Small bullies - no wire???

[werewolf]

Hi kids. I've read a few comments recently (not sure what site) about going \"wireless\" for sharks under a metre. Has anyone on here tried this???

The fandangle theory that I was reading about was to use a heavy mono leader and cirle hooks. The circles are supposed to hook the shark in the jaw and presto, no need for wire. Also not having wire means that sharks are less likely to shy away from the bait?

Okay so I gave this ago this morning with 5/0 (somewhere near there) circles and 80 lb black magic game leader and the results can be seen in the report I posted earlier: of the sharks using mono leader, one was landed and one bitten off (after that caught another with wire). Thats a bad success rate. I would also point out that the second shark I caught had a hook in its stomach, with the wire trace on this hook bitten through.

I have also seen in the past some kids catch a shark with a two hook rig, and one hook got chomped off. I thought they must have been using a dodgy rig but now that I have seen it happen a second time I'm not so sure. Plus these were only small sharks biting through wire! No wonder I got bitten off in mono.

Does anyone on here shark without wire or have had better experiance with circles???

[Feral]

Generally dont fish for small sharks, I get them as by catch when going for tailor in the bay. Generally a gang of 4 x 3/O's on 8 - 12lb line. never lost one yet. Generally they hook on the end of the gang, and its the gang they are chewing on, not the line!

[werewolf]

yeah the ones I have caught with strip baits using gangs generally just end up chewing on the hooks. Its just with using livies I thought the wire might seem a bit more obvious to a shark, thats why I was trying mono. That said, if the fishing was quiet I would probably give the mono a try again. I don't see any point in using heavier mono either. Its hard enough tying a knot in 80 pound, and as I've seem them bite through wire...

[Terry H]

Most people I know chase sharks with J or livebait style hooks, using wire trace. If using wire, make sure it's PVC/nylon coated.

Circle hooks won't always hook the shark in the corner of the mouth. Even if it did, the shark could still turn around and the mono could end up in it's mouth.

[Brian D]

Hey wolfie I would not do it - although I have caught both Bullies and Schoolies without wire if I am sharking I use wire cause you never know when big brother will turn up.

Too much effort to sit there waiting for the mono to get bite off!

[werewolf]

Yeah looks like everyone pretty much uses wire as standard. I figured going wireless would improve strike rate (which it appeared to - the wireless rig was sure popular until it got eaten:pinch: ) but even with circles it looks like it is touch an go whether you can get the shark in without it knifing the leader. The second shark I caught yesterday got particulary excited when we got it near the bank (well the first couple times we tried :whistle: ) and I was starting to get nervous about only having 6 inches of wire:)

[Guest IcEkNiGhT]

just use minimal drag pressure and it seems to have less chance of biting or tail wacking you off. i dont use wire and hardly ever lose a small shark under 1meter anyway

[Angus]

Mate this might be pessimistic, but id say whenever you land a shark no wire its luck. Even with a circle hook working perfectly you satnd the risk of being tailed.

I have landed my biggest brisbane river bully with no wire But im pretty sure it was more Arse that class.

I was uder the impression the circle hook was more likely to \"set\" in the cheek. I still cant see anything stopping it from temporarily being engulfed and thus teeth brushing mono.

Anyway. My two cents

Angus

[werewolf]

Icenight - what sort of leader do you as a compromise when you are not useing wire??? 80 pound Black Magic didn't work for me:pinch:

For the half hour I have sharked without wire, I landed one and got bit off by the next. Thats crappy odds, but if the fishing is slow I might try it again:ohmy:

I agree with you though Angus, if you wanna be sure of landing one, wire is the way to go, unless anyone can recommend a decent leader to go in place of wire for the small sharks.

[Guest IcEkNiGhT]

black magic tough trace either 80 or 120. but the trick is use minimal drag pressure i never use wire for smaller sharks and hardly ever get bitten off. some times i do but most i land.

[werewolf]

mmm I don't see how lowering drag pressure would stop the \"chomping\", and I've seen wire bitten through on a couple of occasions now so I really don't feel very safe with the mono but hey it seems to work for you mate

on the other hand the whole idea was to try and get more bites and I'd have to try further experimentation before I could come to a conclusion on that one

cheers, thanks for the info IceK, I might have to scavange up some 120lb

[Guest IcEkNiGhT]

lowering the drag pressure in turn puts lesss pressure on the line for the shark to bite. for eg. if you have i tight line and you touch struckture its bound to break. if you have just slack and you touch the same structure its not going to break. sorta works the same on shark teeth. well thats what iv always foind on small bullies.

[greggy]

have caught plenty on mono leader up to 3ft. any bigger, and you'd want wire.

greggy

[Cliffy]

Couple weekends ago they were snicking through mono snapper rigs without any indication they'd been or gone (at the mouth of the Brissie), so tried wire leader and pretty soon found out what they were! I'm inclined to agree (though haven't tried close to the 80-120lb range) that wires the way to go, and Iceknights got the right idea with the drag. May take a bit longer to land, but isn't that all part of the fun?

[werewolf]

haha yeah if it was no fun why would you bother:)

I got a new little Okuma bait runner from Santa which I will use tomorrow for the first time. I'm going to run 14 pound on one spool and 8 on the other. I think it will be good fun hooking into a fiesty little Bull on the 8 pound. I considered going lower, but that brings in problems with maximum casting weight and setting hooks etc... The light outfit would be a good candiate for some more no-wire experimentation methinks, but even if I go up to the 120, I think the problem is the shark chomping, not so much sawing on the line against drag (particulary after seeing wire chomped and the pliers incident...) but hey I'm keen to give it ago:)