2010 BHC Kickoff Shark Tournament Jan 8-16/Mar 12-20-2010

Rough on the beach last night with Josh(blacktiphunter)and Shannon temps in the low 40's,flat seas bluefish biting, the rain started at 4 am so that put an addional hazard to our fishing but we hung in there and caught a big O!!!Heading south in the RV to fish long key an the keys now after a quick shower ,Good luck to everyone out there .

Rough on the beach last night with Josh(blacktiphunter)and Shannon temps in the low 40's,flat seas bluefish biting, the rain started at 4 am so that put an addional hazard to our fishing but we hung in there and caught a big O!!!Heading south in the RV to fish long key an the keys now after a quick shower ,Good luck to everyone out there .

Yeah it was tough out there, but good times!!

Good luck to everyone fishing the tournament!

This has been by far the worst weather ever for a shark tournament,,,,,,It's so cold we are seeing in the keys fish stunned by the cold water floating under the keys bridges(never seen that in the keys before).Last night two teams in this tourny combined forces to fish in the keys with less then favorable conditions with nothing to show for our efforts other than good memories to last a long time.Twelve rods were deployed with prime bait but the sharks were completely out of zone on this night-Not one single run.Outside it was cold and miserable but inside the shark club RV the heater,pleasant conversation,and good food kept our spirits on high.We shared a few brews and a warm meal with our shark fishing compadres who were grateful to have a log cabin atmosphere inside the cozy old battlewagon while outside the cold artic blast raged on.After dinner we gathered around to talk strategy and watch some of our favorite dvd's of past fishing adventures on the plasma tv .Thanks to Shannon,Jd Hammer,Colby,Jd Fagan,Alex,Mark and Adam for making the night one to remember despite the bad weather.Were it not for our box on wheels i doubt any of us would of withstood last nights freakish winds combined with popsicle tempatures. We hope to be back at it as soon as the conditions look favorable. Ten/four over and out!!!

Thanks to Will and his RV this may have been one of my favorite keys trips despite not catching anything and the harsh weather conditions, I feel that I learned very much from this trip. After a quick and hard earned lunch break this afternoon in Key West our team has returned to Miami and is packed up to leave for fishing tonight where we hope the unpredecidented weather will not continue to effect us. I know that the weather has been harsh on us all, but I have great respect for all you out there that fishing this tournament, It really shows the dedication you guys have to our sport.

Good luck to all and I hope to be seeing some monsters on this thread within the next couple of days.

P.S. Concerning the dying fish.. I recieved a phonecall from my boss at the tarpon and bonefish research center at UM and he told me that 30 bonefish were found dead on a single beach in Islamorada this afternoon. This massacre of fish due to the cold weather is very sad and I hope that all consider this when it comes to keeping fish for the upcoming year.

A few pics of the first two days of fishing in the Artic freeze of 2010.
PALM BEACH




Josh joined us under the umbrella canopy/igloo

HEADING SOUTH-THE KEYS


In freezing tempatures Shannon yaks out our baits with his feet covered in bags(a first)

we bar b q on just outside of the Rv and the dry weeds catch fire for a second

I loved the pictures! JD Hammer told me he took his baits out in the yak dressed only in his undies & that he couldn't feel his feet by the time he got back. Where was that picture? OOPS! I forgot this is a family site.

The coldest water ive ever been in. by the time i got out with the first 3 baits i litersally felt like my feet had frost bite. when i jumped to the sand from the kayak my knees buckeled cuz i couldnt feel my feet. that was brutal but a great great time after the kayaking in extreme weather episode. I had to put sox and bags around the sox after the 4th bait out because i didnt want to lose my feet lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But it sure was a great time afterwards!!!

If you cant find sharks anywhere just come to Juno Pier and catch the Tips. Hundreds at a time around the pier right now. I usually wouldnt say anything but I dont want that lying, cheating piece of crap _ _ _ _ _ _ to win this tourney with Juno Pier black tips. Just dont try to bring any big reels on but all you need is a 4/0.

Chris I understand that you have an personal issue with this young man but remember that he had adults guiding him in what was done.Please take it up with him via a pm or email.You should respect my efforts to maintain a clean site and know that i don't put up with bashing ,,,,,,I'm not going to make an exception now.I think that it's a mistake to start bashing a fisherman on an open forum during a tournament.This website has maintained the peace by not tolerating the kind of behaviour that is common on other fishing sites.I work very hard on this website to offer everyone a place where they can feel at home,comfertable, and post there catches without the fear of being attacked by someone else on the forum.I think as an adult with a 20 year old son myself I can understand that young people make stupid mistakes but should be allowed to redeem themselves and allowed prove themselves .I can not judge him on what took place in the past but I can make sure that the the rules in this tournament are observed and respected by this young man. We are all human ,we all make mistakes and can be forgiven so please keep it clean or I will clean it .

tippers? anything bigger?

I am glad that the sharks are still around after hearing reports of dead ones washing up

Nothing bigger just tips, but tips are better then nothing and its pretty much an instant bite the second a bait hits the water.

Making a mistake is one thing but once you get caught cheating and apologize then do the right thing and return everything you unfairly won, which has never happened. Hey but your right Will its your site so thats the last thing I will say.

So tonights the last night and I know everyone has been fishing hard despite all of the hard conditions. Our team calculated that we have had baits soaking in the water for at least 63 hours so far this past week, using fresh bait everytime. We have fished Miami, West Palm Beach, Boyton Beach, Juno, Key Biscayne, Virginia Key, No Name Key, and Long Key with no avail but we have definitley become better fisherman througought the process. Here our some photos from the past week.

NO Fish for us!!!Yeah we could of targetted blacktips on the piers but it's not what we fish shark tournaments for,,,,,we fish for the big fish.I witnessed first hand that every single person that entered this tournament put forth superhuman effort,and spent lots of money traveling to catch sharks in the face of overwhelming odds.My hat's off to those who put forth so much time and effort.We Had a great time fishing -spending time with old friends in the great outdoors and best of all meeting NEW shark fishing friends from all over different parts of Florida ,,,friends like Doug(stpetesharker)Derrick,Franky,Vick,Frank and Brandon who we met on our last night of the competition.Reaching out and meeting new friends and sharing our passion for this great sport makes all our hard work worth it.Making new friends and breaking bread with them has a special human quality that cannot be quantified in terms of dollars spent--it is part of what we at the shark club are all about.Creating friendships and fostering close bonds among shark fisherman.We're tired of all the bickering amongst the land-based shark fisherman and are working at overcoming the strife. I have great respect for those shark fisherman who continue there fight when conditions point to possible complete failure,,,,it shows character and a fighting spirit needed to become great in this sport.All teams displayed a fighting spirit to the very last day of this competition. Massive fish kills were evidence that indicated we were fishing during a week with record breaking low tempatures, the coldest waters in Florida's history(both east coast & west coast).The massive fish kills that followed the frigid temps was further indication that the sharks would also be affected in there feeding habits.I want to thank Colby Uva for putting on this website his Second Annual Kickoff Tournament and for all his efforts.This young man is a full time marine biology student at the University of Miami and despite his studies and work at the Rosentiel Research lab found the time to bring forth this one week tournament born out of his love and passsion for land-based shark fishing.Next time I'm sure he will schedule his tournament during the warmer months.In the future I personaly will only fish tournaments where I can target the BIG SHARKS and that's not in January or February.

LAST TWO DAYS OF FISHING




WEST PALM BEACH







MET NEW SHARK FISHING FRIENDS FROM FLORIDA'S WEST COAST TEAMS DOUG,DERRICK,FRANKY,VICK,FRANK AND BRANDON

Thanks Colby.

We fish hard, every night, we might have not caught any sharks but we learned new techniques and are better off for the next tournament. It was fun fishing with and against all of you.