2011 SFSC Sharker of the Month

Congratulations Zack! that was one hell of a fight, one monster of a shark, and one amazing reel to handle them both. Your one hell of a fishermen, whether your fishing for sharks, sails, and everything in between.

Awesome pic's & catch dude!! SWEET!!!!!

Thanks everyone! i feel honored to hold this title as sharker of the month. thanks Will for nominating me. i could'nt do it without the help of my fishing partners and good friends eddie and steve. they make hell of a team and as a unit we continue to get better. i wouldnt have it any other way, they are great fisherman. thanks again guys for the title!

congrats !!!! congrats !!!!

very nice congrats

A monster fish on a small reel and thin line. Great job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$$!!!¡$!!!!!

Our March 2011 "Sharker of the Month are Eddie Castaneda and Steven Stallings

.These two excellent young shark hunters are a very important part of Team Bullbusters and they caught two 9 foot bull sharks almost back to back .Nine foot bull sharks are not caught every year so for these two young bucks to have caught two massive hard fighting stud bulls is a big deal .Congratulations to Eddie and Steven.

HERE'S THE STORY IN THERE OWN WORDS

"We've been fishing this spot for atleast a year and a half now, but it has never produces like it is right now, two 9 foot bulls on back to back days, one fight 45 minutes the other 1h30 ish. Two weeks ago an 11ft 2 hammer. Team Bullbuster has been battling the weather and the security guards for the past month now, but well worth it.
Our first bull caught thursday night, was on a whole bonita, this beast picked it up and never stopped, it was a constant screaming from the rod, we let it eat for about 20 seconds, then the running man, then even more line screaming. We new we had something nice. The fish went right, towards a pillon, so we had to try to turn him or go wide left, so we started lowering the rod to the left and praying he would stop or turn, and after a while of that, he did. 45 minutes after the hit, we had our Bull".

"Next day, Friday, same plan, same routine. Both sharks hit right at or right after high tide. This time it was 30 minutes after, everyone was in their whole we dug out to keep warm and as soon as the rod went off sand was flying everywhere from everyone running. This time we told steve it was his, he's been with us, helping with all sharks, the true bulg Picking up the 16/0 from the pvc pipe steve and us new this would be difficult. Shark didnt stop runnin for about two minutes, just kept going and going. And then it was a stalemate, not gaining line and not loosing it either, just a tug of war, eventually steven was getting tired so we began helping lift the rod up and down while he continued to reel, this greatly improved our gaining rate, as steve could now focus on the what could be the clincher for the no limits tournament. 1h30 minutes later we finally see a fin, hoping for a hammer but getting another bull, we were still overjoyed. Steve's arm were like jello, he couldnt do anything after that but pose for the picture. It was one hell of a catch by one hell of a junior angler Steve Stallings."

" I want to give a special thanks not only two my two wingmen and greatest fishing partners zack and steve, but also to Will, Shannon, Raymundo and most of all Colby. Each of you have each shared knowledge with us that has lead to where we are today. Thank you for taking time and fishing with us and helping us on our techniques and education in the sport. Obviously, we still have room for improvement, but learning from you guys is something we love to do."

April SHARKER OF THE MONTH goes to Jimmy Dean Fuqua

Jimmy the son of shark fishing legend JD Hammer thus far in the South Florida Shark Club this year has the BIGGEST HAMMER 11 ft 5 inch ,BIGGEST Bull Shark 9 ft 2 in, and BIGGEST Lemon Shark 9 ft 2 inch also his father JD has the Biggest Tiger at 9 foot even,,,,what a shark fishing duo these two are!!!! .
This 11 ft 5 inch hammerhead he caught in April gave him a memorable battle. The very hard pulling hammerhead almost dumped the Penn 16/0 but Jimmy was victorious in the end.Congratulations Jimmy.

HERE'S THE STORY IN JIMMY'S OWN WORDS

My buddy JD Fagan gave me a call friday n told me he had a whole AJ n a whole cuda and wanted 2 fish a beach around here so we hit the beach hard.We get there right b4 dark cut the baits in half and took out 4 rods .Before I finished yaking out the baits my 14/0 was cut off.A little later JD hooks up, brings In a nice blacktip then he runs 2 the store as soon as he gets back my 16/0 starts ROLLING out steady,i hit the running man n feel the powerful weight but thats it i sit down wondering what is this then the battle starts after 10mins of getting dumped i call Will n tell him im hooked up 2 a beast let him hear the reel getting spooled and he was on his way.After an hour of getting dumped i was at less than a quarter spool he starts coming in Will shows up thinking i lost him or was bringing in my bait i get more than half a spool back n the beast starts taking line again oh oh here we go again. After a couple of mins he swam in again all the way 2 the beach almost will n jd run down tail rope it n it was over.A hammer 11'5 my biggest shark ever it was a good trip 2 say the least n thanks Will driving all the way from miami 2 lend a helping hand.PICS AND VIDEO TODAY

Jimmy starts to regain line on his almost empty 16/0 .Time for new drag washers

Proud shark fishermen Jimmy ,Gio and Jd Fagan with Jimmy's 11 ft 5 inch hammer that had a deformed dorsal fin

THATS GOOD SHIAT BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!"SHARKERS IN THE MIST"

Congrats jimmy and steven and thank you so much Will for the recognition, it means a lot

Congrats on an awesome shark

congrats sir......

One of the best well rounded and most respected shark fisherman in Florida Doug Schallmoser (dougr81)often catches a variety of big fish from both land and kayak.Doug has proven over the years to be a consistent and very knowledgeble fisherman of not only sharks but of other top species abounding near his west coast home of Cape Coral Florida.The combination of fish displayed in the pictures below caught in May of this year show the range and capacity of this great angler.Congratulations on your fishing prowess and conservation efforts.He is the very deserving winner of our May 2011 sharker of the month.

MAY 2011 SHARKER OF THE MONTH

QUOTE
"I've been doing quite a bit of kayak fishing this month..had to weed through many blacktips but so far jumped 7 tarpon and landed 2 up to 74"...when its been too windy for tarpon I've been fishing for redfish in the mangroves.."

"Went shark fishing three nights this month and got a new personal best lemon and bull...8'7 and 8'2" respectively. Still trying for the tiger..."

As the east coast shark fishing slowed down remarkebly after an incredible first 4 months of 2011 some west coast shark fisherman were catching many decent sharks from there beaches .One perfect example of an unaffected west coast sharker is Doug Schallmoser(dougr81) who continued catching some very impressive sharks when no one else was.Congratulations to both Doug and another west coast great John Gibson (tarponJ) who teamed up for this very good night of shark fishing.Our June sharker of the month goes to Doug Schallmoser.

SFSC JUNE 2011 SHARKER OF THE MONTH -DOUG SCHALLMOSER

John and I have been out quite a bit the last month searching for the monster that got the best of us in May. But lately the bite has been extremely slow, between the two of us averaging only 1 to 2 runs per trip. If you missed a hookset, you missed your shot at catching a shark that night. A much different, unwelcomed scenario than what we were used to in the Spring. But, when it is slow, the excitement is somewhat elevated when a rod does go off. The bait has been very scarce as well, with a large absence of jacks and rays making the hunt for large baits a vigorous task.

On the eve of the Summer Solstice John and I hit a beach that I've never been to but John has done well at in the past. We got baits out at sunset and waited. A few of the blacktip rods were going off a few hours into the night but we couldn't get anything to the sand. A big rod finally clicked at 1:15. John let it eat pretty good and did the running man like a madman, his signature move. The hook was set but it didn't take any line so we knew the culprit had to be a lemon and a decent one at that to pick up that size of bait. I leadered the shark and saw a profile of a lemon but the coloration of a nurse. It turned out to be an 8'4" lemon that must've just gotten out of the backcountry as it was the darkest one we've seen. Cool looking shark.

The other rods didn't get touched so we called it a night in the early morning hours. We made another trip or two after that but the slowness continued to dominate although we did have one nice fish on that bit through the main line. A week later we were back at it. We had to work hard to produce bait but big/fresh bait can make the difference when times are tough. The 12/0s were deployed at 8:30pm along with a few bait rods. The lines were quiet yet again for hours, a real killer when conditions tell you it should be on.

At the pinnacle of the high tide, the blue glow stick on my 12/0 line shot toward the Gulf and set off a roar that my 12/0 hasn't heard in awhile. I picked up the rod, turned off the clicker and flipped the lever to freespool to minimize any pressure. It was a moderate, steady run. After about 40 seconds the line went slack. I tightened the star drag, flipped the lever to retrieve and slowly cranked until I caught up to the fish and felt weight. It felt the pressure of the circle hook and took off on a 20 second run. I tightened the drag more but that just made him speed up. I handed the rod off to John for a second so I could get harnessed up properly. Once in the harness, I really put the heat on. It eventually stopped running but quickly turned into a standoff where I nor the fish were able to do much. I locked the drag down and got its head turned. I gained about 100 yards and then it charged the beach another 100 yards. My right bicep was burning from cranking so fast..it was all I could do to prevent from giving the fish any slack.

We got the fish into the surf zone.. I walked back toward the condos while John went for the leader..HAMMER! YES! I stuck the rod in the holder and went to help John but the shark was still green and took off. Easily another 75 yards gone on a locked down drag. I gained the line back and on the second go around John got hold of its tail. I ran to help and we both pulled. The shark was still green and whipped its tail around thunderously, knocking both of us to the ground. Once secured in the wash, we scrambled for the release gear. The circle was embedded in the bottom lip and was removed on the first attempt. A quick measurement was taken..exactly 9'0"! We took some pics and promptly released the female greater back to the briny deep. While not the monster we were searching for, we were glad to catch a nice shark amidst a number of fishless and runless nights.

DOUG w his 9 foot hammer

Jimmy Dean Fuqua needs no introduction here he is a well known shark fisherman immersed in the fire of our sport since he was in diapers.The person responsible for his fishing prowess is his father the legendary shorebound sharker JD HAMMER(James Fuqua)who shares the July sharker of the month with his son for having caught a 9 ft 2 inch fatty Tiger shark. These two very hard core sharkers have the distinction of being SHARKER OF THE MONTH -July 2011 with a great catch of a 8ft 8 inch Jensen beach bull shark and a 9 ft 2 inch tiger from somewhere in the Palm Beach area .Congratulations to Jimmy Dean and dad JD Hammer.

SFSC JULY 2011 SHARKER OF THE MONTH -JD HAMMER (JAMES FUQUA)and JIMMY DEAN FUQUA

so fat we couldn't pull it out of the water

mouth as big around as a bucket JD poses with his very fat Tiger

8ft 8in