Great White land-based expedition-The Hunt and The HUNTED

I believe that as a man gets older and his dreams get farther and foggier in his mind it takes a greater focus and a stronger will to endure and attempt to make those dreams of yesteryear a reality.So I fight to never give up and reach those dreams, inspired by memories of the great ones in the sport,motivated by the struggles and the spirit of ancestors who endured and most importantly the shared vision of refined modern day shark fishing friends who by my side believe as I do that it can be done.

The seals were there ,the Great Whites were there, and we were there.We will make it a reality,we will benefit science and we will make US land-based shark fishing history.For now we report what we can and protect what we must.

Beaches are closed just like in the movie "Jaws"

they know what is out there and they swim nervously in mostly groups of two or three

they approach the beach then scoot back out to the dangerous "Blue water White death" just beyond the surf

We target one of the many areas along the northeast US coast where Great White sharks are being spotted in greater numbers thanks to the rising number of seals possibly a result of global warming which may be offesetting the normal patterns of shark and seal migrations;one of many questions the marine biologist , climatologist and other scientist try to answer.We live in a changing world ,more knowledge and a better understanding is gained ,the importance of conservation made evident by declining fish stocks including the declining numbers of sharks.Are there more Great Whites now or are they just more visible because they are following the seal colonies further south then normal? The questions posed by scientist make us wonder and we are now more then ever eager to learn about sharks thanks in part by our history and by the phenomena of "Shark Week".Those in our group have often collaborated with marine scientist to further knowledge of shark behaviour.We have all been involved with shark research and shark tagging programs going back to when Jack Casey ran the NMFS shark tagging program in the 70's and 80's.The man in our group have all worked in conjunction with or fished in shark tournaments run by many differnt marine scientist starting with Dr Samuel Gruber,Dr Charles Manire,Dr Jose Castro,Dr Robert Hueter and Pat Turner to name a few. We work with science but we are mostly driven by the spirit of great sport fishing pioneers who ventured to faraway exotic places to explore new territories and find monster fish beyond the horizon with bloody stories to tell.Tales of conquest and sometimes defeat.Blood ,sweat and tears all intermingled sacrifieced to quench the human spirit in it's fight to defeat the unknown .

'Out here you can see
elephants walking in the mud
if you want,but when it goes down,
you'll know it's goin down"

(Captain Frank Mundus)The man who helped catch the
biggest shark ever a 3427 lb Great White

THE NIGHT -THE HUNT

the HOOKUP --an unstoppable force laughs at our overmatched gear

Another solid hit ,drag being taken freely but the hooks eventually are spit

All night baits went back and forth from the relative safety of a 12 foot jon boat

If and when do we follow or stay put ?

THE NEXT MORNING

Blake Smith looks out over the dark waters as the sun begins to rise

The view is beautiful and the possibilities entrancing

16/0'S loaded to the brim,our very biggest for the Biggest of Maneaters

full of youthful energy or foolish bravado a brave soul elects to deploy a few baits with a kayak

I tell the boys "I knew it when he started circling right in front of us that is the spotter plane looking for the Great Whites"and so it was

I see it all unfolding before my eyes,the research and study done for this adventure has taught me what the circling plane means, it registers in my mind all too quickly.The shark approaching our cove possibly on the scent of one of our baits 300 to 400 yards is spotted and circled continously.Will they be spotted and circled again next summer?Will the "Beaches Closed " signs go up again next year and prohibit the tourist from going in the water for miles and miles?The local officials of these beach-side communities will have to involve themselves and weigh scientific research ,the public's safety, and the downturn of tourist dollars that could have a negative effect in the coming years.It seems like Jaws all over again ,,,,,a media frenzy ,a circus of sorts!!

Using a jon boat as much as possible is how we spell SAFETY in the event of an attack

THE HUNTED

The tag boat has arrived 10:00 am

the spotter plane circling the Great White shark

10:01 am the vessel looks for Whitey

10:02 AM the spotter plane circles and continues to indicate the shark's location to the tag boat

10:03 AM the tag boat is joined by other vessels -possibly Harbour Patrol or other research assistance vessels

more vessels arrive ,more people on the beach and the beach patrol life guard starts to hover our location

THAT'S IT-IT'S HIM, HE'S HERE!!!!

there he is ,his dorsal fin slices the water

The beach patrol surveys the situation and eventually asked us to please leave and we are respectful, tired (ready to leave anyways)and understanding of how the authorities don't want the circus to get any bigger then it is so we gladfully take on our two hour duty of hauling everything off the beach.
We leave tired but convinced we have broken ground on something historic.

So close and so far.Now we know for certain that we are in the zone, but around us more people are arriving at the beach, and we feel like we are being stalked ,watched like animals in a zoo.We are being observed from land and sea ,binoculars are trained on us and we are made to feel uncomfortable ,just for being fisherman once again.As if our longest haul to fish a beach was not hard enough now we are on the defensive again when asked questions such as "what are you fishing for?what kind of bait are you using?where are you guys from?We are free Americans ,free spirits pursuing our passion and no one should be harrased for simply fishing we all feel.The lions on the beach that Hemingway's Santiago saw in his dreams -they are here in my dreams and now materialized before my eyes.No dream we are fully awake and they are being chased away by a man with a stick and sharp tags.Are we the hunters ,the hunted or the harrassed?Is the shark the hunter,the hunted or the harassed Apex predator of the sea chased from a pulpit?Like flying saucer pursuing a lonely car on a dark night in the middle of the dessert.You be the judge,,,,,,,,, we are just dreamers chasing our MONSTER SHARK.