Boatless Fishing Forum, Reports, Info

Is it true that sharks can detect metal?

dont kno but mako's are attracted to magnets.

Alex07 wrote:Is it true that sharks can detect metal?

LOL, put a metal hook and a metal leader on a nice chunk of bait attached to your reel's line and out it in the gut or by the reef and find out.

cudaman wrote:

Alex07 wrote:Is it true that sharks can detect metal?

LOL, put a metal hook and a metal leader on a nice chunk of bait attached to your reel's line and out it in the gut or by the reef and find out.

Well the reason why I am asking is because I read on several sites that if you put electrical tape on the hooks except the barb and the 1st few feet of the leader your hook ups will increase.

Trial and error...Try it and if you like spending time taping hooks then you'll know...You don't see that in South Florida ( speaking for myself, I haven't) but you'll see it up North, Down South, in Africa, and in Australia. The more you fish the more you'll catch. Some people think that covering the hooks will minimize the magnetic field on a hook, some shows have demonstrated that sharks really don't mind magnetism (its not a deterrent). To each his own, if some believe that taping their hooks will help them, then more power to them. Trial and error, go out and fish.

On Shark Week last night watched them throw a license plate in the water with a chummed up tiger shark. It went straight to the plate and chewed it for a minute before spitting it out.

[quote="cudaman" The more you fish the more you'll catch. [/quote]

Well said Herb,....some people have way to much time on there hands and over think things, do any of the top guys fishing these tourneys do it ...honest answer is No....

i personaly dont like taping hooks, cable ect because it will take longer to rust. some of these rigs have a big spider weight attatched to it weighing a few pounds, do you think that shark has a good chance of living if that rig gets broken off and its swimming around with all that hardware hanging from it.....?.....that rig will never rust out

ive always preached using piano wire and seasoning my hooks ( pre-rusting ) since i came on the net ....kharma's been good to us for doing so, im a firm beliver in that ...sea-ya, mike

fishnfool73 wrote:On Shark Week last night watched them throw a license plate in the water with a chummed up tiger shark. It went straight to the plate and chewed it for a minute before spitting it out.

Yeah, I saw that too. They also tried to see if a magnet will stop a fish from eating. Put a really powerful magnet on the bottom of the water in the Keys and then droppeds some cudas and rays around it. A 10 ft hammerhead came right up to the magnet and chowed down on the bait, didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

There was a tv special along time ago that investigated that question.

If i remember correctly they discovered that sharks can/do detect electrical fields through some whatchamacallits on there head/nose areas.

And all metal has some of this elect field...


The researchers as i remember it were asking because they noticed in there research many sharks attacking/bumping metal objects hanging from or attached to there boats.

MoJo wrote:There was a tv special along time ago that investigated that question.

If i remember correctly they discovered that sharks can/do detect electrical fields through some whatchamacallits on there head/nose areas.

And all metal has some of this elect field...


The researchers as i remember it were asking because they noticed in there research many sharks attacking/bumping metal objects hanging from or attached to there boats.

This is interesting http://www.sharkfriends.com/sharks/info5.html

fishnfool73 wrote:On Shark Week last night watched them throw a license plate in the water with a chummed up tiger shark. It went straight to the plate and chewed it for a minute before spitting it out.

Did they throw some tin cans and other assorted GARBAGE into the ocean along with the license plate???

WTF??? This is on a TV show and they are throwing garbage in the ocean to see if a shark will eat it?????

No they didn't throw any other trash in and they retrieved the plate after they were done. Had something to do with the famous plate scene in Jaws. Look how the whites attack the cages when people cage dive with them. The metal must have some effect on them.

The Ampullae of lorenzini are the small gel type dots on a Sharks snout. They are the electrorecptors sharks use to detect prey and navagate by detecting the Earths magnetic fields. They vary in # depending on the Shark with Hammers having the most. They use them primarily for detecting the micro magnetic fields of prey.

MoJo wrote:There was a tv special along time ago that investigated that question.

If i remember correctly they discovered that sharks can/do detect electrical fields through some whatchamacallits on there head/nose areas.

And all metal has some of this elect field...


The researchers as i remember it were asking because they noticed in there research many sharks attacking/bumping metal objects hanging from or attached to there boats.

I was watching shark week on saturday and this caught my eye, they have micro-whatever receptors that can sense magnetic something. If they have this why would they ever hit a trolling motor or a propeller? I think if anything it can attract them. On the other hand a shark might hit these objects as a defense mechanism, they probably see them as a threat. Just something else to think about!

Sharks do detect metal. When they get hook.

Sharks will detect any metal in the water insulated or not. It's the same as an amprobe detecting the current in an insulated wire. I don't know if anyone knows for certain if it attracts them or not.

crashmister wrote:I don't know if anyone knows for certain if it attracts them or not.

That is why we use Grade A bait to attract them.

Hi All:

I can see that this subject is a sore thumb among today's shark fishermen. I personally think that all of this tape, rubber coating, goop, asphalt and anything else you choose to use or paint on your tackle is just total bulls..t. I fished many years and I never had sharks reject my baits because of the metal hooks in the baits. I think what you all need to do is to put more work into keeping fresh baits out there. Keeping your hooks sharp. Playing closer attention as to your bait placement.

I use to change my baits at least 3 times during the day, every day, and sometimes once during the night. I didn't have a kayak to paddle my baits out. I had to swim them out! For all of you that have never swam a bait it's damned hard work, especially getting over the bars. On a rough day it would take two of us to swim a single bait. By the time you swim 3 baits you are completely exhausted, but you may have 3 more to go. We did take turns, so you may have your partner's still ahead of you. When you finally get done swimming baits you have time to eat a sandwich and smoke a cigarette and then it's back to changing baits again. This time your partner does the swimming. It goes on and on like this the whole time your fishing. Shark fishing is hard work. On those trips we took to the jetties, it use to take us about 2 to 2 1/2 hours just to get all of our gear out on the jetty, and that's before I could even swin a bait. Some of those jetties it was a 3/4 mile walk from the point where we had to park the truck to the campsite. Each trip out the jetty, and there were a minimum of 3 trips, we were loaded down with rigs, leader bags, lanterns, ropes and baits, etc., etc. It is hard work and its no place for the timid.

Getting back to the point of my post. Your taping hooks and coated cable is pure bunk! What about the swivels? What about the shackles? What about the weights or sinkers? Why would hook companies like Mustad or Eagle Claw not build hooks out of space age materials like carbon fiber or other new materials? After all they build some guns now without any metal at all! If no metal is really better, do you think the hook companies would pass on a deal like this?

I applaud your efforts at making yourselves better shark fishermen, but I think your efforts are misplaced at best. I think your efforts would be better spent on some of the things I mentioned eariler. Especially the changing baits regularly and bait placement. I am retired now and I don't have any of my gear any longer. I have no ax to grind here. I'm only trying to help get you on the right track to catching more sharks.

Mono leaders, maybe for the baby sharks, but not for the sharks I fished for! Common sense is all it takes!


Best and tight lines,

Norman Bateman

For me it doesn't matter what the angler does to catch his shark. If taping up the entire shark rig gives him that confidence then so be it. No matter how ridiculous it might seem to us who are we to say no. Fishing allow each individual to fish their way regardless it is right or wrong. It is personal to everyone.

Hi guys:


I think my post on this subject was probably ill worded. I wasn't trying to stir up controversy among shark fishermen. I was trying to let my thoughts be heard for the new shark fishermen, the weekend warriors and those that have no clue as to which way to go. I know that there are a number of shark fishermen that tape their hooks and catch good sized trophy sharks. That said though, who's to say that those same sharks would not have been caught with iron hooks and no tape?

I have no doubt that sharks can detect or sense metal. If a shark senses metal in or near food will that attract him or scare him off? Sharks have been exposed to metal in the oceans world wide since the begining of time, and especially since man came up with bronze. Do you think for a moment that if a shark senses metal near or in food he will stop and think, that's a hook in there and it will kill me. I think not. Look at all of the sunken ships from the begining of history. look at all the scattered junk on the oceans floor. look at the man made reefs. Sharks swim all around the junk out there because there is food all around that junk! Do you pier fish? How much lead, cable and hooks is in the water just off the end of the piers? There must be tons of it out there, but that doesn't stop pier fishermen from catching sharks.

As I understand it, a sharks sensory organs work similar to a metal detector. Not exactly the same, but similar. How much tape will you have to use on a hook to block a metal detector from getting a signal? This is an area that I have very little knowledge of and I think today's scientist don't fully understand it either. I know today's scientist theorise many things about shark behavoir most of which turns out incorrect as more and more research is done.

Matt, You gave me your thoughts about my questions about swivels, shackles and sinkers. I used three big barrel swivels on my swimming leaders and two or three 55 once sinkers. The sinkers were strung out over 3 feet and tied to a swivel that would slide the length of the leader. The swivels and sinkers were all within just a few inches of the bait except for the top most swivel that my line was tied to. Shackles, that was a non-issue for me because I never used them either, but I know some shark fishermen do use them.

I don't know much about Carbon Fiber hooks or other space age composits. I just threw that out there for discussion.

I'd like to thank you both and all the others that posted here for the cival discussion we have had here. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the tape issue. As I said eariler, I do know that sharks can sense metal, but sensing metal near or in food doesn't necessarily make it a good or bad thing.


Good fishing and tight lines guys,

Norman Bateman

Dude this was a very civil discussion

Hey crashmister and others:

Thank you. I think there needs to be more threads that are civil and the discussion centers on shark fishing instead of personal stuff! We can all learn from different points of views, and different places we fish. If we listen (read), and think about what's actually being said, there is a lot of knowledge out here.

Thanks a lot guy's and tight lines,

Norman Bateman
Cape Coral, Florida
ncbateman1@aol.com
http://www.batemanphotography.net

bolo wrote:Sharks do detect metal. When they get hook.

NICE, lol...

anyways I was wondering the same thing myself, is it worth it to tape up wire leader and hooks..me personally I like to keep my rigs as simple as possible and it was also mentioned earlier that the hooks and wire will take longer to dissolve in the saltwater in the event you have to cut the leader or if you get broken off. pretty much all I worry about concerning shark rigs is if it is a durable connection and will it hold up if I hook into something bigger than expected. the way i see it is that if you have a nice looking piece of bait that has the oils and blood in it and if it looks good to the shark, he will eat it without really noticing all your hardware. it doesn't even matter if your bait is frozen, if it has been kept well and still looks nice and fresh with the right natural coloring then it still will give off a nice scent and look attractive to the sharks. the bait i keep in my freezer looks fresher than the food i have in there, i've even had a frozen bait picked up over a fresh bait one time with my rigs spaced out just 40-50 feet apart. to me, it is all about having good bait, preferably whatever fish is most abundant in the surf on that particular day (in my location it is usually ladyfish or jack crevelle) and as a precaution though I use as small of a hook as I can get away with for the size bait i am using and I also use only about 1 foot of wire.