Thread: Big Bronzie surfcasting of the beach...i did it!!

Had a awesome night surfcasting for for big sharks of the beach last night.
Set up with a Shadow X 13foot, Penn 9500ss spooled with 400m of 30lb line. Used a 310lb mono trace with a 16/0 cirlce hook.

After 20 mins hooked up a big Bronzie. Did a big jump clear of the water then went on a massive run. Thought i didnt had the gear as it nearly spooled me.
Managed to stop it and ended up 2km down the beach with it . Got it within 50m then it powered away back where i had come.
Hour later was 200m past the other way where i started the fight.

I was getting pretty knacked by this stage. the power of those sharks are unbeliveable and i was giving that 30lb line the max pressure.

After 2 and a half hours my mate had the leader and the shark in the shallows. I had done it!!! Was a big Bronzie, around 9-10 feet, well over 500lb.
Didnt get a picture thou apart from some footage of me fighting it as the trace broke at the hook as i was pulling out the camera but had a good look at it before it still powered away.

Not long after while i was resting my Mate hooked up on his 24 kilo rig.
25-30 mins of a hard fought fight i tailed a bronzie smaller than mine around 6 foot but still a good one of the beach.

Got the photos of this one thou and we were both happy as .










































And that was the small one! Still cant believe i landed that monster around 9-10 foot on surfcasting gear.....epic!!!

Must have been a heck of a battle
I had fun a couple of years ago with a 7giller that was bigger than me (6 foot+), last seen heading for South America after I cut the trace in the surf.
I'm told they come in close down our way Feb/March ish to breed

Well done! Big shark catch/release off a sandy beach is something I've always wanted to do. Hooked a few big fish in WA years ago, but got owned each time. Haven't tried too hard here as get distracted by good eating fish.

I had a similar but not quite as epic an experience many years ago off the rocks at Lang cove except I was fishing for snapper and caught a monstrous ray. When I finally tired it enough to get it into the edge of breaking waves on the one bit of sand adjacent, I had a torch on it to see what it was. At a good 5 or 6 ft span its eyes followed me as I approached. I let it have a good half of the 60lb shock leader. Awesome fish and it was just daring me to step into it's waters.

Well done on the bronze.

Common in northern end of Tauranga hbr too. We used to lose line to them this time of year when they sought rays in the shallows. Biggest fright was when one tried to eat the leg of the outboard.

Epic catch ! Well done.

Originally Posted by Jhon

I had a similar but not quite as epic an experience many years ago off the rocks at Lang cove except I was fishing for snapper and caught a monstrous ray. When I finally tired it enough to get it into the edge of breaking waves on the one bit of sand adjacent, I had a torch on it to see what it was. At a good 5 or 6 ft span its eyes followed me as I approached. I let it have a good half of the 60lb shock leader. Awesome fish and it was just daring me to step into it's waters.

Well done on the bronze.

This made me a bit angry, and I am sure to get some flack here.
If you tried to head shoot a huge Stag, but blew its jaw off by accident, would you A: say f it and leave it to die a slow starving death, or B: track it down as best as possible and hope to finish it off ?

A huge Ray is an old fish and deserves to be let go without a trace and hook to hinder it. Further more, those that cut the barb off before releasing them, need a sharp kick in the nads from a size 11

pengy...Im pretty sure there have been many studies done over the years that show fish get rid of hooks reasonably easily..I know trout do. in salt water I would hazard the process is a lot faster....
the bit of nylon leader is what it is.....be a bit of pain in arse for fish for awhile but they would chuck hook and line soon enough. personally I changed the way we run tassie devil lures so if fish breaks main line,they only have hook and line..the lure drops off...also use running rig when worm fishing for same reason,the fish isnt attached to sinker....pretty sure these fellas would get closer is it was SAFE to do so. I know I have done similar with an eel that was longer than my 13' dingy....I cut line about 6" from its mouth..it wasnt in slightest bit stressed and was watching me intently..NO WAY IN HELL was I putting hands closer than that...

Im guessing your cutting barb off bit is meaning cutting fishes barb off??? in which case agree 100% and pretty sure Steve Irwin would do so too....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Im guessing your cutting barb off bit is meaning cutting fishes barb off??? in which case agree 100% and pretty sure Steve Irwin would do so too....

Yes cutting the rays barb off is a dick move for sure.
The advice all the pros and advocates generally give is to remove the hook if you can do so safely....that's both your and the fishes safety.
Big fish can suffer some serious damage both from their own weight and from being dragged around onto shore and off of it.
And If you can't do it safely then cut the trace as close as you can to the fish.....3foot is not close but 3" is.

And bloody well done @deer243
Watched ya vids on Facebook looked like an epic battle alright!

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Im guessing your cutting barb off bit is meaning cutting fishes barb off??? in which case agree 100% and pretty sure Steve Irwin would do so too....

He was simply asking for trouble imho

Great catch,feeling the power of that V8 shark.Well done in safely releasing him.

UPDATE.... after that 9 foot 6 bronzie my mate caught last night theres no doubt my shark was over 10feet, maybe 10.5 and very wide across.
Bigger than we first thought so stoked to land such a monster on 13.6 kg gear of the beach

Deer 243,
I fish for sharks and Spanish mackerel land based also.

I use a technique called slide baiting. We get out live baits (2-3 kg fish) out up to 100 meters using this technique and specialise gear.

Originated in Hawaii but perfected by the South Africans for catching big sharks from the beach. All catch and release with the sharks. Mostly whalers also.


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Originally Posted by Dicko

Deer 243,
I fish for sharks and Spanish mackerel land based also.

I use a technique called slide baiting. We get out live baits (2-3 kg fish) out up to 100 meters using this technique and specialise gear.

Originated in Hawaii but perfected by the South Africans for catching big sharks from the beach. All catch and release with the sharks. Mostly whalers also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Dicko have you any pictures of your set up ? We are lucky here as local beach the sharks will tyake baits couple metres from shore and live baits not needed.
In Saying that thou wouldnt mine trying it and getting big baits out deeper for the chance of a mako that i hear do come in on some occiasions and maybe get a kingfish of the beach.

Seen a few set ups on utube also. Normally used to fish for Rays . I was very good at landing very big rays on 7kg, 10kg line. Normally Eagle rays(best fighters) or
short tail rays and have caught the odd long tail ray.
Best Eagleray is prob 80lb. Best shortail be around the 200lb mark and had a couple we weighted at 125lb and 160lb