My good buddy, Bill, is a hard core boat angler who loves to go on the hunt for Mutton. His dad is a well know surf caster in Montauk for Stripers. After a few trips to MTK and a couple of beach trips in S. Fl ...Bill is recreating himself as a shark fisherman. We put in a few trips for Blacktips this year. The focus was learning the ropes for the BHC. Bill"s dad was so happy that his son is spending time on the sand that he bought him a left handed Van Staal. Bill even had a custom rod made for his new reel.
Bill landed a few sharks on the setup and did a good job of handing the sharks correctly, however this story has a very sad ending.
Mo
He moves down the beach to pull in my blacktip. He dehooks and released the shark. We walk back to camp, Just 10 yards away and I say to him, "Bill, where is your rod" He thinks I'm pranking him but he quickly relzed this was not a prank. We saw his sand spike on the floor facing the ocean and a trail in the sand where his reel/rod was dragged into the surf. Bill went swimming in the ocean, at night, full of sharks during the blacktip migration to recover his gear. He didn't go out to get his gear due to the value or since it was about a month old. He went out after the reel because his dad gave it to him as a gift. A very sentimental gift. He went back the following morning and snorkel out about 75 yards with no success.
If any one finds a left handed VS250 with a custom black 9ft rod attached to a shark, well, it belongs to Bill.
TEAM GETCHA GETCHA SHARKON
I remember that story, hammer in those sand spikes deep boys