A Tiger Shark.
There is no question that sharks are making a big comeback this year. Tackle shops have loads of bait and lemons, tigers, and bulls are being caught throughout Florida and Texas. It's nice to see sharks in the numbers we have seen this year and I encourage anyone to find that brute of a fish this year, wherever you are, good luck :tu Here's a meat and potatoes report.
We traveled this year to find new spots and it paid off. The bulls were thick in South Florida.
As usual, meeting new friends has always been a wonderful part of fishing. Special thanks to Josh and Mark (from St. Louie) for their interest in the sport and allowing me to infiltrate their techniques with new ideas
As a team we quickly got Mark a personal best; and on my 16/0 to boot.7'7" Bull
We followed suit catching Josh's personal best, another nice bull
Daytime was also productive
Judson (JCW) found the largest lemon of the trip
7'10"
I followed up with healthy looking lemon
7'2"?
Judson's second of only three or four baits deployed produced a bull, nice ratio bud
I like to fish two or three rods whether by myself or with help. Luckily, a combination of hard fishing and friend and family support allowed a kind of seamless bait presentation for a week or more. There was a period of four days with only a bait or two deployed because of weather. This year the baits were upgraded a bit and nevertheless the six and seven foot shark tally soared to ten. My intention was to "lemon and up" as some might say in Florida, looking for sharks in the 8-10+ range by using husky baits. But of course, and this never ceases to amaze me, six and seven foot sharks ate baits half their size.
On one particular occasion however, having a bait presented in the right place at the right time proved very successful. I appreciate the team work, Josh had reeled a sandbag or two in this day and we would need his favor again that night when a brute of a shark slowly takes off on a 12/0. Hard to describe the fight unless you've experienced it, but the first 15 minutes on my 12/0 was a stalemate. We worked to take back what had been taken and after 45 minutes of sporatic pulls by the fish and slow gains by us I was searching for a hole to land to fish. Two or more blocks down the beach the sight of a broad thick dorsal and it's long distance from a large tail lobe was awesome. This healthy tiger had a very large girth at 6' plus putting the fish in the 600+ lb category.
Thanks to all for the help on the beach that night, Mark, Josh, Russell (Tank) and others.
11'7" Tiger Shark
Another healthy Bull
6'1"
One of the hardest fights of the trip came on my penn 850ss where a large lemon took my casted bait and sat on it like a ray. It ended up a long fight particularly because my spinner broke and would not take on line
I broke in the new 16/0 with a nice bull. Mike Palmer is right in that they will brake your back, I can't imagine the nine footers.
7'10" Bull
I enjoyed releasing all these sharks
Thank you friends and family for your support; this type of fishing is impossible without it. Special thanks to a few mentors, particularly Jeff Shindle, and Zach Miller, I dedicate the tiger to you guys. Thanks also to further logistical help from Will, and Eric Ozlins among others. Thanks for reading Boatless
Cheers
my favorite shark 
