Long Key bridge,it's Giants and the SFSC anglers

Long Key bridge the #1 bridge for monster sharks

Long key bridge has long been established as one of the best places to hook huge sharks in the Florida keys.Rene de Dios knew it ;he fished that bridge harder then anyone i know and he caught more big sharks there than at any other bridge in the keys.Only Bahia Honda bridge could rival Long Key bridge for the amount of big sharks that made there appearance every year during the spring months.Ever since the ends of Bahia Honda bridge were cut off in 1985 by the Florida Department Of Transportation to prevent us from fishing that bridge Long Key bridge became the top dog bridge to target the biggest of sharks in the Florida keys. Rene was a firm believer that Long key bridge held world record sized hammerhead sharks during March or April of each year when the tarpon were there in full swing.Rene had the proof of there presence with more stories of giant hammers he hooked but could not stop or that destroyed his gear then anyone else.Rene dedicated some serious time to catching the huge hammers every spring but those fish have extraordinary strength and are too powerful to stop from a bridge.Some very big sharks were caught from the Long Key bridge but many more bigger ones(13 to 15 foot long) were lost !Guaranteed!The biggest by a South Florida Shark Club member was a 12 foot hammerhead caught by Eddie Grosso and Luis Iglesias in 1993.The second biggest is a 11 foot 4 inch hammer caught by Joey Fuqua with his lejendary father "Jimbo" coaching him during the fight in April of 2007.The third biggest hammerhead was caught by female angler extradordinare Vivian Garcia while fishing with Jd Hammer(jimbo) back in 1997 and it was 11 foot 1 inch ,384 lbs.Throughout the years there have been many more big bull sharks over 400 lbs vs big hammerheads that have been caught there by shark club members.Because the big hammers can go well over 1000 lbs and are much stronger then any bull shark they swim much faster when hooked and typically cut your line off on the electric poles that come out of the water 150 yards in front of Long key bridge on the Atlantic side of the bridge.If you hook a huge hammer and he does'nt cut you off on the electric poles he will surely strip your reel of line within the first three minutes arter setting the hook .It is quite the challenge to land one of these monsters from a beach but the odds are even greater on a bridge.

Eddie Grosso's 12 foot hammerhead,,,the biggest from long Key bridge(Sept-1990)

The 12 footer on the gaffs.(1990)

Luis Iglesias with Eddie's 12 foot hammer's dorsal fin and bull shark jaws.Miami vice chicken in the background waving at the cars.(Sept-1990)

Joey Fuqua and his father Jimbo with his 11ft 4 inch 2007 hammerhead shark.

Joey Fuqua with his prize hammerhead shark.

Joey is all smiles with the biggest catch of his lifetime.

Vivian Garcia with her 1997-11 ft 1 inch 384 lb Long Key bridge hammerhead shark

An almost 11 foot hammerhead caught by Rene in 2000

Double 1998 hammers Rene and Shannon(seaweed jr)

The Big Bulls

JD Hammer(Jimbo)with a big 2007 Long Key bridge jewfish

Long Key bridge jewfish Will-2008