A Florida Great White -Holy Grail of landbased sharkfishing
Since the last part of 2012 until today March 26th 2013 we have witnessed more Mako sharks caught from Florida shores then ever before.We have seen our sport evolve into the equivelent of big game Marlin fishing but from a shoreline.Today Florida land-based shark fishermen are catching bigger and more impresive catches every year.
New areas that in the past were seldom fished are now being explored, found to produce large sharks at certain times of the year, and with anglers willing to fish those new areas hard often with impressive results.Within the last five years on Florida panhandle piers and beaches many big Mako sharks have been landed .We have seen on the pages of this and other websites the number of large Mako sharks that have been caught as the know-how in our sport increases and is exchanged via internet Post on many different shark fishing forums.
As a kid growing up in the movie "Jaws" era I was one that would often dream of catching a great white shark from a Florida beach.I have never been able to make that a reality and other shark fishermen who fish much more then I have never been able to make that dream a reality.It's not for lack of want if not for lack of fishermen attempting in the right areas.
As of late there have been many near shore great white sightings in the Jacksonville Florida area but it seems not many fishermen in that area are active land-based sharkers any longer as was the case 1970's and 80's when the Florida Shark Club based in Jacksonville had a big presence in that section of Florida .
WHO WILL MAKE THE PUSH TO CATCH AND RELEASE A GREAT WHITE FROM NORTHEAST FLORIDA??? CATCHING A LARGE GREAT WHITE SHARK FROM A FLORIDA BEACH IS WHAT I AND MANY MORE LIKE ME CONSIDER TO BE THE HOLY GRAIL OF LAND-BASED SHARK FISHING, AND IT WOULD BE GREAT IF A GROUP OF SHARK FISHERMEN FROM THAT AREA OR ANY OTHER AREA WOULD SET IN MOTION AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE THAT MONUMENTAL CATCH .REMEMBER WHAT WAS ONCE BELIEVED TO BE NEARLY IMPOSSIBBLE IS TODAY A REALITY.
FOR THOSE LIVING ON FLORIDA'S PANHANDLE TRAVELING EAST TO JACKSONVILLE DURING THE COLD MONTHS OF WINTER AND EARLY SPRING COULD SPELL MAKING THE TYPE OF HISTORY THAT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO EVER ACCOMPLISH BY ANOTHER LAND-BASED SHARK HUNTER(A MAKO AND A GREAT WHITE CAUGHT FROM A BEACH).ITS THE PERFECT CHANCE TO CATCH TWO OF THE MOST HIGHLY PRIZED SHARKS IN THE WORLD SEPARATED BY A BIT MORE THEN 300 MILES ON FLORIDA'S NORTH SIDE.THAT DISTANCE SEPARATES TWO WORLD CLASS SHARKS AND THE WATERS THEY SWIM IN CLOSE TO SHORE.
WHO WILL BE BRAVE ENOUGH AND VISIONARY ENOUGH TO SEE THE DREAM I HAVE IMAGINED AND MAKE IT A REALITY? IT MIGHT HAPPEN ,,IT CAN HAPPEN, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BELIEVE..
SOME JACKSONVILLE LAND-BASED SHARK FISHING HISTORY
Back in 1975 the Jacksonville fishing pier had some of the best shark fisherman in Florida.
These guys made some impressive catches from the pier but the one shark that put them in the shark fishing limelight was H.B (Blackie) Reasor's 703 pound,14 foot 4 inch world record hammerhead shark in 1975.Blackie Reasor a skinny 47 year old tough as nails contractor was a fixture on the Jacksonville Fishing pier.Reasor a die hard sharker was at that time a member of the Jacksonville Shark Club a group dedicated to shark fishing from the jacksonville pier.The day Blackie caught his record breaking shark he was competing in a tournament put together by the Florida Shark Club who the previous year had lost the big prize to a guy fishing from the beach ,so this would be the second year they were beaten in there own tournament by a land-based shark fisherman.The huge hammerhead shark took one and half hours to catch on a Penn 16/0 filled with Ande 130 lb test. Blackie was a regular and the most ardent of shark fisherman on the Jacksonville pier spending many nights pursuing sharks on the old wooden pier with man half his age but also bitten by the shark bug.I personally remember the Ande fishing line advertisement in the Florida sportman magazine that showed the picture of Blackie Reasor and his 703 lb World Record hammerhead shark caught from a pier.Back in those days Rene de Dios would show me the ad and say that his 14 foot hammerhead shark was shorter but fatter and heavier then Blackie's.
Blackie Reasor with his 1975 world record Hammerhead shark 14 feet 4 inches long -703 lbs it beat the old world record in 1975 by almost 300 lbs.
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
Will' I think that we may see this happen. Its not out of the picture to think that now great whites are protected. Its only a matter of time.
I Also Feel Its Only A Matter Of Time Until A Great White Is Landed From A Florida Beach. Theres A Huge Serge Of Whites Being Caught & Its Been On The Rise, Unfortinuetly Its Been On Boats, But With Satalite Tracking Whites Just 2,000yds Off Beaches In Jacksonville, Its Gonna Happen Soon Enough. The Makos Being Caught In The Panhandle Are Just The Tip Of The Iceberge. Its IMPORTANT That We Keep In Mind That We Dont Want To Kill Them Just Feel The Sheer Power These Massive Creatures Possess. Everyone Needs To Know The 1 Minuet Drill. Because The First Time One Is Killed That May Kill Sharkfisherman
no doubt it will happen. just don't "target" them. otherwise your in for a world of hurt. Mind what you post pre and post catch.
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