Surf Shark Chunking Bag
By Nick Honachefsky
Aug 14th 2018
With all the hubbub of sharks and rays in the summer surf, night time excursions demand that you are organized and prepared with all your gear to seamlessly streamline the after hours chunking process.
You need to be ready to address any situation that arises when battling sharks and rays that can reach up to the 200-pound mark from the suds. Nothing is more deflating on a fishing outing than not having the gear and tackle you need in a moment's notice to be in the game. Here's a good start to getting your chunking bag together properly.
Carry all your stuff in an easy, mobile backpack fashion, and know where every single part is in each pouch. Fill a backpack with Plano 3600 boxes. In those boxes go a bunch of terminal tackle. My checklist includes, but is not limited to:
- Size 6/0 to 10/0 Gamakatsu Octopus J or Circle hooks
- Size 10/0 to 11/0 Gamakatsu Big River hooks
- Extra spool of 50-pound Power Pro Braid
- Skeins of 40 to 80-pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon leader and Triple Fish monofilament leader
- 3 to 6-ounce Pyramid sinkers
- Braid friendly Fishfinder slide clips
- Size #4 three-way swivels with sinker clips
- 150-pound Spro Barrel Swivels
- Wire shark rigs, Surfstrand 100-pound wire
- AFW Size 1.3 crimps
- AFW Crimpers
- Weighted Bunker Snag
- Promar Glow Sticks
- 1 Quart bunker oil
You'll need to have easy access to sharp tools to cut some braided line here, trim a tag end there, as well as to chunk that bunker and make your cuts clean. When the end game comes, keep your fingers away from the teeth of that shark maw and use the pliers.
The added accessories that seal the deal for a successful shark or ray outing include:
Assemble all this gear together and you've got a pretty good jump on not only targeting surf beasts, but landing and releasing them safely back into the water.
