2nd Annual Blacktip Challenge Reports (2009)

man....im so sun burnt and burnt out i cant even type and think strait!...lol.....being coach is tuff for the Jr ill tell ya, but he listens well and does wht hes told....

Nice fish Herbert, Aaron, Will and crew and thats a nice fat blacktip Chris.....Glad to see ya out there Paxtons

monday we had a goose egg...nada...tuesday we caught 6 that boosted all our moral after a 13 hr very long day, and a fishless one before...today we hit paydirt again after a long 12 hr day with action so fast right at our feet on a few fish, after hooked up they were quickly landed in few minutes minutes.... so i guess the water warmed up and so did the angler...."scuba steve, grennie, or just hey! what ever i blurt off to call him ! "...LOL.... with a lotta other choice words from me!,.. some benifits of playing coach! but some words were never spoken with me pacing like "oh , please stay hooked" and not wanting to look untill i seen the leaderman hit the water and grab the tail, ...what a relaxing feeling in my position!......we caught 6 again today with one of them was a decent bull that had a little weight to it, nice fish for mike "greenie" to handle, but it was a 40 min fight in the dark with me wading out to grab the leader on where we were hooking them in the dark.....i was pretty timid to say the least in waist deep water after a few of them fast bites before....hope the pics come out!

"Greenie "caught and was seemed plagued with many short fish mostly bulls since the start of this thing, and they wanted to follow the" phone reports "and head south fish elbow to elbow in the pack, i had last say and said well stick it out here and its paying off due to reading the water here on local turf... im a firm beliver in making reports and not following them besides so......back at it in the AM.....Mikes at Burger King e-mailing the pic's to josh, his computers still packed up after a recent move making it a very longer day gheeze !...again....McDonalds and Burgerking has free internet with there meals?.. no way!...boy im dated!!!!!!....off to bed, mike

The last 2 days have run together, as we spent more time with some of the anglers from previous days. Although, Wednesday was quiet where we were, numerous confirmed catches were reported by anglers in other areas within tournament boundaries. Today on Singer Island, we witnessed a feeding hammerhead within 50 yards of the beach consuming a large prey item; possibly one of the many spinner and blacktips we either saw breaching or captured and released. A good source also told us tarpon in the 100 pound class have been rolling in recent days. Anglers feeding the sharks today included Will Fundora, Aaron Bunch, Tom Kieras, Jim Hutchinson and James Hutchinson. We were also joined by some members of the international media including Der Spiegel from Germany with a film crew and producers from Washington and Miami. They were following up with a Frank Mundus story and the work we did with him and just so happens we were involved in this shark venture so the timing couldn't have been better. Needless to say, we enjoyed the opportunity to work with Judy, the Blacktip Challenge spokeswoman. One more day to go. Good luck to all involved and congratulations on one hell of a joint effort from everyone involved. It's not over yet, but it's already been a success in many ways.

Cheers & Tight Lines,
The Bros

Nice fish Herbert, Aaron, Will and crew and thats a nice fat blacktip Chris....

Thanks man, I did what I could with only being able to fish for 2 or 3 hours.Last night I took a big bait out and was not touched and as I was waiting for the big one that never came I busted my toe with a rock while releasing a tip, so this old man is out of commission . I am out with only 6 Tips, it sure was fun.

Congratulations to the winners, whom ever these will be.

...

Well the tournament is over and i want to thank everyone who participated in it.Like Zach from Team Rebel said we were "big fish hunting"we also were big fish hunting but it did'nt happen.It's winter time fishing the big sharks are less abundant in the colder months and not available like in past years.We in the shark club are always grateful to learn more and fish new areas ;it's part of refining our skills.We saw some big fish and had some nice runs but it was'nt to be. I want to thank specially the guys from the shark club who fished so hard and logged so many miles to target the big fish with us,,,,,,,,,,,,it always seems we have to have to work harder and travel far outside of our area in the hopes of competing, but win or lose we truly love it and have been fishing this feverishly in the sun and the rain,in the summer and in the winter for many,many years.Our theory is -You put in your time,work hard at what you do,and you Will Catch The Big Fish. Thanks JD,Julio,Seaweed,Aaron,Jimmy,Joey,Pete,Mellissa and Meir.We gave it our all and came up short but made some great friends and had lots a fun doing it.It felt good to be on the beach and working with Josh ,the Paxton brothers,and so many others and helping the scientific shark research community.We forged a greater friendships and shared some very valuble time together.Thanks everyone.

A very special thanks to Jimmy and James from Venice Florida who traveled over to the east coast to compete,,,,,,,these two fine young shark fisherman were fishing the entire time on the beach,,,,No Hotel or comforts of home.Truly hard core shark fishing.

Anglers meeting with some of the participating fisherman




Tournament founder/director Josh Emerson and I.

Tom (surfrat)and friends

The Paxton brothers filming on location at the angler's meeting

Crews,kayaks and surfboards ready to get it on

Shark club patriarch Jd on the beach

Aaron Bunch with a blacktip

tipper # 2

Will,and Josh. I know this tourment was well put together and planned by both of you,and many other. All I can say is great job,and it was a blast to fish you and the rest of the guys. I hope to fish it next year with all of you.

Thanks for the kind words Will, I appreciate it!

Here is a clip of the winners and their Blackfin Rods:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_K-jGrEM1c

These are some badA$$ Rods!!!

I caught a 72 inch Black tip last December in the backcountry of Big Pine. It was a pregnant female that we let go. I didn't get her girth but it must have been around 33-35 inches.
Any guesses on how much she weighed?

I caught a 72 inch Black tip last December in the backcountry of Big Pine. It was a pregnant female that we let go. I didn't get her girth but it must have been around 33-35 inches.
Any guesses on how much she weighed?

The formula is (fork length) x (girth)^2 / (800)