Great white land-based expedition -the begginings

This dream of catching a great white started many years ago when in our younger days Rene de Dios,every shark fisherman on South Beach pier including me were mesmerized by JAWS the movie.Hemingway and his Old Man and The Sea was the predesesor that drove us to fish like madman but it had nothing on this phenomenal record breaking shark story that ignited a fire in many of us at that old concrete pier that has yet to be extinguished. That dammed movie would turn up the fire on our crazy shark fishing dreams like no other event had, it made our focus on catching MONSTERS that much clearer .The purpose in our young lives now reaffirmed by the #1 movie of all times -to catch the biggest baddest shark ,the Maneater,the great white ,the white pointer.Even before the movie JAWS came out South Beach pier on Miami Beach and all it's big Kahuna shark hunters were a serious bunch of competitive shark hunters ,but now after the movie every rugrat long haired surfer and dingy pier afficionado wanted to become shark fisherman.We were now evolving at warp speed on a shark fishing frenzy.We could not believe it, a movie about us (we thought) and our hunt for monsters ;the stars had shined upon us we had the messege right there in that movie that all those sleepless nights on that pier had a purpose just like Captain Quint to catch monster sharks.We somehow believed the movie was tied to our own lives. Every young gun shark hunter on the South Beach pier started fishing harder then ever to catch a monster sharks and to beat Rene's brand new record 14 foot hammerhead shark caught the previous year (1974)

~ Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish! Not like going down to the pond and chasing bluegills and tommycod. This shark, swallow ya whole.
Capt Quint JAWS 1975

Rene and his 1974 record breaking 14 foot hammerhead shark that was never weighed but would of beaten the existing record (at that time) of 620 lbs caught from Texas

THAT WAS THEN --THIS IS NOW

So now here we are in the year 2010 and the dream is brought to life again by a phone call I recieved last year from Josh Jergensen inviting me to join him and Tom (surfrat)to fish for great whites in the northeast United States.In 2009 it seemed like a long shot but this year again the conversation came up again and plans were formulated to make it a reality.We had to set a date ,book flights,make special Great White rigs and had to figure a way to travel without nesesary items we normally use in our land-based shark fishing items such as a kayak,a large cooler,sand spikes and even our shrk rods had limitations on every airliner that we spoke to.We went to work to do the research as to accomadations for five man,areas we could fish,vehicle we could rent that would fit five plus all our gear.It was a search that involved every last person involved we each had our task and the clock was against us.I personally was in charge of doing the book research with Frank Mundus's book "Sportfishig for Sahrks" as the cornerstone of our attempt to be the first persons to ever catch a Great White shark from a North American shore.I would read up and make the the rigs that i remembered reading long ago while still in high school.The details involved in targetting the Ultimate Predator are very different from those in trying to target any other species of shark because of the Great White's sheer size,strength and habit of cutting through any cable or wire rig.

Even the wife lends a hand ,she helps me takes off the older line and respool the Penn 16/0 with fresh mono

I review some of the best shark fishing books ever written to prepare for our Adventure and give us the edge.

The Great White rigs are prepared--10 feet of triple #19 wire attached to 20 feet of 900 lb cable via 1200 lb swivels and double and triple strength Mustads

From different parts of the North American continent we gathered to undertake what had never been done before.Blake Smith from Maryland,Josh Jergensen from Canada and Colby Uva,Tony Medina and my self from Miami,Florida met up for the Ultimate Adventure.

Buying a cooler and checking out the Kayak prices

wearing my great white shark tooth for luck

Tony's special rod carrying tube a six inch lightweight pvc pipe with end caps

the Yukon that would move us around on our shark fishing odyssey

the cooler we bought to keep our baits

the jon boat we borrowed to safely take out baits at night without being devoured by a 16 foot white pointer
Thank you Bill for lending us your boat and for your hospitality.

This place is a special place ,fishing villages as old as the country itself and friendly folk with open hearts to strangers bearing large reels in search of monsters.We were greeted by Mr Morgan who would secure accomadations for stay and also make available a kayak and paddle as a backup method for bait deployment.We put safety as our first priority and from day one our plan was always to secure a lightweight jon boat with a motor to quickly depoly our baits but when a motor was not available we resorted to the old way of doing things -a 1983 Sears gamefisher square nosed aluminum boat with a broken oarlock that would require two persons to take out baits.We hoped and prayed for a calm surf and friendly non attacking Great Whites.