Alan Tani Shark Week

[Shark Hunter]

The Pleasure was all mine Bob! I hope it all comes together!

[Chris Gatorfan]

Not sure what time i will make it to the water but I will definitely be there. Depends on what time my dad makes it in to town.For you guys that make it there before me, park there at the paring lot just past Margarittaville on the gulf side across from the tall condo. You will se the path through the dunes. Set up there and get ready. And if the waves are a little ruff I will run baits when I get there since I have some more experience...Hopefully though you guys will already be landed or be hooked up when I show up...Will have my 9/0 and 12/0 ready to put the smack down.

[broadway]

Hey Daron,
  Make sure you stick to swimming in the pool...  nothing like sharing the water with a man eater
Keep 'em coming and stay safe!
Dom

[CapeFish]

Definitely better than getting Skunked! I got my first Shark Slap from your little Bull John. She slapped me pretty good with her tail on my right Calf. I should of had my gloves on, then I could have held onto her tail. Too many Yeungling's I guess.
The Video is a bust. Hopefully my Brother Scott's Camera did better. It was great meeting you guys!

They can slap you properly! And sand off your skin nicely too!

[Shark Hunter]

I Love this picture of John getting ready to tail rope this Shark. He is quite the Fisherman and definitely has no Fear! These are the type of guys you pay close attention too. They will definitely make you a better Shark Hunter!  
Bob, John and Me. You can see the business end of this Bull in front of my right knee. It was my first one.
Check out those Chompers!

[ChileRelleno]

DAY TWO

Daron's crew stayed at their Condo to spend a day of their vacations with their wives.
Their wives are happy with shopping, lounging on the beach and whatnot, but needed attention.
Some pier fishing, lunch/dinner, walks on the beach and whatever else married couples do on vacation together.

My son and I hung out at the hotel for the first part of the day, slept in, leisurely breakfast, played in the pool and watched River Monsters on the tube.
We headed out late in the afternoon to meet up with Bob on the Gulf side.
The surf was kicking a bit for my inexperienced kayaking self.

Well... Y'all missed a good belly laugh and prize winning video.

The wind was blowing pretty good from the South East, with what passed for a low tide, combined to generate 2-4' foot shore break that was really close together.
Being relatively inexperienced I tried to get out without baited 20/0 circles hanging on the yak.
Smart move, as I tried and was dumped 6-7 times, I couldn't get my 13' fishing yak out.
Waves kept dragging me in backwards before I could make any headway.
I tried walking out a ways and climbing in, no go, some nice wave would catch me & dump me out.

We looked to fish elsewhere.
But we pussed out, not wanting to haul all the gear out again at the Sound side.
Tried a couple other spots but parking was maxed out.
Too the joy of my son we went to dinner, then back to the hotel to play in the pool some more and watch Monster Week on Animal Planet.
After my boy went to sleep, I stayed up watching videos on surf launching kayaks.

DAY THREE

Today at my son & I fished the Gulf side in Ft. Pickens by ourselves, everyone else was waiting for nightfall.
I managed to learn a few tips/tricks about surf launching, and I ran baits out several times during the day.
I was only dumped once, coming back in I let nose dig in on a wave.
Three hits on baits:
One I hooked into & had on for a couple of minutes, but the hooked pulled.
It could well have been a snag on one the big schools of Cownose rays going up & down the beach.
........
One was missed as the fish took all but the head & hook... One big jerk & gone.
........
Another was missed by me an the bait was simply gone when I finally reeled in that evening.
..............
Headed back to P'cola to meet the rest of the guys, and meet a new face from online.
Chris,  very nice to meet you, your fiance and Dad.
Nice to fish with you too, thanks for running the first sets of baits out, and for giving me some protips for surf launching at night.
So, I ran the second round of baits out for us as Chris had to leave early.
Running baits at night can be a little spooky when you know how many sharks are out there.
We stayed until Midnight, no sharks on the sand.
Chris had one hooked up, but it got off.
Then it was just more missed hits & stolen baits.


Video didn't turn out, but we did get a few pics from the first day.
There may be some more coming from the third night.

Daron hooked up


Back to the water.

[ChileRelleno]

I Love this picture of John getting ready to tail rope this Shark. He is quite the Fisherman and definitely has no Fear! These are the type of guys you pay close attention too. They will definitely make you a better Shark Hunter!  

You're too generous.

Fearless?  Heck no, just dumb enough not to know better.
No really, as long as somebody has the leader tight, sharky shouldn't be able to bite me.  
Gotta give even the little ones a healthy amount of respect.

Now as to some definite heebiejeebies, I'll tell ya I had to dig a little to take that yak out at night.
All the pics of big hooks buried in peoples bodies, the odds of getting dumped at night, being inexperienced and knowing all the sharks out there.
But one thing I am is an adrenaline junky, and overcoming those jitters was exhilarating.

[Shark Hunter]

John,
I will tell you, just as I have told Sal many a time! Credit is Due when you earn it Brother!
Hopefully Doc will show up tomorrow and I can finally take my Yak off My Truck!
I would love to pull in at least a ten footer! THEY ARE HERE. My Wife saw a 10 foot Shark cruising right in between swimmers less than 10 feet from shore. All were oblivious that it was even there!
It is some scary stuff to watch that. I feel a lot more confident when they are on the end on my 130 lb test! I am feeling much better now! I might just need an adrenaline fix!
It was a pleasure fishing with you and hopefully we can do it again!
The Homestead in Pickens. This is still my favorite spot. I always manage to catch a Shark or two here! Sorry for the Big Butts in the background. John had a thing or two to say to them when he showed up!
The Boss in Action!

[ChileRelleno]

Well... I've been so irked about my 9/0 malfunctioning, I just bought another on eBay.
But this one is really clean looking and was just under a Franklin shipped.
I hope I scored well with this one.

I'll have to survive on soup-n-crackers for lunch/dinner while at work for the next two weeks.
And sending the other to Sal will have to wait just a bit.

[ChileRelleno]

Sorry for the Big Butts in the background. John had a thing or two to say to them when he showed up!

I see you staring hard brother, appears to me their wiggle had you entranced.
I notice Mike is oblivious, mind is on his fly fishing.
Now those manatees that paddled through our line sets, yeah, I had comments for them. 

[floating doc]

I'm almost done spooling my 900H. We'll be there, especially since you could use some more hands. I sure hope you get a ten footer tomorrow, so I get to see it. 

[ChileRelleno]

Daron, I sure do hope y'all get together and put some big'uns on the sand.
Maybe you'd be better off there in Ft. Walton, Mike told me they shutdown the beach due to too many sharks in the water.
You deserve a personal best, I wanna see you posed with a 8' or better.
Go get'em & get bent! 

Nathaniel wants to know if the pic you took on the beach Friday night is any good?
The boy has a vane streak a mile wide.

Did Bob get his gear back yet?

[Cone]

John, I picked it up from Daron today. I hope they caught something after I left.  Bob

[ChileRelleno]

John, I picked it up from Daron today. I hope they caught something after I left.  Bob

Great!  Many thanks again for letting me use it.

[Dominick]

Now those manatees that paddled through our line sets, yeah, I had comments for them. 

Chile:  you should have looked closer, those were mermaids.    Dominick