2012 SFSC Sharker of the Month

Congratulations on earning this honor, Billy!

Yea Billy, you earned this bro!!

Nice Billy!! WTG

congrats sir.

way to go billy!!!!!!!!!!!! all those days and nights payed off bro, congrats man

nice honor and deserved

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Congrats Billy!!!!!!

Very nice fish to set on the sand during a tournament, congrats.

You abused your mind and body during the tournament. You deserve that fish and sharker of the Month. CONGRATS

I think I know who is going to get Feb. - see 2 above, however its not the size of the shark, its the ............................

I think I know who is going to get Feb. - see 2 above, however its not the size of the shark, its the ............................

There are bigger fish to fry,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,12/0s.14/0s and even 16/0s still out there and waiting for a fight with a well prepared sharker.This year will see the biggest sharks ever caught from Florida beaches.

I just saw this post and I just want to say Thank you Will for this honor of being January sharker of the month. And to everyone else that told me to keep going and not give up thank you too!!! You know since I started shark fishing again and building up some gear, people may not know but I was told about this club by a former member of the SFSC and a lot of things were told to me about the club by him. But I said to myself I'm going to check it out for myself and see what it is really about and I'm glad I did, not only did I find a large group of people that like to do the same types of fishing as me, and they love to shark fish too!!! And that was one of the things that made me stop actually targeting sharks ( no body to shark fish with and enjoy it) because as everyone knows it's no fun to fish by yourself and not really safe either( Shark Fishing ). But now since I've joined (Rookie of SFSC) I have met and fished with a handfull of great fishermen and look forward to fishing with plenty more. I've also created some new friendships, so I just want to say Thank You to everyone for that. And Thanks to Will for allowing me to join and being able to meet all these great shark fishermen, including himself. Thanks Billy

Some fishermen spend a lifetime dreaming of there WHOPPER sized fish but they never have the good fortune to catch it; Mark Resto has caught the shark of every land-based shark fishermen's dreams.The shark that caused a stir near and far is a SENSATIONAL catch that broke the existing SFSC record(14 foot) set by Rene de Dios in 1974.
Folks from all over the world have seen this shark and many cannot believe that such a huge hammerhead was caught practically inside Biscayne Bay but great catches can be made by fishermen like Mark Resto who study there sport and work hard.The fact that Mark learned to shark fish under the tutelege of JD Hammer (in my opinion) provided him the nescesary skills and an extra edge in this endeavour.
Mark Resto did a fine job catching this Giant Hammerhead,he displayed a lot of love of the sport and of the magnificent animal when he walked it to revive for over half hour.Mark Resto was rewarded because his noble spirit and good Karma, he defended his catch from those who want to abolish our sport and did it with the wisdom and skill of a much older man.It might be many years until we see a shark of this size caught again from a beach ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET.Mark is our SFSC Sharker of the Month.Congratulations Mark.The SFSC rewarded Mark for his catch with gifts that will serve him in the sport and some that are Lifetime Momentos of his historic catch.

Mark and friends at the SFSC meeting Shucker's Bayside Restaurant

Mark with his beloved 84 year old grandfather World War II veteran

South Florida Shark Club's SHARKER OF THE MONTH for February 2012

Mark's story and his pictures

I wasn't thinking of it at the time but this hammerhead was the SUPERBOWL SUNDAY SHARK. I even got yelled at by some friends for not watching the game but it was the least of the thoughts on my mind.

I heard from some inside sources that some bull sharks have been around locally... I called up Dan aka Blacktip aka the British guy, we knew it was SUPERBOWL Sunday and figured less people would be around to mess with us. So I looked at the tide charts and planned it out so we headed out with some baits to fish one spot where we met up with Tony aka seawolf and Joe aka sandtiger... joe's 16/0 got picked up by a small bull shark, he set the hook and fought it for a while but the line popped for some reason. That spot had some wake-boarders and jetskiiers so we got tired of it. We left to hit up a marina to check for some baits where we got a kingfish head and a almaco jack carcass. Then we bought some snacks and headed off to spot 2. We deployed baits a short drop with massive rocks but the current was still too strong and our baits swept to the side and into the flats where there was less current. We sat around for about an hour or 2 figuring there were no fish around... the seaweed had my bait floating on the surface and all of the sudden Dan yells look and I turn around and something had bashed the surface a ways out near our baits... simultaneously my rod screams, i pick it up and put it in freespool, give it 20 seconds and did the running man (I only had a kingfish head) , the fish was there and I had my drag set at about 55-65lbs and it started burning me steady but fast as hell, i sat down and tightened up a little more but there was no stopping it.

She burned 400 yards then slowed down a little, I figured it was a big bull shark considering the area so I put my hands on the spool to put additional drag and stopped him, it turned and swam in fast and I gained a lot of line but it dumped me back out to the same spot. I needed Dan's assistance strapping in to a waist harness for support. I couldn't gain line power winching so I got up, held the spool, and walked way up the beach and ran back gaining line and did this 2 or 3 times. The shark was getting too close to a curve on the beach so we went back towards it and got the line in a better position and from there it was 100 yards away, I still thought it was a bull shark but then it surfaced and all I saw was a yellowish color so I thought it was a lemon... it surfaced once more and I thought it was a bull. It wasn't until it was 50 yards in the giant sickle fin verified what it was. When it got close I dropped my rod and rushed towards the swivel figuring it was my first hammer I didn't want to lose it.OMG what a fish! We had it beached within an hour of hooking it. The fish weighed too much her girth was huge. Just the 2 of us wasn't enough to get it out of the water. We snapped some pictures with our dying camera, measured it at 170 inches and spent the next hour walking back and forth with HER reviving her did about 10 laps along the beach, we ran into 3 or 4 rays in the process and it came close to biting me when it swung around a few times. But it swam off slow and steady and I was satisfied with the release.

She taped out at 14ft 2inches and an estimated girth of 65-75inches which gives it an estimated weight of 800-1000lbs.

Thanks a lot for the help Dan and for the support from everyone on here, I'm glad I got that one and even more satisfied that she swam off. I have been really chasing sharks after 2008 when I got my first shark (a 7.5ft spinner) and for some reason I had a 2 year dry run with no sharks landed, then in 2011 I got a 10ft tiger early in the year and an 8.5ft bull and some other very very nice land based catches, this year I wasn't able to make any successful trips until February 5th when I got this shark. I try to show my support for land based shark fishing in all nooks and crannies of the world and I am a catch and release shark fisherman because I hope that one day I'll be able to go out and catch my sharks again.

Thanks Will, it was a mission courteously arguing my viewpoints against such people... but I feelit was nice a hyped up two large and different communities in order to promote some change for the better. By the way my grandfather will be 90 this June. He fought diligently on the pacific campaign in the navy during WWII, he may not be a sharker but every month is his month.