PAN HANDLE REPORT--TEAM REEL FAKE

Well finally after much talk and planning me and the guys met up on the FL Panhandle last Wednesday. We had quite a crew meeting up. My son Hunter, Bill Firedawg, Joey Smokinya, Little John, Dan Whiteshark, and the TX Mafia – John Hesbin and Aggie Joe.

Actually the report needs to back up one night to littlejohn ‘s 8ft 3’’ lemon that he beached tue nite—that was his personal best and one hell of a shark—just a little taste of whats to come—john—what a way to get us started

We arrived late Wednesday afternoon and Bill caught a small shark on his surf rod before we arrived. We knew it was going to be on and immediately headed to our spot. A couple of hours before dark we had out several baits. We had kingfish heads and stingray.

For the first couple of hours after we had our baits deployed, we sat around and started catching up with each other and really didn’t have any action. Bill and the guys demanded that I not put off the shark dance and after having a little talk with Mr. Crown Royal, it was asked of the sharking gods to have grace and fulfill our sharking dreams. I haven’t done the shark dance in quite a while and the power was built up and in full effect.

About 10PM Little John had to leave because he had to go to work the next morning. Like our last trip if you left your rod it was definitely going to get hit. The start of this trip was no different. About an hour or so after John left, his 9 gets a really strong run and Hunter get’s strapped in. After a stout battle a 5’11” black tip was beached. We were all so excited and high five’s were given all around.

Because of the trip and the late hour we all decided to hit the tent cots. This night turned out to have very little sleep because of the constant runs we had throughout the night. About 12:30 the lucky 12 goes off and everybody is scrambling to get out of their tent cots. I don’t know how to describe when you are dead tired and passed out and then within minutes your body is just pumping adrelin-- it’s a crazy feeling. Hunter does the honors and pulls in a 5’11” black tip. hooking and taking some pictures we sent this fat little toad back to the depths of the dark ocean. Because we were so pumped up it took us a little while to settle down, then we all got back into our tent cots.

Because of the constant runs that we had all the timelines are kind of blurry. I just know that I was back in a deep sleep and Bill’s 12 starts singing. Here we go again. Dead tired and full of adrenalin. Bill muscled in a Bull. Man is there a big difference in the way these sharks fight when they get over 7 feet. We were all amazed at the girth of this beast


As soon as we released Bill’s shark we notice that my 12 only had a half of a spool left. I forgot to set my clicker and we had another Bull shark pull over 500 yards of line without us realizing it. Hunter again started winding it in and he says I think there’s something on here a sure enough another 6 ½ ‘ Bull is beached. We all started saying to each other, this is the night we’ve all been waiting for and it still wasn’t over.

It all runs together at this point but again my 14 starts screaming and again we all jump out of our tent cots and after an exhausting battle Hunter reels in another 6 1/2’ Bull. We are all about delirious at this point but so excited that we have started out in such a great fashion. Once again turn in and try to catch a little sleep.

Just before day light my 12 has a blistering run we all stumble out of bed, disoriented trying to find the tail rope, the d-hooker, the measuring tape, everything is just scattered up and down the beach due to all the hard and fast action during the night. I immediately knew this was the best shark that I’d ever hooked up with. After about a 20 minute fight, I pull in a personal best (by two inches again) 7’ Bull. By the time we get the pictures and return the shark, it is just getting daylight. We all look at each other a have a big group hug and reminding each other, this is what it’s all about. The good times are rolling and we’ve only been there 12 hours. 7 sharks in 10 hours that’s the way we like to roll.



That day we didn’t have any action until right before dark. Bill hooked up with a 7’ 11’’ Lemon, that was a handful for Bill to beach. It took three of us to pull the shark up on the beach far enough to get the hook out. Bill was so excited and had mentioned earlier that he needed a new species of shark and now it was in front of him lying on the sand.




That was the only shark of the day and we actually got a much needed night of sleep.
Friday was a bust. We had fresh stingray and other baits outs all night . We had a couple of big runs but got cut off. Oh well, that’s sharking.

Saturday morning, we decided it was time to re-locate. We went through the whole process of packing up and getting more sail cats and stingray and setting up a new camp. By the time we re deployed baits we had 9 rods spread out over 300 yards of beach. Right before dark Joey gets a small run on his 14.

About 10 o’clock or so, Bill has a strong run and finally beaches another Bull that was pushing 7 foot. Again more pictures were taken. We noticed what we thought was a growth on it’s back. It looked like some kind of worm. Bill grabbed it and was going to pull it off and saw it was actually a tag with the numbers. As of today we haven’t be able to find out any information but are eagerly waiting to see where this shark was originally caught and tagged. So another first, a tagged shark.

At about 11 Mr. Lucky 12 has a small run on the sliding trace. We all gather around the pole and start waiting. I have learned my lesson about trying to set the drag prematurely on these sharks. After about few minutes, I carefully reel in the line to re-set the sliding trace. After a short while, it does a same thing, there’s a short run, we all get ready and nothing happens. I re-set the trace again and after a little while for the 3 time, the line is pulled out 20-30 yards and nothing. Once again, I re-set the trace. The forth time is the charm, the stingray was picked up and this time didn’t stop going out . After quite a bit of line had been pulled off at a steady pace, I gave the star a big turn and the rod bent over double. This was a big shark still pulling off drag. The following is Hunter’s personal description of that fight:

‘’At 11 o’clock on Saturday night, just as I laid down next to my dad in the tent cot, his 12/0 started clicking off. For about 30 yards the shark took line. As soon as I could strap my belt on, it he spit the bait. 3 minutes later the same identical thing happened. As soon as I was in the fighting harness he spit the bait. After another 5 minutes the same thing. By that point I decided I was just going to keep my harness on and wait for him. I stood there for about 45seconds (yeh, a lil bit inpatient but I needed to set the trace again). Finally, after another minute or so he decided he was too hungry to mess around and the fight was on. All in all the shark and I were in a battle for about 45 minutes before he hit the sand. When he finally got there it was an 8 foot lemon shark. Not only did I catch my personal best that night, but I also caught a new species, for me anyways’’
(pic to follow
After Hunter landed this shark he just fell back in the sand was just drained. we all started reminiscing about what a great trip this had been. With all the companionship and the sharks caught, it just doesn’t get much better. Hunter even started a new version of the shark dance that reminded me of the old dance move, the worm, funny as hell and we all got a great laugh.

That was all of the action for the night and the next morning we packed up and got ready for the long trip back to Memphis. Joey stayed and I got a call that his son Jacob caught a bull shark about 9:00 am. Jacob is only 10 years old but he is truly one of our hard core sharkers. The little guy is just full of energy and a great addition to the troops. He probably gigged 10 stingrays that morning and was a big part of our success, because of the bait he a Joey caught
Sorry that the pictures are going to be a little out of order because of all the cameras but there should be a ton of pictures to follow.


From Team Reel Fake we hope yall enjoyed this report. This will be one of the many reports that will be put up this year. Congratulations to all.
random pics









SHARKIN SONNY---the shark dancing fool-------
sorry some of pic are out of order but the general idea