2nd Annual Blacktip Challenge Reports (2009)

ATTENTION!

To all anglers fishing the tournament,

Please post up your reports and sharks you catch in this thread.

You must email all photos and required information to submissions@blacktipchallenge.com

Just spoke to Aaron and Jimbo they are on the west coast stocking up on fresh cownose rays for the Blacktip Challenge,,,,,they've got like 11 rays so far.The best bait to last all night on the hooks and attract the biggest sharks,,,,,to hell with them bluefish for bait!!!

LOL.. Amen... Big Cudas,Rays,Jacks,AJ's,Bonito's,Kingfish.......

I only got one Tip on Saturday and tagged it, the tag Number is B312545. The seas were ruff and cold, could not go out with the big baits. Good luck all.

Shark = Male Blacktip

Total lenght = 71.5
Total girth = 33.5
Fork Lenght = 55.5

Pics sent by e-mail:
Photo 5503 = Blacktip flag
Photo 5508 = length far pic
Photo 5509 = Total length close up
Photo 5512 = Girth pic
Photo 5513 = Ridge and tag pic
Photo 5515 = Release----I know you didn't ask for one but I included it.

Nice catch sir.You are the leader it seems at this time.

Nice one Herb!.......one of our "lil rodents"....Mike.."772kayakhunter" is fishing this and he doesnt have internet yet , due to a resent move so ill be doing his reports ( he is e-mailing the pics from McDonalds to josh) yes i said McDonalds...?....hmmm anyways!.....he caught 2 on saturday one short bull and one that just made the board. he fished today and caught more short bulls.....no spinners at all, i think the cold water pushed them out it's 60 degrees surf temps so.....will see what tomarrow brings.. good luck to all !..mike

Thanks people....

All I got got Sunday were three male Black Tips.

#1 was 71" and 3/4" Total Lenght
58 and 1/2" Fork
33 and 1/2" Girth

#2 was 67 and 1/2" Total Lenght
51 and 1/2" Fork
31" Girth

#3 shark was 62" Total Length
49" Fork
29" Girth

I caught 6 Tips yesterday
#1 61in Tip (Has a deformed tail), 54 fork, 31 Girth, tag - 312570

#2 73in Tip, 62 fork, 37 Girth, Tag - 312571, Female

#3 69in Tip, 59 Fork, 33 Girth, Tag- 312572

#4 64 in Tip, 54 Fork, 32 Girth, Male, Tag - 312573
(Dont have pick yet)

#5 68 in Tip, 57 Fork, 34 Girth, Male, Tag - 312574

#6 74 in Tip, 61 Fork, 40 Girth, Female, Tag - 312575

Thanks people....

All I got got Sunday were three male Black Tips.

#1 was 71" and 3/4" Total Lenght
58 and 1/2" Fork
33 and 1/2" Girth

#2 was 67 and 1/2" Total Lenght
51 and 1/2" Fork
31" Girth

#3 shark was 62" Total Length
49" Fork
29" Girth

Nice one Herb!.......one of our "lil rodents"....Mike.."772kayakhunter" is fishing this and he doesnt have internet yet , due to a resent move so ill be doing his reports ( he is e-mailing the pics from McDonalds to josh) yes i said McDonalds...?....hmmm anyways!.....he caught 2 on saturday one short bull and one that just made the board. he fished today and caught more short bulls.....no spinners at all, i think the cold water pushed them out it's 60 degrees surf temps so.....will see what tomarrow brings.. good luck to all !..mike

78 Tip, 65 Fork, 43 Girth, Female
The only shark I got last night but a really nice Tip.

WOW!!!What a great day we had on the beach today .Days like today reaffirm that my passion for this sport is real ,and makes my committment to helping it gain the respect it deserves stronger.After spending a whole night at one of our spots without a bite, we decided to meet up with Josh(blacktip hunter)and the Paxton brothers Tuesday morning for some fun in the sun and a chance to tangle with some blacktips on light to medium sized tackle.My friend Jimbo and the young shark fishing phenom Aaron Bunch (941 sharker)and i arrived early and soon we were hooking blacktips and having a great time and quickly adapting to a new style of shark fishing for us.The new style involved casting baits with long spinning rods from a rocky shoreline.It reminded me of the style of shark fishing that is done in South Africa using 14 foot surf rods.We have caught plenty of sharks on spinning and conventional tackle while targetting fish such as snapper,grouper,mackeral,and kingfish in our times but have seldom targetted sharks specifically on this lighter spinning gear.Sean and Brooks Paxton set up there equipment and were soon able to catch on film some great action .Within a couple of hours time three blacktips were caught,tagged,documented and quickly released .On hand to oversee the tagging was Pat Ford a representative from the National Marine Fisheries Service the organization in charge of the Apex Predator tagging program.After the morning session with the blacktips it was time to rock and roll with the Big Boys that we like to target so we brought out our big guns and in a big surf,and a strong current and a dangerously rocky shoreline the young Prodigy shark fishing phenom Aaron took on the daunting task of yakking out our big baits past the roaring surf without missing a step.I can't say enough about this young man and his potential to become the next Rene de Dios .He is gutsy,fearless ,dedicated, and a focused firebrand that has got the right stuff for a bright future in the sport of shark fishing.The highlight of the afternoon was the solid hit I got on my 16/0 using 10 lb bonita that was completely engulfed in one bite 30 minutes after Aaron dropped it 300 yards offshore beyond the raging surf.The way in which the shark picked up the 10 lb bonita and ran in a steady deliberate way indicated that this shark was large without a doubt.The rocky shoreline and strong current caused by the high surf and wind created a dangerous belly in the line that tends to drag along the bottom and snag any coral that sticks up off the bottom.The instant i set up on the shark the line allready caught on a piece of coral was instantly sheared off and I reeled up about 30 feet of frayed 130 lb test line. We had a great time fishing ,filming and hearing Jimbo tell shark fishing stories to the Paxton brothers.Today was a good day and one which I will remember for a long time.

Monday night on the beach with Jimbo and Aaron

The new Emotion "Spitfire" kayak on the beach -a very nice riding addition to our team

The first night on the beach the full moon came up a dazzling Orange ball of fire from the horizon and lit up our our camp.My camera could not capture the true spectacle that was the moon creeping out of the ocean with such colors and brilliance reminding me of how great it is to be alive and able to witness such remarkable beauty. WOW!! natures work is truly unparalled.

Tuesday we meet up with Josh on the beach

The entire crew comes together to fish and film


Josh and Pat Ford the NMFS apex predator tagging program representative.

Aaron and I setting up the rods in the holders

The action quickly starts with Pat's husband hooked up

The shark is leadered and held for measurements and tagging


Josh removes each and every hook with a dehooker

I hook the next fish and lose it quickly

Aaron is the next one to hook up -thanks to Josh

Aarons first blacktip of the tournament a male with a 66 inch overall length,57 inch fork length and a 32 inch girth measurement-tag #312990

Aarons second hookup

Second blacktip for Aaron(941 sharker) a male 69 inches long,57 to the fork and 32 girth-tag #312991

GREAT TIMES
The day's events,the lifelong frienships made,and the stories told while waiting for the next shark bite will be etched into my memory forever.Thanks to everyone present for sharing your time with us in the great outdoors ,competing in a tournament and helping science in there efforts to better understand and preserve world shark populations.Also i want to thank my Team mates Jd Hammer and young Aaron Bunch who today proved his worth as a vital part of shark fishing Team "Hammer N the Phenoms" and i say to all -keep an eye on this rising shark fishing star because you will see much more of him in the coming years.

Will, Thanks. We're having too much fun monster hunting with all the anglers involved in this event. With a good case of sleep deprivation, we're going to work our way back from today to Sunday with a quick flyover of just a few of the moments we've found ourselves in since Friday night. The bottom line is we've been welcomed into each and every camp and enjoyed the chance to watch you all in action, while sharing some stories of sharks-gone-by. No time for captions. It's late and tomorrow comes quickly. Most of you will recognize the faces. p.s. We're trying like hell to hook up with every angler and team out there. With three days left, that might just happen, but please know we appreciate each and every one of your efforts and participation, no matter what. NOW, GO AND CATCH SOME MORE DAMN FISH!

Cheers & Tight Lines,
The Paxton Brothers

It is always great to see good daytime pics. I wish I didn't have to work so I could do the same. It was nice meeting the Paxtons and it was nice fishing side by side with the hard core people that ruff it out there all the time. Good luck to all. Here is my fishing report from the last three days:

Yes, these are not massive shark and we do not target them unless we are in a tourney to get a few extra points. But hey, it's all there is out there within reach in the boundaries set on the tourney. I just wish that the boundaries would have included all of South Florida including the West Coast. There would have been some nice size sharks on that board by now.

Went out on Sunday Feb 8th , took my 3 hour drive to one of the designated boundary areas, on the way I got a call from Josh who told me that the sharks were about 1 mile from where I would normally fish so I went to that spot and got there at 6 p.m.. There were about 15 others fishing and they were all trying to cast their baits out as far as they could or they tried to get the kayak out as well. It was great to fish with them especially with Pete and Maneater which I camped right next to, sorry people but that beach is long, and I did not want to walk too much I hate sand (can you tell by my weight?), and there was indication for a nice drop very close to the beach. I placed my kayak on the ground and thought to my self; “why would I kayak out big bait just for it to get hit by sharks that are swimming in the first gut? No need to go out that far” So I did it again, I walked my bait out into the water and threw the brick with bait a few feet in front of me. Of course people were like WHAT THE F ARE YOU DOING MAN? And I told them "just getting the bait in the first gut" this is something normal for people in this site, some do it all the time in the Keys… Well, a few minutes later and zzznnnnnnnn a 71 and ¾” BT on the line, winched it in, tagged it, and released it. Most people started to toss their baits out into the gut and then we were all on, at one point there were 5 sharks on and all were landed just about the same time. Many of us lost a few since the sharks were just carrying the baits in their mouth and were not actually biting it. After fishing 4 hours I left as I had to take the 3 hour drive back home and be ready for work at 6:00 a.m.

On Monday the 9th I called my buddy Alex who has been trying to get on a shark for a year already. He was there the night before and did not get a single hit. He did not want to go and was almost ready to quit trying. I spoke with him and asked him if he was wearing any lotion on his hands and then handled the bait? I found it weird that for all this time he has not being able to hook up on a shark. Low and behold he did not admit to the lotion but did say he was wearing cologne and told me that next time he would wear gloves to handle the bait. So after talking to him I convinced him by telling him that the chances for the sharks to hang around for another night were good and we would get there at the top of the high tide and would be able to get the scent out as soon as the tide started to go out. So we had to be there at the right time since I had to drive 3 hour fish for 2 hours and head back home. We got there and I tossed my first bait out and I helped my buddy with his bait selection. I had already explained on Sunday where to toss the bait and he also practiced bringing in a shark with a heavy rock, LOL….he dropped his bait and a few minutes later zzzzzznnnnnn he gets his first shark ever on his 6/0, 50 lbs test line, and 5 foot rod. It was a nice 69.5” total length, 56” fork length, and 35” girth black tip estimated at 85 pounds Black Tip shark, great for a first shark. I grabbed it by the tail and brought it in, measured it, tagged it, Alex took his proud pic with a smile from ear to ear and a "I CREATED FIRE" attitude, I then released the shark. All this happened while the Paxtons were filming, it was nice to meet them as well.

Here are the pics from Sunday (fished 4.5 hours):

The tag

Here are the pics from Monday (fished 2.5 hours):
After talking to Alex he says that he will not be fishing for anything other than sharks, every thing else is just bait. Sounds familiar?

Tuesday I fished 2 hours and no bites what so ever.

I hope you all catch that monster, I will try one more time on Thursday.

Till next time!