Thank you very much for that Shane. Sorry for not replying sooner - this site wouldn't let me back on.
The sharks that don't break/bite me off currently, are treated differently based on the species and temperament. I've learned the hard way to not let any Mako get too close to the yak, regardless of size. They sure do go spastic when pricked - it's quite the show. Have never been able to get my hook back on any shark but have cut close to the hook on a few and I'm not yet sure if just working it really hard and hoping the hook pulls is a better or worse outcome for them. I tried that on one and the point of failure was at the line roller on my reel, which means it's dragging 5m of braid until the hook rusts out :-(. Haven't encountered a thresher yet, unless that was the mystery fish that tail slapped the loaded braid after a blistering and seemingly endless first run.
Looks like I'll be shopping for an overhead combo so I can prop the rod on my knee to give arms some brief respite, but it's difficult as a greenhorn to work out what transfers well to a kayak setting and what is overkill given we can only exact about an estimated 10-12kgs of drag (max) on a fish while we are merely passengers on the other end of the line. Also wondering how much line capacity is needed from the reel given we are being towed and can reel ourselves over a fish if it ever slows down enough. But we can't ever really chase down a fish so if it is huge and 10kgs of kayak drag plus a few hundy meters of line (but not much belly because we are generally just towed behind unless the fish changes direction quickly and often) drag isn't gonna tire it out then is there any amount of spool capacity that's going to stop us getting spooled if the fish doesn't ever slow down enough for us to reel ourselves back over to it?
Regardless, unless very lucky and it's in close, smallish and gives up easily, I doubt there's going to be a way of paddling back with the fish. I'll be trialling a few float ideas this Winter though, if only to put that line of inquiry to rest. Can also see how useful, sane, and safe it would be to be dealing with any shark (or any bigger fish for that matter) from a boat rather than kayak. Might even be able to de-hook sharks safely from the boat - I'm going to start experimenting with barbless circle hooks.
A pic of the guy from gpadventures with a marlin, caught on his Viking kayak, was recently posted on FB. Am looking forward to the video and learning more about that.
There is so much to learn and I'm not really sure how to learn some of it without just getting out there and hopefully not getting my arse handed to me on a plate (which, actually, isn't bad as long as my life ain't in danger and I learn a few things as a result). It might be that the sharks I've hooked to date are incredibly placid and I'll wet myself when a huge or aggressive one either comes to check me out or isn't at all happy about me pricking it.