https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/ South Florida Shark Club | Shark Fishing Forum and History Discussion Board en-US Tue, 18 Aug 2026 23:41:38 +0000 wpForo 60 https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/epic-14-ft-1-inch-hammerhead-takes-the-lead-in-the-2015-bhc/ Fri, 01 May 2015 13:06:29 +0000 When positive things happen in our lives sometimes they are Turning Points that help us feel reinvigorated with a sense of purpose and an appreciation of our blessings.For a mountain climber it's reaching the top of Mount Everest ,in the 100 meters it's beating Usain Bolt's World Record,for a distance runner it's running a 4 minute mile and for a land-based shark hunter catching a 14 foot HAMMERHEAD SHARK is the epitome of our sport.To witness first hand ,to be able to assist and coach a young shark fishermen to a catch of a lifetime ,to experience such a giant being caught is a memory that will live in me forever.To have such a great group of shark fishermen near this young men when this monster bit his line was the luck of the Irish .To have old man JD Hammer next to us ,to help coach us with his near 50 years of experience was significant in the final outcome.To have such talented dedicated shark fishermen like Juan Mejia a South Florida Shark Club member and Captain of Team Comp Tackle,Team mate- Stuart Tucks ,and other avid land-based shark fishermen like Jd Fagan, James Fuqua (JD Hammer),Jonathan Polsino ,Scott Sorensen and Chad Smith next to this young angler when he hooked this MONSTER of the deep was a blessing for him. To witness this catch first-hand has given me a renewed vigor and a better sense of my purpose in this sport .In the sport of land-based shark fishing I have felt blessed with inspiration and driven with passion to give of myself freely with nothing more to gain but the satisfaction of doing a good job for the sake of the sport and the fishermen in it. Last night was a culmination of many years in this sport. Three Teams fishing side by side were able to make this catch a reality.The BIGGEST SHARK I HAVE EVER SEEN UP CLOSE WAS CAUGHT LAST NIGHT. Last night all the stars lined up ,the shark Gods were with us ,and the right people were there to make possible such an Epic catch .This catch is good for the Big Hammer Challenge Shark Tournament and it is good for the sport of land-based shark fishing when we can safely Catch and Release such a large Apex predator. A 14 foot 1 inch hammerhead caught by a 22 year old fishermen after a 2 1/2 hour fight is a significant catch in any part of the world whether caught on a boat or land--it is a MONUMENTAL CATCH ;a milestone few will reach. The lucky angler Tyler Swerlow of Team "Comp Tack" deserves our praise and our thanks.Thank you Tyler for the adventure. Team Comp Tackle Dreams do come true, 14 ft 1 inch hammerhead last night Angler Tyler Swerdlow 14 foot 1 inch Hammerhead Shark 9/0 Duel 2 speed Video # 1 http://vid989.photobucket.com/albums/af ... u1wwdx.mp4 the incredible videos we took of this awesome battle and the shark itself Video 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1pFvKoaEdo Video # 3 https://youtu.be/_LFYgcXDGa8 the fight lasted 2 1/2 hours Tyler wanted to puke but hung in like a true champion OFFICIAL Overall LENGTH Picture OFFICIAL TAIL PICTURE EXTRA PICTURES the celebration among all present begins right after the release ]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" william https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/epic-14-ft-1-inch-hammerhead-takes-the-lead-in-the-2015-bhc/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/massive-australian-14-foot-land-based-tiger-caught/ Tue, 07 Apr 2015 19:41:41 +0000 y Max MuCLOSE TO 14 FOOT LONG,,HUGE! Caught bggeridge  Tiger shark report By Max Muggeridge -Australia I have finally achieved what I considered to be the epitome of land based catch and release shark fishing, an easily 1000lb plus tiger shark. This shark was almost a decade in the making, and absolutely tested everything I have learnt in that period of time to the point of breaking, myself included. 12'6 inch / 3.84m TO THE FORK!!! Female tiger shark. Most large tiger sharks (12ft total length) have a gap between the fork to the tip of the tail ranging between 1'6" to 2ft so that PUTS THIS SHARK 14ft to 14ft 6inch overall length!!! (For those who are dubious please consider the current catch and release WR tiger shark held by Joey Polk: 10'8" fork length, 12'9" overall length --- difference 2'1" from fork length to overall length, add the fact a bigger fish will obviously have a bigger tail) This is ONE of the largest tiger sharks ever caught off a beach, anywhere, ever. What's even better, is that it swam off with no hesitation. The report: After getting absolutely hammered up at rainbow beach with the weather all for nothing spectacular fishing wise I made the call to head back down to a beach in NSW that I have had some success with in the past. The first night baits sat there with no touches, apart from my sand bag letting go on the 80w around 3 am so I chose to reel it in and leave it be untill the morning. Morning came and just as I was about to reel in the senator 12/0 around 715am it slowly started to tick over. I let it have it for a decent amount of time, not expecting much as this was my small bait for the night. But once I tightened up the drag and the 24/0 circle hook dug home I knew I was engaged into something I potentially couldn't handle as I was fishing just myself and my gf, on an almost 40year old penn senator 12/0 antique!!! Not wasting any time I instantly locked the drag down to full, and shoved my hands in the reel for extra pressure which in turn the shark picked up pace, heading straight out. There was nothing I could do, I was going to get spooled. My reel got so hot I couldn't touch it, we poured water over the reel and that left me with a big cloud of steam blow up in my face.... My only saving grace was after a 900m continuous run, (I only had 50ish meters left on my reel!!) it suddenly turned hard left! That enabled me to sprint down the beach and start to use angles to my advantage, and that's the only reason I was able to stop this fish, which is a scary thought. Had it have continued on it's way another 50m this report would be a completely different story! The first hour this shark absolutely made a mockery out of me. I was hurting bad, really bad. I've never been in so much pain. Sun burning in my face, shocking burns and blisters all over my hands, sweat and sunscreen dripping into my eyes, and my whole body aching from holding the intense pressure for such an extended time. Thoughts crossed my head like I can't do this, It's too big, I'm not prepared enough, I'm on my own..... The second hour I slowly made progress, got it to about 150m out when we got our first glimpse of it, when it jumped out of the water!!! What a sight, I have never seen that before! I called big hammer while gasping for air. As I thought the fight was coming to a close it then proceeded to do another 600m run straight out, on lockdown drag with my hands tightly gripping the spool ignoring the painful burns and blood blisters. I was 100% drained by this stage. That run crushed me mentally, I felt like giving up. I didn't know how much longer I could possibly stand up to this shark. Just as the third hour ticked over I managed to get it into shore. Being an absolute monster I left it in the water as much as possible, quickly removed the 24/0 circle hook which was perfectly hooked In the corner of the jaw, got a fork measurement (everytime I went for an overall it would kick me off- remember I was fishing solo and this shark was a lot bigger than me and in water) got a few quick photos and sent her off on her way! I swam out after her to make sure she swam off ok, but she quickly out swam me which was a great sign that she had recovered quickly. I collapsed on the beach and tried taking it all in. I had just achieved everything I had ever set out to. It was surreal. The time was 10.30am, meaning I was on the rod and reel for over 3 hours. After the fight, apart from being extremely sore, I observed I had guzzled down over 6L of water during the 3 hour event, My beautiful antique 12/0 metal plates have actually warped out of shape!! the spool now moves side to side about 3cm, the drag plates are completely burnt out and the clicker is broken, and my rod actually came seperated when the epoxy cracked where the grip joins onto the reel seat, and the blank has a stress crack running right up it now under the abuse I put it through, But I cannot thank it enough for holding up to a fish of a lifetime. It will now be gracefully retired as a wall hang next to a blown up canvas print of the shark. I cannot thank everyone enough who's played a part in making this possible. Right from when I was a rookie sharker asking everyone stupid questions. I would also like to thank our followers. You all motivate us to fish harder, to kayak baits through surf at 2am when it's a lot easier to just jump in a warm sleeping bag. I wouldn't change the experience for anything in the world, it was true old school sharkin. Monster tiger, on a penn senator. What more could you want!?!?! Max TBDsharkfishing]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" william https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/massive-australian-14-foot-land-based-tiger-caught/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/first-great-white-ever-caught-from-florida-beach/ Mon, 02 Mar 2015 14:31:38 +0000 http://www.wideopenspaces.com/first-eve ... sive-pics/ ]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" Scott954 https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/first-great-white-ever-caught-from-florida-beach/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/joey-polk-does-it-again-10-ft-9-in-mako-shark--2015/ Fri, 20 Feb 2015 19:23:40 +0000 A big CONGRATULATIONS to Joey Polk on a monster catch.Joey Polk has done it again catching a huge 10 ft 9 inch Mako Shark from a Panhandle beach.He braved the freezing 30 degree tempatures and was fishing with his legendary shark fishing cousin Earnie Polk.Year in and Year out, there is no more consistent land-based shark fishing Team in Florida then 'Team True Blue' out of Navarre Beach ,Florida.Joey Polk caught the existing land-based Mako shark in 2014 with 805 lb specimen that measured 11 feet long.See the pics and the link to the story at the bottom of this post JOEY POLKS WORLD RECORD MAKO viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8796 Joey with his massive Mako Joey Polk with the World Record Mako and the full moon in the background shining down Joey Polk]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" william https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/joey-polk-does-it-again-10-ft-9-in-mako-shark--2015/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/australian-10-2-quot-land-based-bull-shark/ Thu, 12 Feb 2015 15:12:37 +0000 Here's the full report and photos. Please let me know if there's an issue with them coming through. Cheers. 10'2" Australian bullshark full report When we planned our woodgate beach trip, it was figured that would be our last trip for the year due to how long it can take to acquire necessary bait and rig traces for such a trip. However, driving home from woodgate, after our success with a solid tiger and lemon shark, motivation was running high and it left us all wanting more. Dwelling upon the thought of doing one last trip for the year, I contemplated and eventually decided to proceed with a very last minute and hasty overnight trip to moreton Island (a large sand island off our coastline) Phone calls were made, plans were arranged, schedules reorganised and within an hour one last night on the beach was planned for the team. We all arrived at my house around 6am Tuesday morning, and made the just over an hour long drive to Redcliffe, where we met up with our guest for the trip, my dad. The boat was loaded up, and a big breakkie was in order before the 5 of us launched the boat and made the 40 minute trip across the bay to moreton island. Rods were quickly assembled, heavy 4mm plastic coated 49strand traces consisting of 24/0 circles and 18/0 7669s mustad seamasters were rigged up to each respective rod. We were all running healthy sized freshwater eels for bait this trip, after an awesome eeling session a few nights previously. Sandbags were filled, tied off and baits were deployed. Let me tell you, it was such a breeze running baits off the inside of moreton island with the comfort of the tinny and no surf to contend with, especially with many hands to help out! (Almost 99% of our coastline has treacherous surf making land based shark fishing impossible) Just on nightfall James's 80w went slack, which we reeled in to find had been ripped to shreds. While we were busy examining James's bait, with the last few rays of the sun poking over the horizon, Jyes 130 Santiago made a slow but steady run, then stopped. We quickly helped harness him up while he prepared to set the hook. We waited what felt like an eternity before it started spooling off the line at a much faster rate! Drags were set, hooks were engaged and we were on!! The shark really put some pressure on the 130 in the early stages of the fight, so the drag was slowly increased to just below full. After approximately 15 minutes of the shark making powerful and blistering runs, the shark started to mellow and Jye began the long process of pumping and winding in the unknown beast. This stage lasted approximately 20 odd minutes untill we had the shark approaching the shore break, just out of sight. Now this is when the shark really started to come to life. Swimming horizontally to the beach, it just remained out of sight for a while before sprinting roughly 80m out, to be wound in again repeatedly. Finally an opportunity to secure the tailrope was presented and me and James grabbed it with both hands! The bullshark was pulled up, measured 10'2" to the tail with a fork length of 260cm. Hooks were removed and I walked the shark out to waist depth water, where she swum off perfectly! Couldn't ask for a better release! The rest of the night was relatively quite, apart from small sharks diminishing our bait stocks until we ran out. All in all, we couldn't have asked for anything better off a last minute trip! Go pro footage is up on YouTube now to view Till next time, screaming reels! Max and the TBDsharkfishing team!Below the Youtube Video and pics,thanks for watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGtcMWLMV6w ]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" Team Big Dog https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/australian-10-2-quot-land-based-bull-shark/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/i-caught-a-great-white--nov5-2014/ Wed, 12 Nov 2014 21:33:19 +0000 http://www.calvarytempleyouth.wordpress.com I also landed a citation Bull Drum. I was kayaking out beyond the second bar and dropping fresh mullet on an 18/0 hook with a 15' leader. I was fishing 100lb. braid on a Penn Senator 9/0 reel. My whole family helped bring the fish in. Leave a comment on my blog if you enjoy the post. I will try to figure out how to post pictures. Until then enjoy and keep those lines tight! ]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" Shark Man https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/i-caught-a-great-white--nov5-2014/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/peter-buban-s-giant-9ft-10in-bull-shark/ Sun, 28 Sep 2014 22:22:37 +0000 ]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" Blacktip Hunter https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/peter-buban-s-giant-9ft-10in-bull-shark/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/2014-south-georgia-sharkers-summer-report-best-ever-/ Wed, 06 Aug 2014 19:21:58 +0000 early this summer we had a sharpnose invasion, and this was the first shark we had caught on casted gear besides sharpnoses. a 5'10" lemon. we got this big 6'8" tipper using a sharpnose as bait. got the big gear set up for the night. one afternoon we were surprised by two big bull reds on the casted rods. new spot. a few sexy baits. these next few are all boat sharks. small tiger 8fter a couple other good ones. got em on big aj for bait while fishing in Grayton Beach nice blacktip on a 5000 spinning reel. (lip gaffed and released) two lemons from a nearby creek. bigger lemon at that same dock. swimming out baits big 17 lb bonnet 7ft tiger off the SSI Pier bowed up on a nice blacktip. 6ft bull caught on the back half of an AJ moose flounder off the pier. big ray on casted gear rare Georgia snook two nice ones we lost while fishing the jetty. went down to Fernandina Beach for the day and caught 1 blacknose and one blacktip. Heres the tipper and heres me fighting the blacnose also got a few small runs in fernandina on another bait and reeled in this hope you guys enjoyed, hopefully we can get a few more good sharks this year before our season starts to slow down!]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" southgeorgiasharkers https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/2014-south-georgia-sharkers-summer-report-best-ever-/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/record-tiger-13--13-ft-6-inch/ Thu, 03 Jul 2014 15:26:13 +0000 ]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" snappersniffer https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/record-tiger-13--13-ft-6-inch/ https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/hammer-time--11-foot-2-inch--june-2014/ Thu, 26 Jun 2014 19:23:24 +0000 ]]> Best "SHARK FISHING Reports of Year's Past" JD553 https://www.southfloridasharkclub.com/community/best-shark-fishing-reports-of-years-past/hammer-time--11-foot-2-inch--june-2014/