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Captain Quint · 2016-08-16T08:33:04Z

Project Orca is a massive undertaking to do something that few have done before - not only target and catch a great white shark, but do it from a US beach. (For the next few years, this project is nothing but a pipeline dream but in the future, it will hopefully become a reality) Background: My name is Drew, I am 14 years old and in a few days will be beginning my sophomore year of high school (I skipped a grade, hence my younger age). I live in southeastern North Carolina, about 3 miles from the beach, and I fish pretty regularly. I've been into land based shark fishing for the past few years, however with the exception of the last two months, there was no field experience taking place - just research, research, and more research. Finally, I took a week long trip to Bald Head Island and brought the kayak and two older conventional setups with me (two Ugly Stik boat rods, one paired with an Ambassadeur 7000 and the other with a Shimano TR-200, both spooled with 30 pound power pro) - I threw together a few basic rigs, halved some fresh pinfish I had caught (I didn't want to use anything larger for bait since my tackle couldn't really handle anything massive from the beach) and I was set. Between four trips, I only managed to catch a 10" sharpnose and a 43" blacktip, but it was still fun as hell. Afterwards, I decided it was so much fun, so much better than just sitting on the computer researching, that I bought a 9/0 senator spooled with dacron line and paired with a 6'6" heavy action rod with full rollers (the older Shakespeare Tidewater rod). I think I will be replacing the dacron in the near future because about halfway in, the line is tangled pretty badly which prevents line from coming off the spool. Anyways, I took this to Myrtle Beach, SC for a week but unfortunately didn't manage to catch anything, although we had one VERY strong hit which ended up in the weedwhacker line being abraded to the point of snapping (probably by a rock). I decided that I want to make my mark on the LBSF world, like Rene de Dios, Alfred Dean, or Frank Mundus did. I know that I won't ever be half as good as those greats, but I will strive to be as great as I can in this sport. My goal - to catch Carcharodon carcharias - the great white shark - from a United States beach. To my knowledge, this has been done successfully two times (only counting on the east coast, there are a few more incidents off of California) - one was caught in October 2013 by Jeff Heglund in the Outer Banks of North Carolina (measured at 7 feet 3 inches), and the other caught in March 2015 by Derrick Keeny (of Team Dark Side Sharkers) in Panama City, Florida. There was a well-documented attempt at catching one of these sharks by five of the modern "greats" of shark fishing - our very own admin, William, Blake Smith (of Team Apex), Joshua Jorgensen (aka BlacktipH), Colby Uva (captain of Team Bullbuster), and Tony Medina (captain of Team Seawolves I believe, a generally well known-shark fisherman). Their trip was in 2010, and they came very close (there was a great white about to be tagged right near their baits), however they were asked to leave and unfortunately gave up on the project. Location: Since I live on the east coast of the United States, somewhere along the east coast is the preferred location. California would be easier, but I don't like traveling that far, especially if it's going to California (don't know why, but I cannot stand staying in California). North Carolina would be preferred to cut down on travel costs, however anywhere this far south isn't a great place to see a great white. I decided that somewhere with seals will surely have great whites. I wanted a place where driving on the beach is allowed, and where seals are very common. A place where fishing is popular would help too, in case we ran out of tackle or had to respool a reel or fix a damaged rod. Somewhere near to my dear friend (actually my mother's godmother's husband) Mark is very important, as this is the trip of a lifetime and he is basically my fishing mentor - I don't want him to miss out on it, and he doesn't like to travel far. Lastly, somewhere with good accomodations and food is important. That is why Cape Cod, Massachusetts is the destination chosen for Project Orca (the name Project Orca comes from the famous boat in the movie Jaws). Cape Cod is: On the east coast[/*:m:1qpqx1re] A 4-1/2 hour drive from Brooklyn, NY (the location of my mentor Mark) and a 13 hour drive from my city in NC (would be a fun road trip, and flying would only save 2-1/2 hours due to stops and driving to/from the airport)[/*:m:1qpqx1re] They are known for having seals - and big great whites[/*:m:1qpqx1re] You can drive on the beach (see here for rules and regulations)[/*:m:1qpqx1re] There are almost 20 tackle shops in Cape Cod (which is 340 square miles) - which means for every 17 square mile area there is a tackle shop, and generally you will not have to drive muc...

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Captain Quint

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