan/Orange Beach area?
I'm wanting to get baits out further at the Fort.

PM Tofer. He rented one last year for like the whole week. Not sure how much it ran him but it was pretty reasonable.

GoGo Kayak Rental is who I use to rent for friends and family that come down.

921 Gulf Shores Pkwy across from Waterville. They allegedly have a satellite rental location at Fort Morgan Marina, which may be more convenient for you Chile, but the marina had peeved me too many times to even pull into their parking lot. I'm in town enough that I pick one or two up at the Gulf Shores office and the single sit ons were $85/week as of my last rental in October. Nice people to deal with and they also rent by the day.

[quote author=the original pier pest link=topic=2708.msg24443#msg24443 date=1361411462]
If you want to go sharking over the summer I'm sure I can convince Dick to go another round. My only stipulation is that you rent the kayak to paddle the baits out with and no large amounts of Alcohol involved while fishing for them.
[/quote]

Y'all get a group up and il paddle out the baits

[quote author=Peaches link=topic=2708.msg24480#msg24480 date=1361453546]
[quote author=the original pier pest link=topic=2708.msg24443#msg24443 date=1361411462]
If you want to go sharking over the summer I'm sure I can convince Dick to go another round. My only stipulation is that you rent the kayak to paddle the baits out with and no large amounts of Alcohol involved while fishing for them.
[/quote]

Y'all get a group up and il paddle out the baits
[/quote]

Sounds like a plan! I will be there June 10-14. Let me know what night works best for you guys.

If you don't want to yak the baits out, there are smaller sharks in the surf in Fort Morgan. On lighter tackle, a small shark can put a great fight up and test your mettle as a fisherman. I have caught a couple on smaller surf rods using cigar minnows. Afternoon has been the best time for me.

I am just a newbie. The information above is excellent.

I plan on doing some shark fishing as well from the surf when I come down in April. Any chance J&M keeps frozen bonita or any bigger baits for sharks on hand? :shark

i dont think they do but if you go to alabama point you can catch blue fish and skipjack (depending on what time of the year) gotchas and yozuris work good for them.

Best bait for sharks? I,d say king mackerel. That's what Tyler Kennedy caught his 948 on last year and sharks eat thousands of them off our line each year.

948... that was that huge Tiger, wasn't it?

ETA: Yep.

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/08/gian...tters_rec.html

A fresh fat bluefish would be a good option.