how to land the big one

[down-rigger]

ive been shark fishing a lot its my favorite type of fishing and lately they all have been biting through the leader and i have been using #11 toothless,i even used cable twice and it was either broken off by so much force or bitten through i don't know i was using the 50 wide,any suggestions? here's a lemon i got off the pier i estimated him to be around 150 area and a little bull, i also got a small blacktip, lemon we used a 7500 penn spinner 20wide on the bull ,spinner on blacktip

[Capt. JJ]

My shark rig from a boat consists of a 10/0 LP hook, 3' of #12 wire, ball bearing swivel 200#, 12' of 250# momoi leader. I fish the long leader to avoid the shark's skin/tail from fraying through your mainline. That's probably what's happening. Easier to control the shark with a heavy leader boatside. From the beach I use a circle hook and longer leader. You can just walk up the beach to help land it. PM if you have any more questions.

[down-rigger]

if 4-6 feet of cable isn't enough i don't know what to say i always use long leaders for that reason,the cable came up frayed,lol i was using tank bonitas ha ha so i know that it had to be big sharks! by the way im jealous that you caught got a big mako

[Capt. JJ]

Use wire. The tail of the shark (sometimes 12 ft or more) will fray through 50 or 80 in a second. If the sharks are really big I use a 400# leader.

[down-rigger]

i will use 8 or more ft next time,im dieing to catch a big hammer 500+