southfloridasharkclub.com

Sunday morning 8 am I'm still snoozing when there's banging on my front door .My helpers were at my door very early and eager to get to work.We started preparing what we needed for the Big Hammer awards ceremony right away and in retrospect an early start was a life saver as we encountered a few task that delayed us during the morning .The list of things to do was long ,we had 20 pounds of jumbo shrimp to clean,a long list of items to buy from Walmart,boxes of trophies and prizes to load into the SFSC Rv ,tables and chairs to clean,coolers to fill with Ice and drinks,and a homemade paella to cook all before the 1 pm start of the awards party.We divided into groups and got everything done just in time to get the reports from people arriving early at John U Lioyd state park that the lines were 30 to 45 minutes long to get into the park.The old clunker RV complained and stalled a few times in the south Florida heat as we inched our way towards the park guardhouse behind a line of cars that stretched for half a mile .
All the nervous tension slid right off me as I arrived at the Marina pavillion parking lot I was warmly greeted by a mass of men,women and children all eager to help unload and get the party started,,,,,,,I was 30 minutes late after all.
Late or not this would would prove to be the awards ceremony to judge all the next one's by.A very good time was had by all and a reunion and coming together of land-based shark fisherman from all parts of Florida at a time when unity is of utmost importance for this sport at a moment when we face many obstacles that call for a combined front.

the old SFSC rv was hurting but it survived the afternoon.



Team Shark Fever Florida keys outstanding solo angler JD Fagan

Another Team Shark Fever stand out angler Carl McCauley (cmoney)

Travis our Avet connection with the Cape Haze rod and 8o Avet

two legendary land-based shark fishing greats Ernie Polk and James Fuqua(Jd hammer)finally meet

Ernie and Joey Polk drove 10 hours from Florida's panhandle to be with us


As usual Julio (bullshark 51) Bar bqing and with help this time




Professional Charter boat captain and personal friend Captain Mike Rodriguez

Janet(fishergirl) and Joy Fuqua enjoy a lovely mother's day with us

Will jr and his main squeeze(sorry don't know her name yet)LOL



Once the vehicles were unloaded and the prizes put on display everyone kicked back for some sharky conversation and to take in the lovely spring afternoon.This year we decided to bring out the dj equipment to play some muisic and to use it's microphone for the awards presentation.Good decision as the music always helps lighten the mood.As a song with a snappy beat played I was inspired to invent the 4 step "Hammer Dance" a little dance floor move to create better Big hammer luck.


[color=#000000][b]The afternoon rolled on and we had a chance to talk with shark fisherman from many parts of Florida.Ernie polk brought the video of his 11 foot 9 inch tiger and that was a hit with everyone that watched it.What a video from the incredible steadiness of Monica Polks filming to the sight of the full moon shimmering on the ocean right in front of Ernie as he fought the huge shark,to the sight of the giant fish with it's enourmous stomach as it approched the beach,to the sounds of Ernie calling out with glee as he see's the massive shark for the first time "I think we got us a new pole" ,to the sight of the gianormous shark on it's side looking every bit like an australian great white shark with it's almost bursting stomach and huge gapped mouth snapping away----WHAT A VIDEO!!!We're hoping Ernie gets us a copy to share the adventure with other shark fisherman on this site.My wife's Spanish style paella was a delicious way to to reach out to folks of all cultures and from the looks on people's faces it was fully enjoyed.Not much could be improved on this afternoon everything was near perfect and the friendliness among the competitors reinforces our desire to hold this tournament every year and we aim to continue improving it by adding new prize categories year after year.

New Categories For 2011
1)PeeWee Division -Biggest shark by an angler 13 or younger
2)Most sharks caught by one Individual
3)Biggest Hammerhead caught on 80 lb test


the sound system and the rookie Dj/jack of all trades

My 13 year old daughter Natalie and I

My 16 year old Ashley

Jerry and Joy Fuqua

Shad Loveless and wife of Team Shark Addicts with Raymundo Muniz

Some of the Top Dogs ham it up with Ernie's brand new pole and reel




Biggest Shark by a junior angler Coty Stafani Team Hard hookers 8 ft Nurse


Second Place Biggest Shark by a junior angler Zach Howell 7 foot 10 inch Bull Shark


Biggest Shark caught by a Female Angler-Christina Loveless Team "Shark Addicts" 7 ft 11 inch Lemon Shark



Second Place Biggest Shark by a Female Amy Kelley Team Shark Addicts 7ft 9 3/4 Nurse Shark


Bridge Champions -3 sharks -Team Hammer n the Phenoms Captain Jd Hammer(James Fuqua)


Pier Champions Tie at 2 sharks-Team Hard Hookers and Team Hammer Wranglers

Beach Champions 18 Sharks -Team Shark Fever


Biggest Non Shark Shad Loveless Team Shark Addicts- 6 ft 7 3/4 inch Goliath Grouper


Biggest Shark caught on Spinning Tackle Kevin Cabrera -Team Dirty South Shark Hunters, 5 ft 9 inch Blacktip shark


Biggest Shark caught on 80 lb test Team Finnaddicts Joel Earhardt,8 ft 8 inch Nurse Shark


Biggest Hammerhead Shark caught on 80 lb test Raymundo Muniz -Team Dirty South Shark Hunters, 8 ft 2 inch Hammerhead shark


Biggest Lemon Shark -Tie Chris Salomoni & Will Fundora Team shark Fever ,8 ft 11 inch


Biggest Bull Shark -James Fuqua -Team Hammer n the Phenoms, 8 ft 10 inch


Biggest Hammerhead Shark -Will Fundora Team Shark Fever ,11 ft 2 inch


As the awards presentation moved along I hit my stride and started thinking about how special the results of this year's Big Hammer had been .Ernie Polk from the Florida's panhandle winning the biggest Tiger and the biggest Overall in the tourney and Jd Hammer with the biggest bull shark and his team with the second most sharks in the tourney.I felt lucky to have side by side two legendary land-based shark hunters and realized it may be some time before we have this happen again and it may be while before JD and Ernie are side by side , so I decided to ask some important questions so that all in attendance could get a glimpse into the physhe of a champion shark hunter.
I asked them both in a similar way what it was that inspires them to fish with such dedication and with so much passion even when the sharks are not biting .Ernie said "he's an adrenaline junky and that he loves the challenge of catching the biggest sharks".Jd hammer said that "it all started in 1972 on South beach pier he met a young shark hunter (Rene de Dios)that became his student and Jd the teacher, but in time Rene became the greatest and he in turn became Jd's teacher;teaching him lessons that he still remembers and uses till today".

Biggest Tiger Shark -Ernie Polk Team Tooth Fairy ,11 ft 9 inch


An extraordinary young angler Steven Stallings of Team Bullbusters wins a newly created division Pee Wee Division
13 or younger caught a 6 ft 11 inch Lemon Shark with team captain and mentor Colby Uva at his side-The future of land-based shark fishing is in these young guys hands.






the crowd gathers around to watch Ernie's Tiger and Mako Videos



Ernie and Jd



New shark club member James Kelley getting ready for the trip back to Florida's west coast


A special thanks to the young guns that made up the 2010 TEAM SHARK FEVER
Thanks JD Fagan,Chris Salomoni and Carl McCauley and Kiki Ferrer.We are ready and willing to fish.It's On!!! :o

It was a great time THANKS for all the hard work you and your wife put into it

Looks like a good time. Wish i had a team to fish it with.

Thank you William From Cape Haze Rods I had a Blast and it was great to meet everyone

congrats to every body that competed. hopefully next year i can get in on this or at least make it to the east coast to fish with some of you guys.

Thanks Will & Maggie! We had a terrific time. I was busy trying to match all the site names with the real people!

my pics from the awards i had a great time meeting all the teams that were there. alot of the pics got deleted from my computer or i dont know where i saved them too so if u dont see ur pic here im really sorry ill try to look for them.

speacial thanks to will and his wife for making this happen ya the best


me with team shark addicts

me julio and will

its all about the U with george,joey,me and colby

me and jd hammer

me and travis

dirty south shark hunters kevin me and george with our 5 trophys we do it big

team dirty south shark hunters with will

dirty south shark hunters raymundo muniz takes the rookie of the year

bull busters peewee angler award go's to steven

cape haze rods travis with his award

tooth fairy e. polk 1st place biggest shark the guy is a monster

dirty south shark hunters 3rd place biggest shark raymundo muniz

shark fever 4th place bigest shark by chris

dirty south sharks hunter raymundo muniz 5th place biggest shark

hammer and the phenom 2nd place most sharks

hammer wranglers 3rd place most sharks caught

hammer and the phenoms jd hammer with biggest bull

shark fever biggest lemon by chris

dirty south shark hunters raymundo muniz takes home bigest hammer head on 80lbs test

dirty south shark hunters kevin cabrera takes home bigest shark on a surf rod

shark fever beach champions

hammer wranglers and hard hookers share Pier champions

hammer and the phenoms jd hammer with one of his many awards

2nd place jr angler bull busters

hard hookers 1st place jr angler

tony will and i

waiting on the grub

me and e. polk the record holder

sorry i couldnt make it, looks like you had a blast, thanks will n wife for all you do for the club n tourny

20+hrs round trip, worth every minute of it. Me and E had a helluva trip down there followed up by gettn to meet alot of interesting people. Finally got to shake hammers hand, Ray the hammerhead man, keep it up bro, you got it.Thank you Will and Maggie, and everyone else. Travis, awsome job on the rod, cant wait to hear it get a screamin ass run.(It wont be long).Great job to everyone and once again THANK YOU ALL!!!!! Maybe we can do it again some other time.