This has been a tumultous year for the land-based shark fisherman with the severe winter weather that extended into the spring on a few occasions and with the BP oil spill in the gulf of Mexico threatening to wipe out some of the most productive shark fishing beaches in the world many people have been discouraged from venturing anywhere near a beach this summer.Despite those setbacks the true hardcore shark hunters continue to press forward with impressive catches to rival any other year.
Again in 2010 Florida continues to be the leader of the pack when it comes to the big toothy critters .Some fascinating big shark news guaranteed to entice the harcore shark hunter from around the globe includes the capture of the biggest hammerhead ever caught anywhere- a behemoth weighing close to 2500 pounds that was caught by a commercial fisherman off Austarlia's east coast . There is no doubt that Australia with it's enormous coastline would rival the catches made from Florida if more land-based shark fisherman there would take advantage of the incredible fishery available to them .In the future we hope to see a spike in reports coming from that part of the world as the world wide internet continues to grow and more fisherman proudly post there pictures and stories.It is our hope that shark fisherman in other countries such as South Africa and New Zealand with rich shark fishing history will also be encouraged to reveal there current monster catches on websites such as this one.
Land-based shark fisherman around the world continue to PUSH THE ENVELOPE and make incredible catches while fishing in an era when many of the big coastal sharks have been affected by long line vessels with five mile long sets.The envelope continues to be pushed further and I attribute the improvement to the internet and the free exchange of knowledge among fisherman giving the average guy with determination and passion the ability to catch MONSTER SHARKS from shore.In other words shark fisherman are getting better as they learn more and more about the sport thanks to shared fishing techniques and a better understanding of sharks behaviour including feeding habits and migratory patterns.
Awareness among the shark hunters of the plight of sharks has moved the old mind set of "a good shark is a dead shark" -to one of "catch,tag and release a shark and be an asset to the sharks not a detriment.Here in the state of Florida we are facing other battles in land-based shark fishing but with good resources, and the United States Constitution on our side we will continue to protect our sport although a call for unity to create a unified front should be on the mind of every serious shark hunter that values there rights to fish on a beach.We will continue to fish hard and we will continue to represent the sport of land-based shark fishing to the best of our abilities.
Ernie Polk continues to set the bar higher with the passing of each year this incredible fisherman and his cousin Joey are making some of the most extraordinary catches ever.Last year it was his record mako and this year two massive female tigers the bigger one at an incredible 12 ft 9 inches.The completion and opening of several piers in the panhandle section of Florida might mean that more giant sharks will be caught in the future during times when the rough surf and frigid tempatures make it extremely difficult to fish the beaches.like I said before the envelope continues to be pushed to new levels.
Thank You all for your participation.
WORLD'S BIGGEST LAND-BASED CAUGHT SHARKS (2010 Edition)
FIRST PLACE
Leading the pack in 2010 Zach Miller with his 13 foot Monster hammerhead that looks to be over 1000 pounds,Quite a fish and ,quite a fight.Fish of a lifetime !!Congratulations to Zach for his dedication to the sport.
SECOND PLACE
The dynamic duo Joey Polk and Ernie Polk with Joey's beastly 12 foot 9 inch Tiger
THIRD PLACE
Ernie Polk and Joey Polk with Ernie's 11 foot 9 inch pregnant Tiger shark with a 80 inch girth,that had an estimated weight of 928 lbs.This was the winning shark in the 2010 BIG HAMMER CHALLENGE
FOURTH PLACE
The newly revitalized Team Shark Fever has several outstanding Palm Beach sharkers including Carl McCauley and Chris Salomoni .Here is Carl (far left)with his 11 foot 5 inch monster hammer
FIFTH PLACE
Will Fundora -Fifth place with a 11 foot 2 inch Hammer caught in the Big Hammer Challenge Shark tournament good for second place in the month long tourney
SIXTH PLACE
TEAM BLACK BART'S Dave caught this 11 foot hammer
SEVENTH PLACE
Reggie (rdmedic71) with his his 10 foot 7 inch Florida panhandle caught Tiger shark.
EIGHTH PLACE
Oz's 10 foot 6 inch Texas Tiger puts him in 8th place
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
awesome 
I love the year long list to see who's at the top!!!
Also thanks the Marcus and David(on the tail right), who's name on the forum is "Ineedabonita"
-carl
TEAM WAR PAINT
thanks for the shout out carl. congrats to all those are some nice fish.
Will, you have 2 hammers at 11'2". one male one female. Nice line up. I bet our fish is bigger than the boats that shark fish. Too bad ya gota get those hammers back in the water asap. I gues that's why Zack dont measure his fish. The tigers seem to be alot tougher. They bleed alot but leave full of energy. Joeys tiger was close to the florida state IGFA record(1068). Most tigers caught with the same measurements weigh over 1200lbs on the scale. The formula said 950lbs with a 128" fork and a 77" girth on Joeys tiger. I think Its gona be a new ILSFA world record. I guess my 11'9" pregnate tiger BHC winner gets to claim the spot for a little while. If Zack would have measured his fish it would have been an ILSFA record also. So this Year we the Land Based Shark Fisherman have broken 3 land based world records and two possible IGFA records. I try to leave my mark and still do the right thing, the ILSFA takes taged sharks in there records along with dead ones. Its evloution baby! I think we have some good videos comming up soon. Both the big tigers and Sean's 9'8" mako. Not on utube only here, 
and the ILSFA.
Land Based World Record #5 short fin Mako 700lbs
Team
Land Based World Record #8 Tiger shark 928lbs
True
Land Based World Record #9 Tiger shark 949lbs
Blue
SFSC Panhandle Events Coordinator
If Zach Miller (Team Rebel)is failing to measure or failing to let everyone know the measurement of those big hammers(which might very well be the reason)because he's worried the fish will turn up dead ,,,,,,,that's just being a bit scared and immature.I don't care how fast you work to release your hammerheads ,,,if you have time to snap a bunch of pictures you have time to take a realy quick measurement,no two ways about it.I have also heard that he does not post right away the big hammers he catches for the very same reason - because if the shark turns up dead (as often happens with hammers)after he has posted it on a website ;well that's pretty clear evidence as to who caught that particular shark.So what it's part of the sport and those that know -know it's what sometimes happens with hammers.
Zach is a very good shark fisherman but I think he needs to realize this is part of what we do and these things often happen and I believe that it's an injustice to the sport to not make a full truthful report.Just my honest opinion and does not reflect any ill feelings towards Zach-totally the opposite is true.I do understand that he may be trying to protect the sport from bad publicity but we allready have enemies working to abolish our sport and fishing is ingrained in our way of life so good luck to those that would try to eliminate us completely.
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK IS THE RIGHT THING ??MEASURE AND POST OR MEASURE AND DON'T POST FOR A WHILE BECAUSE THE HAMMER MIGHT DIE AND YOU MIGHT CATCH SOME HEAT BY THE MEDIA OR ARE WORRIED OF HARMING THE SPORT IN SOME WAY?
I SAY STAND AND FIGHT DON'T RUN FROM THOSE THAT WOULD TRY AND ELIMINATE US.
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
I think its better to avoid the situation. Not only would i wait, I would not post it at all if it washed up and someone else found it. I have made it a point to be the one who finds my wash up. Another thing, I will not tag a shark that is not in good condition. The bleeding hearts out number us 10 to 1 and we are middle class as alot of them are high class and hold political positions. The press can swey the general public's opnion so eaisly. When ya say shark fishin off the beach most folks think of buckets of blood and fish being dumped in the surf zone and they dont know that we dont do that. The press would leave out that we put one fish on a hook and paddle it out hundreds of yards. the press will let everyones mind run wild instead of telling the whole truth. I will post an article that the pcola news paper had on the front page with me and a big hammer caught off pcola pier and maybe shed some more light on the subject. I am not only a fisherman I am a houndsman also. in the last year a website along with the press has influenced the state to ban running (not killing, just chaseing) fox and cyoties in a pen. Fox hunting with dogs is not a "kill" sport, but sometimes it does happen. If ya dog is caught running game across someones land the owner of the dog has commited a 3rd degree misdemener. They have almost totaly stoped any dog hunting. There are alot more dog hunters that there are LBSFishermen. There just ant enough of us to put up a good political fight.
Land Based World Record #5 short fin Mako 700lbs
Team
Land Based World Record #8 Tiger shark 928lbs
True
Land Based World Record #9 Tiger shark 949lbs
Blue
SFSC Panhandle Events Coordinator