The Smooth Hound Shark by Arno de Wet
Posted: 26 July 2011

The Smooth Hound Shark – Mustelus Mustelus (Smith 9.27)

The smooth hound shark can be targeted along our coastline starting in the east from East London right up along the southern and western Cape coastline to the Kunene river mouth in Namibia. Smooth hounds can obtain a weight of up to nearly 30kg and is the larger of the hound shark species. This species is can be identified quite easily by the novice angler. Firstly, this shark does not have sharp teeth like the majority of sharks we know and secondly it has a few dark spots on the upper flanks, much less than the spotted gully shark.

Bait – There are 2 main baits that can be used to target this specie. A squid bait should be your first choice, then a mushy mullet bait, and if this all fails you can try an octopus leg.

Trace – You will always use a throw bait when targeting a smooth hound shark. Make up the hook trace by cutting a 1m piece of 0.8mm fluorocarbon. Tie it to a size 8/0 hook with a triple figure of eight knot and then to a size 3 power swivel using the same knot. Make sure that your hook trace is not shorter than 600mm and not longer than 800mm. You can make the sinker trace of a thinner monofilament line with a breaking strain no smaller than 10kg. Use a piece of foam the size of your thumb, trim it on either ends to make it more aero-dynamic and cotton it tight around the shaft of the hook.

Rig – You should have a 14ft rod with a reel equivalent to the Shimano Torium/Trinidad 30 filled with 0.47 (16kg) monofilament line. You do not need braid backing.

The bite – The smooth hound will pick up the bait and pull your rod flat. You can let it go for a few meters, tighten the drag and then set the hook. Sometimes you will miss the hook-up. Don’t worry, it does happen. Quite often it will pick up the bait and swim in towards you causing you to believe that you have been bitten off, or that you have lost the fish. A few meters in front of you it will make a turn around and straiten the line – what an awesome fish to fight. A smooth hound does not fiddle and play with the bait.

ALWAYS RELEASE YOUR CATCH, UNLESS YOU WANT TO EAT IT