I want to give a Big shout out to Will for putting on the Big Hammer Challenge. Sorry to hear about all the BS and drama but I guess we need to take the good with the bad. (unfortunately)
I caught my first Great Hammer head and saw my first Tiger Shark (which was also my team mate's first Tiger). I can honestly say that these catches would not have happened if we were not participating in the BHC.
Some back story:
I started shark fishing in 2012. I participated in the 2013 BTC which was a very unsuccessful attempt. For the 2013 BHC I didnt have a team. When I tried to register SOLO, Will said I would have to have at least one other person for safety reasons so I registered my Brother and fished mostly solo. Everyday I checked the leader board with amazement and wondered how everyone was catching all these fish! When my brother did come out, it was a good time. The only fish I did catch in the 2013 BHC was a 7'10" Lemon on spinning gear (which was my first catch on the new combo at the time). The whole gang was there and it was my first catch in a long time, good feeling. That was like a week before the tourney ended. I could not wait for the 2014 BHC.
I skipped the 2014 and 2015 BTC tourneys b/c of multiple factors but when the 2015 BHC was announced, I was pumped. I didnt have anyone for a team but I knew I would figure something out. I had gotten much better at fishing over the last 3 years and would not miss the BHC for anything.
One night I went north and met up with Chris Licht on the sand to drop some baits. The action was minimal with a couple missed bites but we were chattin and he asked if I wanted to be on his team for the BHC and I said hell yeah. After all, he was on the legendary Black Bart team that caught like 66 sharks in one BHC so I knew could learn a few things. I knew I was going to fish anyways, so why not drop some cash and have a chance at a prize. Being in the tourney also pushed all of us to fish a little harder than would have.
Our team was a scattered bunch from JAX, to Riviera to Pompano. Given our different home towns, we would fish solo or a couple of us would meet up during the week, then we would all meet up on the weekends. We tried up north, down south, in the rivers and off the bridges.
With the big east coast waves, we hit a bridge and I got my first Bridge shark. It was an 8' lemon and it put a hurtin on me. Whole new ball game there.
With just under two weeks left, I met up with the guys up north. I made the drive b/c the surf report said flat and the webcams looked good. It was all lies and propaganda. We waited for the surfers to leave. They were catching friggin barrels! Just before dark before I paddled out the bait. We had a fresh jack and I just drove some miles so I was determined to try and get a bait out. It was the most whack conditions I had ever paddled through. At one point I was air borne in the yak and had to catch the yak with my heels! I would not have been there in the first place nor would I have even attempted to paddle out if it was not tourney time. If this was my local beach, I would have turned around and went to taco bell. Before the night was over, I had pics of my first Great Hammer Head.
8 days later I made the drive north again. We had nothin but mullet and an old bonita. It was the last Friday to fish the tourney so we had to give it a shot. Chris put out the Bonita and I put out the biggest mullet I had, on the 80W LOL. I ended up with a cuda on the mullet. I knew I had hits but didnt know I had a fish LOL. BAIT! I put the cuda back out and got a 7'8" FAT bull shark. She was small compared to the bulls on the leader board but she was tail wrapped for a while and we though I had a nice cash fish until she unwrapped herself. She was also my first bull in over a year! 2 Minutes after we released her, Chris's rod went off and he landed a his first Tiger. HE was so stoked, I was so stoked. it was Nuts! We had our best night so far with hopeless bait! We only tried b/c it was tourney time!
It was an awesome month with great catches and a few "Firsts" and it was all thanks to the Big Hammer Challenge.
A big shout out and sincere Thank You to Will Fundora, Founder of the Big Hammer Challenge.
Awesome Report and a boost for my morale which has been a bit in the dumps from all the BHC BS . Proud that the BHC was the push that got you your first Hammer. You guys did an awesome job Chris Licht is a superb fishermen and a better person.Thank you for your efforts in the tournament and thank you for your support.
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