FLORIDA SHARK FISHING

Want to catch a monster tiger shark from the beach? This landbased shark fishing video proves what can be done by the shorebased angler. The big tiger shark was landed in the Florida Panhandle, and released after a 45 minute fight. This is one of the few videos documents the catch of a large tiger shark from the beach. The tiger was 12 feet long. Many thats to GTO John and Scott Bullock for helping with this great catch. We will be fishing the beaches of Florida again this summer. Land based shark fishing is a tremendously interesting sport, and catching big sharks in Florida is quite a thrill.

If you are interested in learning more about land based shark fishing, come visit the FLORIDA SHARK FISHING FORUM, on the www.tx-sharkfishing.com website. Our group of websites features shark fishing in many states such as North Carolina and South Carolina, Shark fishing in Georgia, as well as Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.

Interested in catching sharks in Texas? This land based shark fishing video includes four bull sharks and one big blacktip landed on the beach south of Bob Hall Pier during November. The video is 9 minutes long and included kayaking baits, fighting sharks, removing hooks, and releasing sharks. Bob Hall Pier is located in Corpus Christi, Texas. We also have other videos and reports from Galveston, Surfside, Matagorda, and Port Aransas. We also have video from Cape Hatteras in North Carolina.

DouGR81 landed this big Florida hammerhead shark in May 2008 while Land Based Shark Fishing. Doug has landed many great sharks and we congratulate him on a great catch, the shark of a lifetime for many people. Here is Doug’s Report… 

Well for those of you that don’t know Pat Halko and myself personally, we have been trying to catch a hammerhead from the beach for about 3 years now. The thought of an abnormally high dorsal fin cutting through the waters surface has been running through our minds for months in hopes that we would even get a shot to tangle with these massive monsters. Well the day finally came.

First we shark fished on tuesday night. Pat unknowingly hooked a hammer on a 6/0 which is not a suitable reel at all for these big sharks! 4-5 minutes of nonstop running and line disappearing he had to lock the drag down or risk being spooled..well he locked it down and it snapped somewhere close to the leader.

Two days later we are back at it except this time I bring the 12/0 with me rigged with a 30′ long leader and big Mustad j-hooks. We set baits out a few hours before sunset and waited, as usual. This day the lines were quiet, and with good reason. Around 7:40pm the 12/0 starts to go off..thinking it was a normal 7′ lemon I eased into the harness and set the hook..

zZZZZZZZZz..FISH ON! Except this is not a 7′ lemon shark like we’re used to catching. This thing kept pouring line out for a little over a minute straight on a tight drag! The shark made a rookie mistake and started swimming parallel to the shoreline which allowed me to gain a bunch of line back.

Essentially it was a tug of war for 35 minutes, with insane runs taken late into the fight. About half way though I was honestly going to call it quits and hand the rod off to Pat..I was beat! Then we saw the dorsal fin about 50 yards out..the unmistakeable dorsal fin of a hammerhead shark! This refueled the fire for me, knowing what was on the other end of my line..I used every ounce of muscle and body weight I had and we finally had her on the beach!

We acted very quickly as hammerheads have a tendency to fight to death..cut the leader close to the hook and swam her out a good ways..she swam off just as strong as when she came in!

We finally got to find out what’s been spooling us and causing us insomnia for so many nights. Pat gets the big assist in landing this massive beast..I don’t know too many people that would want to jump in four feet of water with a shark that weighs three times what they weigh and wrestle it to the sand, and without question. Enjoy the pics!

I am Cudaman from South Florida. I normally post in Florida based forums. I’m glad to see that the sport is growing and now most forums are opening to entire country and the world. I normally fish from the bridges in the Florida keys, but comes tournament times I do fish from the beaches, jetties, or where ever we think that there are sharks. So here goes my first post:

On the 6th I volunteer to go cleanup a bridge in the Florida Keys. Since I was already there I figured why not get my rod and tube lure out to get some bait for a future fishing trip, and I did. I got a 17 cuda on 12 pound test. That was fun.

A couple of days after I was going to go to Sebastian Inlet Florida but my plans got canceled and I had fresh shark bait. On a previous scouting trip I messed up my back and ended loosing a big bull, so I went back to the Florida Keys. I wanted to get rid of my itch or to finish destroying my back, so I went sharking earlier than I wanted to. The Keys are a shorter drive for me and after a bad day I needed some tranquility. The plan was to go down South and get one more shark for the year, then go deeper South and try for some cero’s and snapper.

I was told a few people were in the Keys Shark fishing. I got to the bridge and chatted for a while. They told me about 2 bulls, a grouper, and a tarpon that were caught earlier. They had a shark close to their bait but it wouldn’t take it. The shark went away and came back a few times. I finished setting up and proceeded to cut about ¾ of a 17 pound cuda, out it went on my 14/0, not ten minutes passed and the bait got picked up. The shark dropped it and picked it up 2 times, it came back again and this time it was with a vengeance. The shark peeled a lot of line and by the way it was going we thought it was a big bull. JD Hammer was saying “damn it partner we been here all night and you get the 400 pounder?” The shark kept on peeling line and then I started to feel pain, it’s my back again, ouch, screw it, I’m getting this one straight up and down, the shark did a turn and the drill began, run left run right, and then the shark got me on a pilon about 75 yards out. I felt that scary brushing of the line against concrete as my reel kept going zzoooom, zzooom so I took my patience pill and inch by inch I brought it out, once out it was just reel, reel, and reel. Before I could see the shark JD’s son screamed “it’s a big lemon”. It looked like it was 8 to 9 feet. I don’t see how some guys can see in the dark with no light. My sorry out of shape body and bad back sat down for a few to regain some energy when click, click times a hundred another reel start to go JD scream “that’s mines!” He sets up on it and a few minutes later it was a medium sized bull. After all that I put down a pinfish head and it gets picked up by a nurse. The morning came and no more hits, just some catfish and JD lost a nice snook. I went to another bridge but the tide was not going the way I like it and nothing followed my lures. I hopped to 3 more bridges got some baby jacks and small yellow jacks then I went home.

A great thanks go to Jimbo and Jimmy for helping me release that shark by cutting the line below the railings of the bridge, 5 feet of less line might help a little to the survival of that shark. I have to work on an idea I’ve had for a while that will help with cutting the line very close to the shark.

Below is the bait

Below it’s me and Jimmy

Below is the Lemon, all in all the shark pulled like hell because it was fouled hooked.


Edit to correct 2nd shark picture.

Below is JD hammer and his bull

Tiger sharks are a favorite catch for florida shark fisherman. Knowing as much as possible can make a big difference in your success. This is some interesting information from the NOAA on tiger sharks.

“Adult tiger sharks occur worldwide in temperate and tropical coastal waters. In the North Atlantic they reside year round off the coast of Florida and seasonally migrate as far as Nova Scotia, Canada. Additionally, tiger sharks are known to make extensive movements throughout the North Atlantic, on occasion traveling to South America or Africa. While considered to primarily inhabit coastal environments, it is clear from our recapture data that tiger sharks spend considerable time in the pelagic environment during part of their lives. Small tiger sharks appear to inhabit a different area than larger individuals, probably to avoid predation. Tagging and fishery data indicate that there is a nursery ground for tiger sharks on the continental shelf off the southeast coast of the U.S. This area extends from about Augusta, GA to Daytona, FL from shore, seaward to depths of 55 fathoms (fm). A similar area exists off the coast of North Carolina. In these nursery areas, tiger sharks ranging in size from birth to 4′ FL are commonly caught. Larger individuals leave to occupy different habitats. ”

To see the rest of the artice follow the link: http://na.nefsc.noaa.gov/sharks/newsletter/98/tiger.html

This Florida Shark Fishing Report was written by the The Dog, as they headed to Pensacola Florida in search of some action with the fall bonito blitz. Unfortunately a cold front arrived before they did and the conditions were less than optimal. Here is the report

Its after 2am in the morning and due to lack of fish to report I will keep this one short.

Myself, Aggie, TxSportsman rolled out of Houston around 530 on Friday night headed for Pensacola, FL. We knew the cold front was going through but seeing as we had arranged to meet troy we figured we would see what we would get once there. As we crossed across the Alabama / Florida state border we soon found what we were in for as the truck temp gauge read 29 degs F. We met with the LA crew just into Florida and trundled down to our fishing hole for around 3am.

Surf was up and it was cold, really cold. Myself and Shannon put out a casted rod each adn then we set up camp. Well should i say we set up our cots under the stars. At least the temperature was up to a whole 33 degs now!! A few hours of sleep and Troy gets us all going at 7am. Going for what was the rumbles I heard form a few of the guys as they could hardly stand from the cold and then just looking at the surf turned off the above average sharking yakkers we had in our camp.

Of course with young Travis being the youngest he suited and booted and started to head out with the first bait at around 8am. he battled over the 6 ft’ers on the bar and got the bait out. Coming back in was not so successful and the rest of his trip was a swim home….around 30 minutes later and 1 mile down the sand we recovered the yak!

Now this would have all still been great…but the bad news was the line got knocked out and all the effort went to waist. Time to rethink.

The weather was way to cold to be battling 6 ft conditions – Troy made one last assessment and with his many years of judgment, we decided to roll it up and find a pass. This was done with the help of a new member who will be coming onto TSF – Mr Jeff Clark. Jeff drove 350 miles from North Alabama just to meet us on Saturday. Jeff been watching the site for sometime and decided to roll in and meet the crew after calling up Troy last week. Sure was great having you on the sand Jeff.

By 1030 am we had found a new fishing hole that protected us from the cold east wind and with being in the pass we no longer had to worry too much about the surf. By noon we had 10 baits soaking – 7 out of 10 big shark baits. The day temp stayed in the 40’s all day – we set about building ourselves a wind wall and then ate good. Never been on a trip where we actually looked after ourselves so much – starting off with some chicken and corn and then into the night a nice pot of chicken and sausage gumbo. We need it for the night ahead back down to mid 30’s.

Well we braved the cold for best part of 30 hours and without turning a click wrapped it up and all headed out for our long road trip home.

We never got the sharks – but just being able to spend time with friends was great. We will get them next time. I don’t have any photos, Shannon will add some up.

Team Bullfishin out.

Here is a Few Pics of the trip. Had a Great time with everybody and hopefully next time we will put some sharks on the sand–LaSharkHunter

Team Rebel is a regular on the Florida shark fishing scene. His crew has won several events and he has proven himself as the type of guy that can compete with the best and come out on top. He fished the Florida Atlantic Coast, and has amased a huge portfolio of shark catches and saltwater catches. Here is Team Rebel Reporting in. He reports on both TEXAS SHARK FISHING and on several Florida Shark Fishing Websites.

Hey guys…I know its been a while, bout fell off the face of the earth after the devastating end to the shark tourney for us. Had to disappear from all the forums and shark fishing in general and think of some other things, school work, other fish to catch besides sharks for a while, it hurt, we had to stop fishing due to lack of personnel and funding, a few people screwed us hard and we had to make a tough decision, go bankrupt trying to climb a steep mountain or to stop, and made the very wise financial decision to do so. So besides watching my Buckeyes play some ball been fishing for other stuff lately and finally went sharking for the first time in over 3 months last weekend, our big fish season is upon us now and we will get the blacktip migration then the studs. I found some of the pictures we had from the end of the tourney and i have some more laying around neediung to be developed on a fun saver (we got so low on funds we had to use fun saver cameras in the end). Ill see if i cant find those…..

but this weekend got two spinners and lost one off a local pier…saw them swimming in about2ft of water at midnight during the full moon, just thier shadows, went down and hooked up on them, fun time but no pictures  …

but here is some pictures from the end of the tourney i scanned

And heres some random pictures of me and a buddy fishing i nthe middle of tropical storm fay when it hit us, we got some pretty monster brackish water snook..it was a good time when nobodys out on the road the snook bite goes OFF at freshwater spillways.




this picture is taken at our jetty in the middle of the storm, it was our last picture but we did well on the snook here, but very very dangerous large waves and high winds and raincoats dont mix
 

Ill scan around and see what else i have laying around, i know i got pictures of my 14/0s that got a part of the sideplate blown off it from a boat that hit it  . But we will be back around here more often now that its time to pick it up again, sorry we disappeared for such a long while but it was more of just a mourning and grieving time about not being able to defend the title, and haveing to QUIT which I personally have never done before. But my bank account is doing much better than it could have been after the economy collapse so in the long run it was a wise decision..

And I have been scanning around on the last 4-5 pages of reports before i made this post..some GREAT REPORTS AND FISH have been captured here recently and I am stoked to see that! Im glad everybody is gettin out there on the sand and putting thier time in still..I guess Im the only slacker here!

Until next time..

Team Rebel out….

The Florida Museum of Natual History has a wealth of great articles on shark species. These are excerps from the article on tiger sharks. For more information visit Florida Museum of Natural History

Habitat: Tiger Sharks 

This shark has a notable tolerance for many different kinds of marine habitat but generally prefers murky waters in coastal areas. It is commonly found in river estuaries, harbors, and other inlets where runoff from the land may attract a high number of prey items. Shallow areas around large island chains and oceanic islands including lagoons, are also part of the tiger shark’s natural environment. It is often seen at the surface and has been reported to depths of 350 m (1085 ft).

Tiger sharks undergo seasonal migrations. It is well known that they move into temperate waters from the tropics for the warmer months and return during the winter. These sharks also make long oceanic migrations between islands and are capable of traveling long distances in a short amount of time.

For the rest of the article follow the link: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/Tigershark/tigershark.htm

This weekend our shark fishing crew is headed over to Pensacola, Florida to fish the bonita blitz. Hopefully there will be some hammer head sharks, bull sharks, makos sharks, and bull sharks in the surf. As the water temperatures drop in late November, there is an extended shark feeding frenzy along the beaches. During last week, our crew from North Carolina reports in with four sharks over seven feet, including a dusky shark and a nine foot sand tiger shark. Two of the people on the trip drove eleven hours to make it to North Carolina. Hope or guys turn in a fanstastic report.

The rest of the action seems slow on the Florida shark fishing scene with few people reporting in from other sites. Two weeks ago William Fundora of the South Florida Shark Club got a nice 10 1/2 foot hammer head shark. We have not seen much action from posted on the other florida surf fishing sites.

Simon Harmon with Massive Tiger Shark

Christopher Deaver, FLORIDA SHARK FISHING Editor.

Many shark fishermen in Florida and around the world dream of catching a large tiger shark. For most people, a ten foot tiger shark weighing about 400 lbs would be the catch of a lifetime. If that shark was a land based catch, the statue of that feat would place you in a special class of anglers. Any tiger shark in the 12 foot class weighting in at 650 to 800 lbs is a very rare catch, with only a dozen or so landed on the shores of the United States every year, a very prestigious accomplishment for anyone.

This is the story of the 13 foot 6 inch tiger shark that was landed and released by Simon Harmon, and assisted by his brother James which was posted on the WWW.TX-SHARKFISHING.COM website in 2004.  We are very certain this is the largest land based shark catch of the 21st century. The shark had a massive girth and went 1,100 + pounds. We commend Simon on this great catch and respect his action to release this shark.  
 
Stingray was the bait of choice for this expedition, and a solid one too at over 40lbs in weight. Arriving on the beach mid morning we wasted little time in rigging the wing sections on seperate traces, and deploying them strategically over the colour change. This venue was fairly new to us and as such required some careful attention when considering target zones. Be aware that this is serious water we’re talking about, endless miles of open pacific ocean, powerful, unrelenting and not something to be taken lightly. The afternoon krept up on us quite quickly, before we knew it the baits had been soaking for a few hours and the heat was gradually fading out of the sun.
 
Things changed quickly when the first ray bait got nailed, a burley whaler shark of some 120lbs hit hard, leapt free of the water and then quickly succumb to the grunt behind a Penn international 80stw. Released unharmed the rod was rigged again and quickly deployed in fading light. Not an hour later and again it was smashed. This time a Great Hammerhead of some 7 feet in length, and plenty of power in its tail, gave us a short work out before beaching itself and allowing us to remove the hooks which had lodged in its anal fin. Again, the Penn International did the damage, accounting for this fish in little time at all. Our foe was intended to be much larger, we wanted something that would strip line to the hub!

With the night set in and a howling wind creating a significant swell it was decided that the zodiac be retired and the international bait be walked out at low tide and positioned for the incoming tide. 8 hours passed before we were disturbed. Again, it was the International called into action. A large eel bait had been swallowed by a 200lb pound whaler looking for a quick meal before darting for the open sea. This girl gave us quite a bit of stick for about 10 minutes, running both sides of the rod and trying a few things to get away. Within 15 minutes she was in and released. Checking our watches, it was 4:30am and time to retire the International outfit. The lonely Tiagra 80 would remain our last hope for the rising sun.
 
This bait had been in the water since 1pm the previous day, almost 17 hours straight. Being a stingray, we had absolutely no concerns that the bait would be damaged in any way, and there was an eerie feeling around the fact that the other rod had been going gang busters and this one had sat there lifeless. WHY? We lay down and pondered that question before closing our eyes for a little more sleep.

Simon woke me just on day break, calling me to grab my harness and gimbal. He held the rod in his hands and it was obvious that something very significant was on the other end. He explained to me how the reel had ticked over a few times during the course of the previous half hour and how he had sat watching it waiting for a moment to pounce.

Simon Hooked Up to Massive Tiger Shark

He had done a lot of work in securing this fish and there was no way I was taking the rod away from him. What came next was 60 minutes of intense rod work, action both sides and pulling power reserved for semi trailers and massive tiger sharks. We didn’t get a glimpse of the fish within 50 minutes, it kept low and just punished us through every inch of mono.

Eventually we wore this big girl down enough for her to flick her tail, and holy shit what a tail. Unbelievable, a magnificant sight and something that has to be seen to be truly appreciated. With the sun rising rapidly, the fish was now shallow enough to get an indication of its size, truely scary.

I ventured out and grabbed the leader, managing to use the surging waves to manouvre it across a couple of sand bars into water where we could manage her. With the trace cut free and a few pics taken it was time to try and release this huge mother.

Ever tried pulling the tail of a 13 foot shark? forget that! This was a roll job. A couple of onlookers helped Simon and I actually rool this beast back into the deeper gutter other side of the bar we were in. 20 minutes of confusion and disorientation saw this fish eventually regain composure and use that massive tail to motor off into deeper water. To be honest, it was pretty emotional seeing this dinosaur swim away to terrorize a few more fish.

Massive 13 foot 6 inch Tiger Shark

 
Unbelievable, we are wrapped with this catch!! Absolute credit goes to Simon, who’s knowledge, commitment and application to detail are the key ingredients in managing this success. This is the culmination of 5 years work for us, and something that we will never ever forget. Great work Simo, you deserve it!!!

Regards, James and Simon Harmon

This story is copyrighted to WWW.TX-SHARKFISHING.COM and the owner of the site, Christopher Deaver. No part of this story or pictures will be released for distribution and all property rights are reserved. If you are interested in learning more about shark fishing see the eleven chapter online SHARK FISHING HANDBOOK.