Got a call from Sonny at 7 am saying "hey we just caught an 11 foot tiger and a 8 footer yesterday you better get up here soon" that was all I needed to hear and I rushed out the door to catch my charter boat buddies at the boat docks before they headed offshore for a day of fishing.With a cooler full of choice baits thanks to Ralph for the bonitas and my road dog Kenny for the hook up with the big AJ and Cudas.The next step was to start calling around and see who could make the 650 mile trek north for two two days to fish tiger land panhandle.Chris Fronzek said he had a few days to spare and so I picked him up and we headed north to meet up with our tiger hunter buddies.
Joey (far left) with his two kids and Sonny's sons Hunter and Jordan also pose with the 11 foot Tiger
This Tiger 6 ft 6 inches caught by Sonny's son Hunter just hours before our arrival
Chris(cfronzek)poses ready for his first Panhandle adventure
the beach was beautiful but very hot and humid
the beachside rental was very comftable and welcome arms made us feel like family
three kayaks ready for bait deployment Chris fell in love with the beauty of the place
Sonny is a an exceptional individual,a superb family man and a very good friend
Big baits deployed we gather before sundown under the tarp for some great barbq ,cold drinks and great conversation with exciting talk of catching a giant 13 foot plus TIGER -Thanks Andrea and Sonny for the barbq
THE SUNSET WAS SPECTACULAR and the clear skies lit up for another beautiful Florida night minus the bugs
we sit around with the kids waiting for the bite
Chris and I are very greatful for the hospitality that was offorded us by Sonny, his wife Andrea,Joey, and there families; they made us feel right at home.The bite when we got there was a bit slow but as night fell and the early hours approched we got inta a few sharks but not like in previous trips where we had multiple hits at sundown and throughout the niight .
the first night Chris gets hooked using a fresh bonita for bait
not a striper but a nurse on the sand to ankle slap and harass us
The second day the bite was still slow but we keep baits deployed 24/7 hoping for a change in the day-bite.Always one of us stays on the beach while we take turns getting some much neede rest.A supperb breakfast was prepared by Andrea for all us and we were ready for battle once again.
Jordan gets hooked up
a braod dorsal comes out of the Gulf green water and I shout out "it's a bull" 
Joey at over 6 foot hauls on the tail rope like a strong man competitor with camo shorts(butt cracx 
tan line not included)
Jordan with his 6ft 5 inch Bull shark classic Youth fiber and 8 pack shot ,,one for future conversation saying "look kids I was skinny at one time"
Sonny a proud dad with his son Jordan's first bull shark and Joey pose for a pic
fat little sucker
Throughout the day we are in the beach trying to stay cool and we are suprised to see the 50 yard long schools of baitfish(glass minnows and pilchards) swimming around us heading north and west eventually.The selection of baits offered to the sharks was just incredble -fresh gigged rays,Bahamas trigger fish,fresh bonitas,cudas,half a 70 lb AJ on the 16/0 and every other BIG SHARK bait imaginable. The second day seeing that the short drops are not getting us the results we were expecting Chris and i decided to try some Palm Beach style long drops and so we waited once again on a slow bite but still hoping for the giant tiger bite that never materialized.We are used to hooking the big fish and it's what we always hope for no matter where we fish we wish for a big dawg shark and many times it happens.We were having a good time regardless of the heat and slow bite and Chris is just delighted to be in a new place,bonding with a solid core of shark fishing buddies.
the sunsets are breath taking
Chris does the sleeping bag crawl hookup using his circle hooks---""hated it"" 
solid hookup with a head shaker 400 yards out
big boy lemon shark at 8 ft 3 1/2 inches long
Chris poses with his first lemon ever,,a very nice first at over 8 foot
Sonny and Chris both pose with the lemon
Shark fishing has taken me to far away places and taught me some valuble lessons in life that i try and pass along to every one I can 'it's not the where you're going but enjoying the ride along the way'.Sonny and Joey have just put togerther the best shark trip of there lives and we are proud of there well planned out and sucessful shark fishing trip.I will say to anyone that will listen "GOOD KARMA will catch you big sharks" and Sonny and Joey have lots of it-these are big hearted man going places in this sport.I want to thank my co pilot Chris on this trip for the good conversation on the 9 1/2 hour drive.A special thanks to Sonny and Andrea for the hospitality and to Joey and the kids for letting us see that great families still exist and THRIVE in these very difficult times.If every shark fisherman on this site had the giving heart that Sonny Soule has we would all be much better off.Once again ,Thanks Sonny and to everyone that made this another great Florida shark fishing adventure.
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
Congrats on a BIG Tiger there fellas!!!!! Awesome!!!!! That 6'5 Bull and the 8'3 Lemon have some girth on them!!! Chunky ones right there. Nice going guys!!!!
All the sharks moved to the panhandle, wasn't a single shark in west palm beach , nice sharks
Just an average fisherman.
Wow that was a well written report.will , Congrats to all.
Thanks for taking the time to do so.
Glad to hear about the panhandle trip will and chris sound's like you had a fun trip with some great friend's that's what life is all about (Great Memories). Great catches you guy's keep up the good work.
DirtySouthSharkHunters
______________________
Seawolf
Nice mixed bag of suits. The Mega Shark Tourneys on this weekend
in Pensacola. As of yesterday they'd put 3 large tigers on the board
the largest so far is 850. They also put a huge hammer on the dock
over 10 ft and a by catch black grouper at 108lbs. Thats not to far
off the record I beleive. Pretty exciting tourney this year as far as
size and the crowds were crazy. university of Mississippi there doing
research on the animals......
Great write up Will. It was a trip that for me came out of nowhere. Will called me at 8 in the morning and a couple hours later, we were on the way up north. Beach was beautiful and sharking is allowed 24/7, very different thank what I’m used to down here. I thank Sonny and Andrea for letting us into their home and providing us with the best-cooked meals I’ve ever had while shark fishing. Their whole family along with Joey and his kids were involved in the fishing and that was really cool to see. I want to thank Sonny again for driving me 30 miles out of the way to get my medicine, it was a outstanding gesture and even more so, since we had just met the night before. The sharking was slow, but they did a get a bull and it was good to see a decent shark on the beach.
I fell asleep next to my rod the second night, and was awoken by my reel screaming on a bonita that had been soaking for about 7 hours (no crabs up there). I never left my sleeping bag until the shark was on the beach, which I’m going to try to employ as often as I can (hopefully Sonny has more pictures of that). Finally caught a shark on a circle hook and my first lemon was a lot of fun.
Once again, I want to thank Sonny, Andrea, and Joey and family for an awesome trip. Thank you to Will for giving me the opportunity to come up and putting me on a last shark before I start school again.
chris----here are some pic of you
Thanks Sonny.
Very cool photo! Looks like a blast! 
"He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction" (Proverbs 13:3).
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Congrats on all of you're guys catches!!!!!!!!!!thats 'GOOD SHIAT!!!!' 