Mark, Lance and I had a blast out there and were glad to be a part of Team Cluster$%#. Thanks Will for putting on such a great tournament, and I cant wait to do it again next year.
Team: Hammer & the Phenomes
Angler: Shannon Bustamante
Shark: Blacktip 5ft
To Will and everyone who makes this tournament possible, Thank you for your hard work!. You guys are the best.
And thank you to all the teams who competed, for making this such a great event.
Mark Conner, thanks for taking the lead and putting the team together this year. Matt, Tommy and Lance, great job.
It was an honor competing again this year. I'm looking forward to seeing the leader board.
Mark A. Duncan (madshark)
Member Shorebound Anglers Alliance
IGFA World Record Holder - Pinfish
IGFA World Record Holder - Bonnethead Shark
Texas State Record Holder - Scalloped Hammerhead
1992 Texas City/LaMarque Jaycees Tackle Time Tournament - 3rd Place Tiger Shark
1992 Texas City/LaMarque Jaycees Tackle Time Tournament - 3rd Place Open Shark
1992 South East Texas Sport Fishing Assoc. 20th Annual Hall of Fame Tournament - 1st Place Ling
1992 South East Texas Sport Fishing Assoc. 20th Annual Hall of Fame Tournament - 1st Place Hammer Head Shark
1992 South East Texas Sport Fishing Assoc. 20th Annual Hall of Fame Tournament - 3rd Place Bull Shark
1993 South East Texas Sport Fishing Assoc. 21st Annual Hall of Fame Tournament - 2nd Place Tiger Shark
1993 South East Texas Sport Fishing Assoc. 21st Annual Hall of Fame Tournament - 3rd Place Tiger Shark
2011 5th annual SFSC BHC Team Captain - Team Clusterf*ck
2011 5th annual SFSC BHC - 2nd Place Most Sharks Caught By a Team
2012 6th annual SFSC BHC Team Member - Team Clusterf*ck
Hammer wranglers just wanna report 3 more catches. Pics will be posted tomorrow.
Jr. Angler Austin got a 8'3" lemon and a 7'5" nurse
Nino also got a lemon.
Well thats it for us, can't wait till next year. see y'all around
-Rico
All PICTURES MUST BE POSTED NO LATER THEN 5 PM TODAY MONDAY MAY 14,2012
Awesome reports everyone!!! I'm really proud of the effort put forth by so many individuals and Record number of Teams (43 TOTAL) that fished in the 2012 Big Hammer Challenge.Some Teams caught more then others,and other Teams only fished searching for the one stud shark but whatever your motivation was it is your tireless efforts and struggles to fish hard through thick and thin that holds the greatest value in my eyes.This year marked the year that I turned 50 and I wanted to challenge myself like never before,I wanted to prove it to myself that at 50 years old that I could still compete against men half my age and some very wise older ones.
Fishing with Billi and Jonathan at the Ft Pierce inlet
Our Team (Shark Fever) fished many different beaches both on the East coast and west coast of Florida,we fished different Jetties and Bridges and the effort by my Team mates this year really paid off with some extraordinary catches.A big 'Thank You' to my Team mates Billy,Ryan,and Matt and young Tyler Parker without you guys I could not of done it. I spent the hardest month of shark fishing in my entire life during this year's Big Hammer Challenge and can't wait to do it again next year.I am finally relieved for the chance to finally take a break from the marathon shark fishing of the past month - the burned out 
feeling and delirium 
were starting to wear me down and reducing my ability to focus on other matters ,,,,but I LOVE IT AND WOULD NOT HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY.
west coast fishing at the world famous Boca Grande
Our gratitude for everyone who participated or supported in one way or another an angler fishing in the 2012 BHC.Many of the folks who support us go unmentioned but we know who you are ,the loving wife ,girlfriend or family member who put up with us walking in the house at 5 am turning on the lights and making too much noise after a night of shark fishing and those same folks who lovingly prepared some hot food so could have something to eat while out on a cold windy night,,,,,,you are part of the Team -the human Team.
messing around at Burger King Billi and Jonathan pose for a pic before the long drive back to the East coast of Florida
Everywhere we went we met people fascinated by what we were doing and sometimes we met charcters that fascinated us with there American Classic lifestyle ,In this pic we have Daniel a Ft pierce resident who spends his days fishing the Ft Pierce Inlet jetties
Many nights we drove home over 80 miles bleary eyed and tired from lack of proper sleep drinking a Red Bull or coffe to keep from falling asleep at the wheel.McDonalds and Burger King for breakfast was our routine many times when we were far away from home and needed the energy to get back .Many days our Team mates we pushed each other and motivated each other to continue fishing in moments when what we wanted was to be home with our families.At times the Team on the verge of collapse because of the different personalaties but ALWAYS A DESIRE TO FISH AND TO COMPETE,,,WE NEVER GAVE UP and for that I am grateful.
fishing the beautiful Fort pierce inlet
If you did not catch the shark you wanted we hope you feel satisfied in your gut that you gave it your your very BEST and that is all we can do.
We are very grateful to the many out of state Teams that made the trip down to sunny Florida to fish some of the sharkiest waters anywhere on the planet.Some Teams came down two and three times to fish the 2012 BHC and for your dedication a big THANK YOU!!.We know how much planning and effort these sharking vacations take and how much money is spent to make them a reality.
Thank you all for believing in our organization (the South Florida Shark Club) and our tournament enough to participate in the 2012 BHC .Your efforts and confidence fills us with pride and joy and encourages us to continue forward with our involvement and leadership in the sport of land- based shark fishing and in hosting the only month long WORLD CLASS CATCH AND RELEASE shark tournament "The Big Hammer Challenge Shark Tournament".Very few if any tournaments last a complete month and none have so many Top Notch shark fishermen competing against each other so with that knowledge each and every angler that participated in the 2012 Big Hammer Challenge should be commended for there participation in the world's toughest shark fishing event.A big CONGRATULATIONS to each and every one of you for your dedication and hard fishing ways.
As a team this year our Team Shark fever worked well together and fished alongside many other teams during the entire month and the fact that we combined efforts to fish with other competitors in the tournament says lots about the character of the anglers fishing this tournament.Winning is great but making new fishing friends and learning to work with other teams while helping each other out is even GREATER
fishing Jupiter Inlet looking for that giant river BULL SHARK with other teams
top notch gear from Van Stall spinning reels to Duel big game monster reels
the mystery fish that got away
Hitting the west coast with 4 other teams including Lake Worth Sharkers,Team Huge Gear,Nut Gobbling Red Rocketeers and Team Reel Steel members
\
Chasing Sharks 
and having a good ole time at Long Key bridge with best of friends ,,""It don't get better then that"" 
SNIFFER!!!AT IT AGAIN TRYING TO EAT OUR 90 LB Aj HEAD ....this is the greatest shark fishing dog ever- never satisfied to just watch he wants to eat the shark bait before the sharks get to it,, LOL
We look forward to seeing all of you next Sunday May 20th at John U Lloyd state park in Dania Florida for the Awards party,,,,the best trophies and prizes ever.
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
Team True Blue ended up with 15 sharks that includes 2 hammers, 2 tigers, 1 lemon 3 spinners 5 bulls 2 black tips and 2 sandbars. None of our team took off work. I had 2 days a week off to fish along with the rest of the crew. My days off are weekdays so Tater and John fished the weekends and I fished the weekdays along with Brett and Joey. We deployed close to 175 baits through the tournament. The largest we landed was an 8' bull. As luck would have it our big fish ate the bait connected to our 9/0 . Brett fought the fish for 2 1/2 hours on the 9/0. The 9/0 had 900yds of dimond braid Momoi . I managed to get my 80w tied into the line on the 9/0 just before the mono backing. We put as much drag as we could without the splices breaking. Within 15 minutes the fish had the 80w striped off also. I was in the process of tieing a 16/0 in to it, and the loop knot broke at the end of the rod.Knot Failure!!!! All on count of my over hand loop knot at the bottom of the spool. Braided line is not forgiving on the knots ya tie.
Congratulations to team Hammer Wranglers on the big win.
Nice tiger Shannon and nice hammer JD. Team Hammer N the Phenons rock
Will and team Shark Fever was something else.
As for us, I'm fishin tonight tomorrow night and thursday night and Tater will be there the weekend. As i've said before I aint no tournament fisherman. I fish all the time!!!
Land Based World Record #5 short fin Mako 700lbs
Team
Land Based World Record #8 Tiger shark 928lbs
True
Land Based World Record #9 Tiger shark 949lbs
Blue
SFSC Panhandle Events Coordinator
Hammer N the Phenoms still has a Nurse and 2 Lemons to post. Will try and have them up by 5PM.
Luis Nurse Curse
JD Bridge Lemon
Luis bridge lemon
Team: Hammer Wranglers
Angler: Nino
Shark: 92" Lemon
Angler: Austin
Shark: 99" Lemon
Angler: Austin
Shark: 89" Nurse
can ninos prize be a new digital cam?
BIG PROPS to Will & Co. for making this gig happen! World Class (record breaking) Land Based Shark Fishing the likes of which have not been seen on FL beaches or anywhere - for that matter. GRATS to the Winning Teams for a job well done!! Maybe someone will film this entire event next!! Awesome job to all!! 
Team: Total Release
Angler: Kyle
8ft 4inch Lemon
FIRST PLACE BIGGEST SHARK
I made this post prior to Rico diamandi catching his monster Hammer
SUPER MOON MEANS SUPER HAMMER
"It's time to make a dash for the finish line with just over a week left to fish the Big Hammer Challenge.Time to seek out our theory on the full Moon Hammer and make it happen once again.We hope everyone is fishing hard this weekend and looking to hook up with the winning fish of the tourney,,,,the big boy is still out there."
AGAIN IN 2012 Team Hammer Wranglers Rico Diamandi PULLS OFF THE VICTORY WITH A HUGE 13 ft 3 inch Hammerhead.THEY SAY LIGHTNING DOES NOT STRIKE TWICE IN THE SAME PLACE BUT IT SURE DID STRIKE RICO TWICE CONGRATULATIONS ON A GREAT CATCH.
Team: Hammer Wranglers
Angler: Rico Diamandi (Junior Angler)
Shark: 13' 3" Hammer (Female)
Tagged, Dehooked, and swam off strong
SECOND PLACE BIGGEST SHARK
JD Fagan 10 ft 10 Hammerhead shark Team Hammer N the Phenoms
JD measuring it. 10ft 10inch
THIRD PLACE BIGGEST SHARK
CJ of Team Lake Worth Sharkers gets the third place shark.
Cj is on to the biggest shark of the night a hard fighting and verfy surf stubborn Tiger 10 ft 9 inches
FOURTH PLACE BIGGEST SHARK
Billi Centrone of Team SHARK FEVER gets the third place Biggest Shark Award
Angler- Billy Centrone
Team-Shark Fever
Species- Hammerhead Shark
Length- 10ft 7inches
FIFTH PLACE BIGGEST SHARK
Shannon Bustamante of Team Hammer N the Phenoms takes the 5th Place trophy with his 9ft 9 inch Tiger Shark
Shannon extremely excited to catch his BHC Tiger
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
Tommorow morning we finish posting all the winners and will post the last week's graph.
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
i just want to say congratulations to all teams that fished hard this year. it is not just Will that makes this tournament possible it is every one that fishes it and uses these message board. Hopefully next year we can make this tournament bigger then it has ever been.
Again congratulations to all Teams and tournament organizers for bringing this tournament to us and keeping it alive all these years. Lets do it again in 2013.
Just a few pics to recap the Hammer and the Puenoms turny.
