I also use Penn 9/0s filled with braid on 6-7ft glass rods. I use about 4-5ft of either 275-400lb cable or #12 singles strand wire connected to 20ft of 200lb mono via heavy duty swivel rated to at least 200lbs. The terminating end of the mono can be either another heavy duty swivel or a loop to connect a snap swivel to but I definitely prefer to use another swivel and tie directly to it. I make my weights from a heavy bank sinker of 10-12 oz with "spider" arms made from cutting a metal coat hanger and then taping the arms around the weight. This helps keep very large baits in place in the surf. You can rig thses weights break away or fixed. I mostly use a fixed weight as I've never felt I've lost any sharks due to its placement on the leader. Baits can be just about anything but sharks are not as mindless as many would like to think and a fresh, locally caught bait will outfish something frozen from the store. I use Ladyfish, Bluefish, large pieces of King Mackerel, Jack Crevalle and Rays. Theres no doubt in my experience that a 6-8lb Ray with its wings cut off will catch more bull and Sandbar sharks than anything else.
I, like most, paddle my baits out with a yak but I have taken some very large sharks by simply casting from shore. Like stated in the above reply, handling them is usually not too difficult but its the smaller sharks you really have to be more careful with. The are harder to get under control and very flexible. I de-barb all of my hooks and with a simple dehooker you can usually retrieve your hook, but only do so if it can be done safely and at a fair distance from the mouth. If not, cut the leader as close to the mouth as possible.
When releasing, just hold the dorsal and mid section of the shark and "walk" him through te water until he responds. Let him go and get another!
Hope this helps.
If you are looking for a shark setup, I have one for sale in the fishing gear for sale section. Its a Penn 9/0 with 100lb Tuf Line braid and a 7' heavy duty rod with foulproof guides and roller tip. This rod has caught a pile of big sharks over the last few yrs and still has much more to go. Check it out if you're interested.
