I went fishing with a buddy of mine that owns a charter company. ( http://www.fishmiamicharters.com/ ) We did two sword drifts and ended up hooking up a nice fish about 15 minutes into the second drift. The fish took a real nice initial run and as nick fought it I began to clear the stern and prep the gaffs. John did a great job staying on top of the fish with the boat, so after about 20 minutes we saw the light and saw color on nice fish. I was ready on the gaff when it came fully into sight. It was a foul hooked hammerhead. It must have gone for the squid and missed but since the boat was drifting at 5 knots in the gulf stream it was solidly hooked near the peck fin.
We don't usually lip gaff sharks, but this shark could not be controlled by a leader so Brent put a lip gaff in her to control her face and I leaned down to pull the hook out. After snapping a few shots of her we let her swim. We then called it a night because of the impending rainstorm that had been fast approaching during the fight.
Here are some pics.
Colby Uva : Bullbuster Team Captain
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/107013063084498996341/
SFSC-Tagging/Fishing Science Coordinator
That looks like a BIG Hammer .Thanks for the post Colby.
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
awesome picture of the hammer
Nice one, I wouldn't worry too much about a lip gaff, that can be no worse damage than what any circle or J hook could ever do.
Just an average fisherman.
nice fat hammer.congrats 
Very Cool!!!! Looks like a Big Thick Hammer!!!!!
Nice fat hammer. I'd take that over a sword any day.
WAY TO GO PARTNER. 