Obsessed since childhood...

h2oTom · 2013-08-07T18:50:19Z

Hello everyone! My name is Tom and I'm somewhat new to fishing...but I've been obsessed with sharks since I was a young kid. I guess it probably started when I saw Jaws for the first time. I grew up in Philadelphia and moved to Port Charlotte in 92. While in PA I did some freshwater fishing, mainly channel cats and trout. On vacation, as a young kid, we would head to Ocean City, MD...here I got a small taste of saltwater fishing and sharks. We would go to the Oceanic fishing pier and catch all sorts of stuff...never any sharks though. I would always drop what I was doing and sprint down the pier to go see a shark being reeled in by others and wished it was me. When I moved here, I really didn't know much about the waters here and how to fish for what lives in it...so I haven't fished for the 21 years I've been here. That all changed when, after years of wanting one, I purchased a kayak. I originally set off to buy a kayak suitable for overnight camping trips...what I ended up with though was an Ocean Kayak Trident 13. After a friend at work saw my kayak, he insisted that I should try fishing from it. So I went to Fishin' Frank's and bought a rod and reel and paddled out Gottfried creek to the flats by Stump Pass. I was amazed at how many fish I was catching...I was (pardon the pun) hooked! In July, I took the kayak out to Boca Grande and decided to paddle around the back side with some chum and some pinfish for bait. That's when I caught my first shark. I reeled in a 2.5' blacktip. I was stoked to say the least. I tossed him back and a few minutes later, I had a 3 footer! Since then, I've caught a few bonnetheads and a 4 foot nurse off the Boca Grande pier. It's finally me catching the shark instead of watching someone else! Now I want to get into catching something a bit bigger than some baby blacktips. Some friends, and SFSC members, suggested that I come here to learn. So here I am. Excited as hell and can't wait to catch a giant. Right now I've got a healthy collection of lightweight and ultralight tackle, but nothing really huge. My largest setup is a Star Rods Stellar Light 7'6" paired with a Penn Spinfisher V 6500LL, spooled with 350 yards of Power Pro. I'd like to get something bigger when funds permit. So that's my story! Thank's for reading!

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h2oTom

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