i know there's a rule stating we can't intentionally kill any sharks, so catching them for bait is out BUT, i had a 4.5 - 5ft BT or Spinner get ripped in half last night on the way in. is that fair game? or should we just avoid the whole situation?
i know there's a rule stating we can't intentionally kill any sharks, so catching them for bait is out BUT, i had a 4.5 - 5ft BT or Spinner get ripped in half last night on the way in. is that fair game? or should we just avoid the whole situation?
Bonnetheads and small Blacktips are a bait that many of these guys will use if they get the chance. As far as half a Spinner Shark that another shark was trying to eat anyways, that is probably fine (in my opinion) but you needto make sure it is legal in the regs.
I thought we were not allowed to kill ANY sharks in the big hammer .. bait or not!
I had a very pissed off boca grande ranger telling me how he found 2-3 dead undersized black tips on the beach last week that were being used for bait.
You cant help it tho if your reeling one in and it gets hit! Im sure Will will clear this all up 
I too heard about the two 4 foot blacktips left on the beach. I thought that team/person was getting DQ?
I too heard about the two 4 foot blacktips left on the beach. I thought that team/person was getting DQ?
I have no idea at all who it was or how Will is handling it .. i passed on the info that i heard from ranger dan to my former team mate nino! I assume he informed will about it. Me and my husband are unable to compete this year due to our little one being in school but we still get out and fish boca every weekend!
We really strive to keep the beach clean or cleaner than we found it when we leave .. throwing our unused bait into the water.. picking up our trash ect not leaving it on shore. It really looks bad on other groups who enjoy fishing the pass when others leave a mess for rangers to clean up in the morning! If you want to keep enjoying the beautiful fish that come out of the pass please please clean up after yourselves!
I know they have tightened security.. checking night passes & and are on the lookout for whoever did this!
I thought we were not allowed to kill ANY sharks in the big hammer .. bait or not!
I had a very pissed off boca grande ranger telling me how he found 2-3 dead undersized black tips on the beach last week that were being used for bait.
You cant help it tho if your reeling one in and it gets hit! Im sure Will will clear this all up
You're not supposed to, the question was if they are already dead, like the one that got ripped apart. I've also heard rumors of a bull caught on a sharp nose, but theories turn to facts overnight and spread quick when a competition heats up. so that's all it is, rumors.
black tips don't have a size limit.
http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/sharks/
I thought we were not allowed to kill ANY sharks in the big hammer .. bait or not!
I had a very pissed off boca grande ranger telling me how he found 2-3 dead undersized black tips on the beach last week that were being used for bait.
You cant help it tho if your reeling one in and it gets hit! Im sure Will will clear this all up
You're not supposed to, the question was if they are already dead, like the one that got ripped apart. I've also heard rumors of a bull caught on a sharp nose, but theories turn to facts overnight and spread quick when a competition heats up. so that's all it is, rumors.
black tips don't have a size limit.
http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/sharks/
these sharks were whole says the ranger! They also left a cow nose and a few bonita .. thats all the info i know. Bottom line stop leaving your dead bait on the beach you make us all look BAD
I've had mixed results using a blacktip. Sometimes they completely shut the bite down and other times you get a beast. We hooked this 68 incher and was surprised to see it got hit on the way in. So I cut a filet off him and sent it out. We ended up landing a huge Bull within minutes. But the bite radius looks like a hammer. Who knows..
I thought we were not allowed to kill ANY sharks in the big hammer .. bait or not!
I had a very pissed off boca grande ranger telling me how he found 2-3 dead undersized black tips on the beach last week that were being used for bait.
You cant help it tho if your reeling one in and it gets hit! Im sure Will will clear this all up
You're not supposed to, the question was if they are already dead, like the one that got ripped apart. I've also heard rumors of a bull caught on a sharp nose, but theories turn to facts overnight and spread quick when a competition heats up. so that's all it is, rumors.
black tips don't have a size limit.
http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/sharks/these sharks were whole says the ranger! They also left a cow nose and a few bonita .. thats all the info i know. Bottom line stop leaving your dead bait on the beach you make us all look BAD
It almost sounds like he was spouting out baits that he knew shark fisherman would use just to start sh!t....what shark fisherman would leave all that good bait behind AND 2 dead sharks on the beach...I know there are idiots out there but Im really thinking Ranger Rick was looking for a reason to b!tch that day
Dan's cool and has helped land fish before, he came down asking if we were there the night before. They all got their heads ripped off by their boss who had them take pictures of the mess to show FWC and Sheriff's dept. The "boss" is getting to the point where he wants us out of there, and wants to revoke the night passes. This isn't the first incident between people trashing the beach, and the pointless vandalism of the park it wont be long before they shut it down to us.
The Big Hammer Challenge is a Catch and Release shark tournament so sharks have to be released not killed.Anyone found to be PURPOSELY KILLING SHARKS TO BE SUBMITTED AS A CATCH IN THIS TOURNEY WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE DISQUALIFIED FROM THE 2013 BHC AND FURTHERMORE THE ENTIRE TEAM MAY BE SUBJECT TO DISQUALIFICATION.
You may use any legal bait in the BHC as long as it is NOT A SHARK THAT IS BEING SUBMITTED IN THE BIG HAMMER CHALLENGE SHARK TOURNAMENT.Our tournament is catch and release not kill and use for bait and anyone suspected of doing this will be DISQUALIFIED.
We follow FWC laws and promote the release of all sharks but If an angler wants to harvest a legal shark (NOT SUBMITTED AS A CATCH IN THE BHC) that is considered good table fair we are not against it and they have the LEGAL RIGHT TO DO SO.
One week ago I was told that the person who left the dead shark and ray on the beach had been banned from the park and was caught there at night and was asked to leave immiedately or face arrest and had no time to gather the fish off the beach. The sharks that were left on the beach were legal Atlantic sharpnose not Blacktips.We really hope that those involved will consider the fate of our sport and this BHC tournament and act lik a responsible adult and not go to the park if you have been BANNED.We always suggest that shark fishermen leave the beach cleaner then they found them and by that we mean pick up trash when leaving and take your bait in a plastic bag so that beachgoers don't complain to the authorities so they can start another BS 'Shark Fishing Ban'.Boca Grande is a great place to fish but with more Teams fishing the area every year we need to step up our vigilance of who is fishing there and point out to the rangers the culprits so those individuals or Teams can be dealt with and so that the Rangers understand that its just a few bad apples not the majority who are disrispectful of the Laws and Rules of the park.
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
One week ago I was told that the person who left the dead shark and ray on the beach had been banned from the park and was caught there at night and was asked to leave immiedately or face arrest and had no time to gather the fish off the beach. The sharks that were left on the beach were legal Atlantic sharpnose not Blacktips.We really hope that those involved will consider the fate of our sport and this BHC tournament and act lik a responsible adult and not go to the park if you have been BANNED.We always suggest that shark fishermen leave the beach cleaner then they found them and by that we mean pick up trash when leaving and take your bait in a plastic bag so that beachgoers don't complain to the authorities so they can start another BS 'Shark Fishing Ban'.Boca Grande is a great place to fish but with more Teams fishing the area every year we need to step up our vigilance of who is fishing there and point out to the rangers the culprits so those individuals or Teams can be dealt with and so that the Rangers understand that its just a few bad apples not the majority who are disrispectful of the Laws and Rules of the park.
That is a different guy who was banned from the park for pooping in the soda machine and other acts of vandalism! He knows who he is and was kicked out of the park last weekend when he tried returning with his team. It annoys me to no end that i pay 120$ a year to have pass here and these childish things go on and will soon BAN us all from fishing in the pass if this behavior doesn't stop!
The guys leaving the dead sharks and other great bait on the beach were described as two over-weight gentlemen .. thats all i know! I hate that these few bad apples are making the BHC look like a joke when in reality its an amazing tournament! The rangers are on the look out for who left the sharks to revoke their pass ( if they have one ) and also ban them from the park!
Will we would love to pack you in our truck and take you down to the pass if you are headed to the west coast this year! Our pass covers up to 8 ppl in one vehicle and is also good for night time!
Where is the pass at that you are talking about?
This is one of those times when people sould know wat there talking about before they speak. I was one of the people on the beach during these trips to the beach in boca and I'll gve eveybody the story for real there were multipule teams fishing those beaches. First off park ranger dan used to own big bite tackle in venice he has a sore taste in his mouth for some people the night dan is refering to there was no bait left anywhere he got pissed off because he tryed to throw my team off of a beach that was completely legal to fish and I personaly called lee county sheriff(officer curtis responded) and fwc(officer dantaz) and they procided to tell dan he has no authority over public beaches and we were good to fish there. That night we only used whole king fish for bait and the other team there used jacks. Both teams paddle out the few whole fish we had for bait so the possibility of there being bonita sharks or rays on the beach is impossible. The secon night that u are refering to when we were asked to leave the beach we were again completely within the law but it was promnight for lemon bay high school and we were asked to leave the beach because people were leaving there party to take pictures on the beach and we were quote in there way so we left the beach whit out even a fight to keep good face. There was one 4 ft black tip used for bait at the beach there by an out of town team and if itended up on the beach after they were done they that is a shame. So please don't talk about other teams and fishermen on a hear say story that came from a park ranger being pissed off that I went over his head because he did not know his own authority. Our sport is and always has ben looked down on by most we have to workto change that and we will hit speed bumps along the way. I can assure you that when my team hits the sand we leave with everything we came with!!!!
This is one of those times when people sould know wat there talking about before they speak. I was one of the people on the beach during these trips to the beach in boca and I'll gve eveybody the story for real there were multipule teams fishing those beaches. First off park ranger dan used to own big bite tackle in venice he has a sore taste in his mouth for some people the night dan is refering to there was no bait left anywhere he got pissed off because he tryed to throw my team off of a beach that was completely legal to fish and I personaly called lee county sheriff(officer curtis responded) and fwc(officer dantaz) and they procided to tell dan he has no authority over public beaches and we were good to fish there. That night we only used whole king fish for bait and the other team there used jacks. Both teams paddle out the few whole fish we had for bait so the possibility of there being bonita sharks or rays on the beach is impossible. The secon night that u are refering to when we were asked to leave the beach we were again completely within the law but it was promnight for lemon bay high school and we were asked to leave the beach because people were leaving there party to take pictures on the beach and we were quote in there way so we left the beach whit out even a fight to keep good face. There was one 4 ft black tip used for bait at the beach there by an out of town team and if itended up on the beach after they were done they that is a shame. So please don't talk about other teams and fishermen on a hear say story that came from a park ranger being pissed off that I went over his head because he did not know his own authority. Our sport is and always has ben looked down on by most we have to workto change that and we will hit speed bumps along the way. I can assure you that when my team hits the sand we leave with everything we came with!!!!
I do not know what team your on or why your so offended. I know what im talking about!
Your not allowed to fish boca grande pass at NIGHT with out an annual pass. You must have a family pass (covers up to 8ppl in one car) if you want to use your pass for more than one person. If you have an individual pass then ONLY YOU can stay and all others must leave. We ran into this issue last year.
Certain people are NOT allowed at the pass due to blatant acts of vandalism and are on the BANNED list that can be found in the main office. this is what im talking about .. the not high school kids taking prom pictures! This isnt only ranger dan.. this is EVERY SINGLE ranger i have spoken with.
Im not sure we are talking about the same events here
I was there the MORNING they found the dead sharks .. this isnt made up .. you can call the boca grande office and talk to the boss. Chad i believe his name is. FWC & Lee County has authority over the beach not the rangers. The rangers job is to keep the animals & beach safe and clean also making sure gates are locked up at night only allowing people that PAY for annual passes in!
The main point im trying to get across is .. play by the damn rules .. stop shitting in the pop machine and leaving dead fish/ weights/ garbage on the beach!
Ps ive reeled in fish when full on weddings were happening no one asked us to leave! If you were asked to leave it was for a better reason than prom pictures i assure you lol