Stuff ya should know.

Coming to fish our beach? Things you should know. Our beaches are crowded and if it's warm enough to swim there are folks in the water all day. When tourist season comes around it is best that we shark fish at night. If you catch a shark with swimmers present there is a chance it will bite them. Like in California last year. We are under a microscope on everything we do. All it will take is one more incident of that nature and our rights will be taken away. If ya on a pier and hook a shark during the day and ya have to beach it around swimmers, is not good at all. You should not target that fish during the day. Wait and do it after dark. The daytime fishing isn't against the law but we must govern ourselves enough to be able to press on with our hobby. The dead hammers ain't squat compared to what daytime shark fishing can bring us. One mans quest doesn't justify compromising everyone's rights. Had a fwc officer ask about my tiger today. Someone said I harvested it. I have video to prove other wise. He said if I had pulled it up in the dry sand it woulda been considered harvested. It never left the water. There are four sets of eyes in every window on those homes and high rise condos. They have video and spotting scope to nose in everything ya do. Always someone watching.
After ya shark fish all night and have several baits left over, ya can't just throw it in the surf. Take it back out in the kayak bout 200yds or take it home with ya. Nothing like leaving a big fish head in the ditch by ya least favorite persons drive way. Lol. Again it's not the law but it is what a responsible fisherman does. Camping on the beach is illegal. Sleeping on the beach is also. Do not block the beach. Leave ample room for folks to walk by. Again, it's common courtesy. Leaving nothing but foot prints and drag marks for all to see says a lot. The turtle people are gonna drive by at daylight every day and witness who was there. Using some common since is hard for some folks. The more lbsf is promoted the more "i don't give a shit" people that do it. I've fought hard to keep our rights. But I will not stand up for someone who lacks respect. I actually made an agreement at a county commissioners meeting that we the shark fishermen would govern ourselves and would fish only at night throughout tourist season. They agreed to the compromise v/s putting the no shark fishing sign up. They also added if it poses a problem and is brought up again they will not be willing to compromise. So don't let your quest spoil it for the rest.