(2012) Team Reel Chaos lands a Monster Hammer 13 + Long Key

EDITED: story by Big Will J Fundora

Long Key Bridge is a hostile brutal place for any type of fisherman, few shark fishermen have the guts to drop a shark bait there, it’s notorious ripping currents, big wide sharp barnacle filled telephone poles and huge sharks have even the best land based shark fisherman running in fear to beaches up north where they believe they have a chance to land a monster shark. I have been shark fishing Long Key Bridge for years, since the age of thirteen. I have fished there and learned alongside some of the best shark fisherman like Jimbo, Rene and a few others. I have witnessed the best land based shark fishermen win and lose many battles there and since then I have heard horror stories of massive great hammerheads that have wrecked their 14/0’s and 16/0’s and even eaten some of the shark fishermen’s black tips off there line and had even witnessed it myself. About eight years ago, I had a 250-300lb bull hooked up and had a massive hammerhead come up to it and bump it a few times and even bite the bull shark on its tail, the hammer was so big I still to this day after so many years can’t shake the image out of my head. Teammates Shawn and Varune last year had a nurse shark on and had it getting attacked by one of these massive hammers. Even after all these massive shark encounters, I still load my truck, but not with small equipment; I no longer dare to take a 9/0 or 12/0 there. I now have upgraded my equipment to 14/0’s and 16/0’s with 10ft sticks and still like last year 2011 had teammate Shawn hook up to one of these beasts on his 14/0 that he could not stop. Yet, still with odds against me and knowing in the back of my head I have slim to no chance, I still for fun love to go up there on the bridge and feel the power of these massive beasts. I have gotten mixed comments throughout the years from the public while fishing there some fisherman laugh when they see me, thinking I am crazy needing such big equipment yet others like the local tarpon guides laugh from the boats down below and tell me “dream on if you think you will stop that massive hammerhead that eats my 100lb tarpon all the time he is the size of a 747”. Long Key like many other places in April is definitely where the buffalo roam no doubt about it.
On this day wed April 11 I am sick as a dog with bronchitis, sore throat, fever, body ache and the whole nine, my buddy Johnny invites my wife and I along with one of his buddies for a day of spearfishing. My 12/0 like always takes a ride on any boat I’m in during the months of March and April just in case I spot a shark of interest. Johnny and his buddy Jim start spearfishing on a reef south of Long Key in about 30ft of water, and I remind them both that I plan on fishing long key bridge the next day and that I need bait, and to please spear any cudas they see if at all possible. Spearfishing on this particular day proved to be slow they get a few yellow jacks and hog snappers but other than that they started granting me my requests hitting cudas, I begin to get excited as they throw me cuda after cuda in the boat, but the spear fisherman aren’t so happy; they start hitting cudas so big they rip their 400 dollar guns out of their hands and start towing them in the water until the other guy spears the cuda again killing it. On another occasion they have to cut the shaft off their gun, because one of these big cudas got them wrapped on coral rock down below, and now I am not the most popular person on the boat because of my shark bait requests lol, but I Keep screaming at them “more get me more”. They see a sting ray and ask me if I’m interested “HELL YA I AM NAIL HIM!!!” I yell ,they both go down and spear the mud ray and when they rise to the surface to hand me the ray I reach down to grab it and look behind them in the horizon and see Long Key Bridge I tell Johnny ”lets go and put him down live at the bridge.” Tired of spearing me shark bait they both agree and after jumping in the boat Johnny puts the 250 Yamaha at 45knots heading west to Long Key Bridge. I quickly grab my 12/0 and start tying my floating device and one of my double 14/0 hook rigs on and start looking at the ray gasping for oxygen and bleeding out of two spear gun wounds and tell her “Don’t worry baby we are almost there it is almost over”.
We finally arrive to Long Key during an incoming tide, I grab the ray (that’s a little larger than I wanted) weighing approximately 30lbs but toss him in the water anyways with double hooks in his back (knowing the hammers here are huge anyways and shouldn’t have a problem eating such a big bait), for the first 15 minutes the ray appeared dead floating upside down on the surface, until a few minutes later it started swimming right side up and even pulling the one gallon jug under water from time to time, the waiting game begins. The sun on this day is harsh with no wind at all, and had us all on the boat fighting for shade, the water is crystal clear, and not even a ripple on the water the wind is so calm, we continue to wait I can feel the tension on the boat the crew members want to leave but I tell them “Trust me wait it’s going to happen give me more time”. 2and half hours have passed, some crew members are falling asleep when all of a sudden I see it ,a huge dorsal fin breaks the surf about 30yards behind the ray and I scream “That’s it it’s on!!!!”
The massive hammer grabs the ray with no hesitation , and starts charging the boat, I grab the 12/0 and start reeling as fast as I can to bring in all the slack, and as soon as I get all the slack in and feel tension I start jerking the rod with all my strength setting the hook and BOOM she is on. The shark starts running against the current and burning my 12/0 instantly, I start screaming orders “let go of the anchor buoy” and already this massive shark starts heading for the anchor rope we just threw in. She circles around it twice nearly defeating us already by wrapping us on the anchor rope but the captain slams the boat into gear and circles closely and unwraps my line from the rope, she then starts heading for the first telephone pole. I start thinking “this fish is old and smart” a quick maneuver with the boat and I still have her by this time the reel is so hot I already have a tattoo of a star drag on my inner forearm and even a blister on the inside of my left knee from the bearing on the clicker side of my reel. This fish is pissed and starts pulling this 23ft boat with 4 passengers and a full 140gallon tank against the current for an hour and 45mins south about 2 miles and during that time she was still constantly hugging the poles and the bridge, with what appeared to be intensions on cutting me off. At this point I’m completely exhausted my cold and the blistering sun have me saying prayers for energy, this fish caught me with my pants down, but I don’t give up I finally work this beast to the top and she is massive.
I finally after a near 2 hour aggressive tight drag battle put a hurting on one of the fish that has probably been putting a hurting on me and many other shark fisherman while fishing this bridge for many years in the past. My biggest fish before this was a 11ft11in hammer and this fish dwarfed it no doubt her head is massive and her body is thick and I believe she is knocked up with pups. The last part of the video when you hear me screaming “clip it, clip it” (meaning cut the wire), you hear 3 grown men growling and pulling with all their might on the wire to get this massive heavy fish to the surface to clip the wire and get a nice video of it, only then can you really appreciate the true size of this fish. Many people will ask me why didn’t you measure it, and the answer is because trying to measure a shark on a boat that isn’t an open fisherman or a convertible with a huge beam is too difficult one individual would have to hang his body 3-4 feet from the boat near the cabin where the freeboard is very high and there is very little room and someone in the rear to hold the tape on the tail and another man on the wire to hold the fish from moving. It can be done but couldn’t be done quickly causing a long stress on the fish for a measurement that probably still wouldn’t be accurate , I rather not put this fish through that. I wanted to ensure her survival. I want to thank Johnny Carrascal for driving the boat and spearing my bait, I also want to thank Jim Bao Tran, for also helping spear the bait and helping on deck, and also want to thank my wife Irma for helping in landing the biggest shark of my life.

Cutting Fin

Look at that GIRTH on her

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkDVsZRuPiY&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VNDldpw_hg&context=C4c85369ADvjVQa1PpcFMA4TkbuqOGlO7ot-9BUEkuIlKnN9XaX9Y=
MUST SEE!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klxbec0aPFU&context=C4c85369ADvjVQa1PpcFMA4TkbuqOGlO7ot-9BUEkuIlKnN9XaX9Y=
After Release