New gear ?

Ok let me start off by saying, I don't know anything about surf fishing. I have done some research on the internet on various brands of rods and reels. We are wanting to find some sharks in the surf. For the money and the time I have to fish on the coast I purchased my shark rod and reel. I know it's not the best but it's what I could justify spending on a decent rod and reel.

My reel is a Fin-Nor sportfisher st50 conventional reel. I bought a conventional because I'm not a big fan of spinning reels. I may regret this later but I think if I can spend some time practicing with it I could get a decent cast out of it. Some specs on the reel- mono line capacity 450yd-50lb , 975yd of braid. Max drag is 33 lbs.

I chose a okuma longitude 12' surf casting rod. Lure wt is 3-8oz, line wt is 20-40lb.

So I want to ask, if this was your rig what would you put on it as far as line? Mono or braid? If I spooled it with just mono say 40lb, would I need to put on a shock leader? If so what size and how long? Also what size weight would you use? I was thinking 6oz.

Thanks for any and all advise.

Not a beach shark expert by a long shot but have visited and talked to sharkers a bunch along Mustang & Padre Islands beach and the gulf piers. IMHO, the biggest thing is getting the bait out to the right water. Casting probably ain't gonna do it. Kayak, etc is probably your best bet cause the size bait you want to fish is gonna be large to catch shark. You can fish smaller, castable baits but often reds will grab the smaller bait. So consider that.

As far as line, lots of options but it seems most serious sharkers run a good braid underneath and then top off with a long topshot of mono, 100 yards or so. Some run a longer, others shorter topshot.

Definitely run a shock leader, lots sharkers use weedeater line. Basically you want a heavy shock leader for the rough shark skin and any sandbar scraping the line might do. Run a 10'-12' shock leader so any 6'-8' shark running away from you won't tail slap your main line and weaken it so it breaks.

Weight depends on current, bait size, and tide. Large baits will take more to secure on the bottom 100-200 yards+ out.

All the factors above are why casting probably is not the best option.
Hopefully some of the sharkers out there will come in and add or correct this info. Good luck, right now is prime time to fish for sharks, (once this storm clears the gulf), when shrimp season reopens July 15th lots of sharks follow the shallow dragging shrimp boats instead of being along the surf line.

Not familiar with the Fin-Nor brand but just read up on your reel. It seems that your reel is identical to a Penn senator 6/0 other than the Penn weighing a few ounces more. I couldn't imagine casting my 6/0. If I did attempt to cast it, I couldn't imagine getting very much distance at all. If it was me and I wasn't using a kayak, I'd buy a Penn Jigmaster and pair it with the rod you purchased. With the right rod and weight, you can get an easy 75-100 yard cast. On my jigmaster, I have it spooled with 30lb big game. It is the best reel I've used for surf fishing providing all I've used is Penn. But if you're set on using the reel you've already bought then you're gonna need probably an 8 oz weight plus your bait to get it out. For line, you don't wanna go too big cause your already at a disadvantage trying to cast that reel. I'd go 30lb and then put a topshot of 50-60lb on top of that. As for leader, you'll want a leader you can manage. For my boat out leaders they are approx 20-25 ft long. I use weedeater line then connect it to cable. I use two different types of leaders with one being called a sliding trace and the other called a mousetrap rig. You can definitely scale those leaders down for 'castability'. I use 16/0-20/0 circle hooks. I wrap all my hooks in black electrical tape to soften up the hook so the shark don't feel the metal when he bites down. Like said above, a lot of times when you use smaller baits, other fish will get to it before the shark does, hence the reason we use bigger chunks of bait. Remember to keep your baits fresh. It's a huge misconception that sharks eat anything and everything. They are a bit picky and like fresh over rotten. If I can be anymore help, let me know. Good luck

Thanks guys. That's some good information. I will look into a jig master.

Ok now I have opened another can of worms. I like the idea of the mouse trap leader and would like to build some. Is there a place I can order supplies over the internet? I googled the mousetrap leader and the website said to build it exactly as pictured. Who sells the copper tube weight? Which crimp tools do I need?
Also do you catch your own stingray for bait? If so how? I hate to keep asking rookie questions but I'm just trying to get everything I need before I head down there. Thanks again
Link to website showing mousetrap
http://www.tx-sharkfishing.com/shark-fishing/shark-fishing-leaders/

I buy my leader material from tackledirect.com. Some of the things you can buy at a hardware store like your cable, weedeater line and clamps if you prefer. The copper tube weights you see on txshark website are homemade. Get on eBay and search surf weights and there is a guy on there who sells very durable surf weights. He makes them up to 1lb. I believe his name is heavylimits but I'll have to double check. I'll post a pic of what the weights look like in a little while. As far as your baits go, you don't want to rely just on ray. There is days when that's all they want and other days when they prefer some type of fish like mullet,whiting,ladyfish or sand trout. I normally try to catch my own sting ray in the bay (east bay). A lot of the bait shops carry sting ray also. They normally carry southern and cow nose. I've never put the two out at the same time so I couldn't tell you which one they prefer. I normally put out a 4/0, three 6/0's and a 9/0 when I shark fishing they all have different baits on until I find one that is getting hit more than the others then I'll change to one bait if I have enough of it.

These are the 8 oz weights he makes. I used the pen as a reference.

Oh man thanks for taking the time to help me out. I now have a better idea of what to look for. The internet is great but I'm this situation there was to much information out there.
Thanks again

No problem. I'm recovering from pectoral major surgery and won't be shark fishing or any kind of fishing for possibly 6 months. So I'm more than happy to help. Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll do my best to steer you the right way.