Hello everyone. 2013 turned out to be a great year for sharkin. Before anyone reads any further keep in mind that I and my bunch of fishermen exercise our human right to harvest fish. We do not tag and release all. We catch fish and use them for bait. We also harvest sharks for food. We are primarily tag and release shark fishermen, and I push everyone who fishes with me to be a tag and release shark fisherman. If they can't go with the rules on protected species or start harvesting every thing they catch or start selling it in any manner, they ant fishing with us! They can take there own bait out and rope there own fish.
We started the year off strong and ended up with 153 sharks off the pier. That counts all the sharks over 5' that my head rope went around. We've caught almost that many off the beach. Putting our count over 300. Out of that 300, 95% of them were tagged and released.
Our bunch has grown in the past three years. My RC kayak "Orca" has made shark fishin more reachable for the older guys and the kids, and makes it easier for everyone who joins in. Some of the main players in the group are uncle Bob, Will Spud Smith, Orrin Johnson, Neville Roland, Bill Dunlop, Brett Casto, Joey Polk, Kenny Peterson, Chester Gamble, John Cuthrell, Berry Fritz, Adam Madison, Jamie and Grady Morrison, Jerry Purvis, Blake Miles, Tater Smith, Bryant Nugent, Jordan Wright, Ben Fletcher, Tom Cruise and several others. Uncle Bob was second on the pier with 26. Will caught 62 off the beach and pier combined. Wow! I was top count on the pier with 41. I caught a few more off the beach. And Neville come up with around 50. Some fine fishermen who is dedicated to the sport!
We all try to follow some specific guide lines like no day time summer fishing. Especially when swimmers are present. No dead stuff left on the beach! No blocking off the beach. No extended camp outs in one spot. We all have to do things right so we can all continue to fish. It comes back around to "ya either with us, or against us!" Everyone who fishes with our group has to follow along with everyone else. It's not me who makes the rules, it's every one in the group. There are too many of us now to go un noticed by the authorities. We have to walk lightly and be sure to not stir any shit. We have fought for our right to fish and we all hold a high value on our right to fish. I feel like the most important thing is not catching a bigun now but being able to continue to fish in the future. Longevity is the true secret to shark fishing.
Some of the pics will be of sharks on the deck of the pier. These sharks have been roped and brought up, the hook removed, a NOAA tag placed in it, the rope and a tag line put back on the shark and lowered back to the water and released. No gaffs are used. We have had four tag returns this year. All tigers. One was at liberty for 10 months and we caught it again! We caught our own tag! That's a trophy! We also caught one of our own tagged tigers 9 days at liberty. One was a long line harvest and another was an illegal Mexican long liner confiscation. The tag returns say a lot about our releasing techniques. We have several utube videos now. Kenny Peterson put a bunch on there that Orrin filmed. Orrin is our camera guy. He is in a rolling chair and can't fish so he does all the videoing. The videos shows our roping techniques.
We caught over 20 hammers this year. No dead wash ups. An un real summer! Biggest hammer go
es to Neville at 9'11". Most in the 8'-9' range. Several 8'+ tigers were caught. I think the biggest was a 9'8" fatty off the pier by me. The Makos were amazing this year. We caught 7 makos. The biggest going to Will at 10'8". It was a monster!! I got two, Will got two, Neville got two and Joey got one. I let one of mine go with a tag! The first Tagged and released land based mako! A couple others has been let go just with no tag.
I have really enjoyed sharing the knowledge I have gained over the 30 years of sharkin with all my friends. I hope I have helped point everyone in the right direction on the morals and ethics of shark fishing. Hope I have set a good example. I'll get some pics posted soon.
Awesome Youtube video shows the power of a mako and trying to catch one from a pier is difficult
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGpsxQVI ... ata_player
Joey Polk
Joey and Will
our headrope at work is an incredible tool in our almost perfected pier fishing
common to catch spinners sharks around 7 foot or more
to tag and release some of the sharks we catch without beaching them, we devised a system to haul up and over the rail up to around 400 lbs
Land Based World Record #5 short fin Mako 700lbs
Team
Land Based World Record #8 Tiger shark 928lbs
True
Land Based World Record #9 Tiger shark 949lbs
Blue
SFSC Panhandle Events Coordinator
Ernie I think ur team has caught more sharks last year then all tge teams put together. Way to go man
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DIRTY SOUTH SHARK HUNTERS
2012 1st place BLACKTIP CHALLENGE
2011 NO LIMIT TOURNAMENT CHAMPION 2nd year in a row
2010 BHC biggest hammerhead shark on 80 lb test
2010 NO LIMIT TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
2010 BHC 3rd and 5th place biggest shark
2010 april sharker of the month
2009-2010 Rookie of the year
Wow!!!! Great job on tagging and setting a great standard for the boys to follow. How many days do you shark?
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TEAM GETCHA GETCHA SHARKON
WOW!!!That's one heck of year and a KICKA$$ recap
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
I fish 4/7 days a week from November to March. Maybe 3 if they ant biting.
Land Based World Record #5 short fin Mako 700lbs
Team
Land Based World Record #8 Tiger shark 928lbs
True
Land Based World Record #9 Tiger shark 949lbs
Blue
SFSC Panhandle Events Coordinator
Respect... Awesome report. Keep it up so guys like me have something to read and gawk at.
WOW,WOW,WOW,nice report and catch sheet Ernie.Sure you guys aren,t using longlines also for a catch sheet like that?(just kidding)Keep up the great work for 2014......Dave
Quote from Earnie Polk
"We all have to do things right so we can all continue to fish. It comes back around to "ya either with us, or against us!" Everyone who fishes with our group has to follow along with everyone else. It's not me who makes the rules, it's every one in the group. There are too many of us now to go un noticed by the authorities. We have to walk lightly and be sure to not stir any shit. We have fought for our right to fish and we all hold a high value on our right to fish. I feel like the most important thing is not catching a bigun now but being able to continue to fish in the future. Longevity is the true secret to shark fishing"
These words ring true and more so now in 2014.I am thankful to have other shark fishermen who understand the need to walk softly and not create NEGATIVE PUBLICITY for our growing sport.
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
Quote from Earnie Polk
"We all have to do things right so we can all continue to fish. It comes back around to "ya either with us, or against us!" Everyone who fishes with our group has to follow along with everyone else. It's not me who makes the rules, it's every one in the group. There are too many of us now to go un noticed by the authorities. We have to walk lightly and be sure to not stir any shit. We have fought for our right to fish and we all hold a high value on our right to fish. I feel like the most important thing is not catching a bigun now but being able to continue to fish in the future. Longevity is the true secret to shark fishing"
These words ring true and more so now in 2014.I am thankful to have other shark fishermen who understand the need to walk softly and not create NEGATIVE PUBLICITY for our growing sport.
Well Said ....
Thanks for posting the pics Will. Thanks for all the nice comments everyone.
Land Based World Record #5 short fin Mako 700lbs
Team
Land Based World Record #8 Tiger shark 928lbs
True
Land Based World Record #9 Tiger shark 949lbs
Blue
SFSC Panhandle Events Coordinator
Awesome Ernie! Who says 13 is unlucky? 
Janet
That's good stuff right there Earnie!!!! Awesome!!
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Impressive guys. Congrats on a great year.
It was a hell of a year for sure with a great bunch of guys! I can't wait to see how 2014 turns out! You da man Earnie!!
Wow Ernie you guys are beasts !! Any 11 ft plus tigers last year ?