The Sour Taste of Summer

 As we quickly near the annual kick-off of Florida's dreaded hurricane season, the fishing is starting to heat up quickly, along with the asphalt that is now hot enough to fry an egg on, thus signifying that summer is in full swing here in South Florida. Along with summer, some of the lucky ones get to indulge in three month long vacations and all the other benefits that come along with being young still. So to sample the temperate waters, Viktor headed north in search of the somewhat absent Lemon shark to kick off the summer festivities.

 Viktor arrived at location-x at about 2 p.m. to prepare for the tide switch that would be occurring in the next hour or so. And as quickly as he got there, his shark baits were soaking a short time after as visions of large sharks swam in the waters of his day dreams in anticipation of the bite.

After a couple hours time, and a few pesky black-tip bites on his baits, Viktor was soon hooked up to a decent fish that was landed after about a ten minute battle. The fish was quickly subdued and left in the wash from the waves while the hook was removed from this nice Lemon Shark.

 

After a quick Removal of the D-D Extreme Tackle hook, the shark was back on its merry way, to keep terrorizing the surf zones of the North, as the mating season for the Lemon Shark is nearing fast.

 

 Not to bad for an impromptu trip, congratulations to Viktor on yet another fine catch, and a great way to kick-off the summer season of fishing for him. At least now, the sour taste of summer has been taken from all of our mouths...

Until next time....

Team Rebel Out!

This Fish was safely caught and released on a DD Extreme Tackle Shark Rig!!

"The Curse of the Hammer"

  This year has so far been lacking in the shark department for us here at Team Rebel, that is due to a variety of reasons that will come to light in the very near future, but a small bright spot has given us a much needed spark to continue on with what our mission here at Team Rebel is. Mike is another kid I have watched over the years grow up at the pier and a very good friend of Team Rebel's Viktor, and even though he thoroughly enjoys shark fishing, he has lived three years with a vicious shark curse bestowed upon him and his luck when it comes to the coastal denizens. But no longer will Mike have to walk around town with that burden lingering over his head, as the curse of the hammer has finally been lifted...

 Friday afternoon I received a call from Viktor telling me that he has finally completed his semester of college, and had a truck load of fresh bait and him and Mike were looking to go wrangle some toothy critters a little later on that night. And during the duration of the phone call I helped Viktor lay out some potential options and spots to lay siege on for the night, but after a short while we both agreed on what the best option was for a chance at a nice fish in the now barren wasteland of South Florida, and they quickly geared up and mobilized for the ensuing expedition.

   They were set up and deploying baits around 9 P.M. into the silent sea, that of which we have not seen much of in the recent months, and began the usual waiting game in hopes of a nice fish roaming the area code between sandbar number one and two. After about a two hour soak, Mikes 12/0 started to make a slow steady run eastward, he quickly threw the reel into gear and came tight onto a fish that qickly stripped off around 150yds of his 130 pound mono off his reel, and he knew he had finally hooked a nice one after years of dismay and agony.

 Mike hooked up to his personal demon

  From Viktors account it was touch and go for a while with the heavy drag they were fishing, and Viktor re assured me they were taking the necessary measures to stay safe while shark fishing from the beach, as they have recently moved up to fishing with harnesses, and will always have a safety line attached to the angler with a spotter due to their smaller stature.

 

 After about a forty-five minute battle, the best sight in Mikes shark fishing career cut across the surface of the still ocean, and a healthy hammer-head soon made its presence known to the leader man Viktor, as he shouted up to Mike in excitement, knowing that the long awaited battle was finally over, and Mikes persistence in shark fishing finally helped him break through to the hammer side.

 They began snapping some quick pictures, while Viktor and his skeleton crew began removing the hooks and prepping the still spunky male hammer-head for a safe release.

Mike with his conquered adversary

   After a few short moments and pictures, Viktor worked the now frisky hammerhead back into the flat surf, and after a few moments the shark took off like a missile back into the depths to resume its normal daily hammerhead regiment.

   Congrats to Viktor and Mike for getting out there and making something happen, and make me and top-tier Team Rebel member Chris look bad, as we opted to go chase monster line-siders, which did not end well, instead of headed out in search of sharks. They worked well as a team to put a nice fish on the sand, and re-energize Mike and the members of Team Rebel to maybe, just maybe get back out on the sand soon and start to hunt the legendary Florida sharks once again. And one more time, a big shout-out to Mike or "Beans" for stepping up to the plate, remaining persistent and breaking the curse of the hammer, here's to ya' and many more safe captures and releases in the future! It has been wild watching these kids grow up into shark fishing machines from what seemed like just a few short years ago when they were causing trouble on the local piers before they were old enough to drive!

 This Fish was brought to you, and caught on a Double-D Extreme Tackle rig!!

Until next time.......

Team Rebel Out!

"We're Back! Osama Death Day Bait Bonanza!"

   Wow! it has been a long time since we have reported in, I fell I'll for the better part of the last month and am finally back at 100 percent and ready to wage a war on the fish of Florida. But a lot has changed since last season, people have come and gone and others you cant rely on, so its time to get a little bit of fresh life in Team Rebel, so a couple of new recruits have been brought in to see if they have what it takes and the drive to defy death in a lot of cases and become part of the metal militia that is Team Rebel.

  Sunday night, as me and Cody were preparing to head north on a bait gathering trip to continue our relentless pursuit of land-based big game, we heard the GREAT news of the timely demise of the infamous Osama Bin Laden, so we have therefore dedicated this report to his death like any good American would!

  We geared up and hit the highway at the crack of dawn to see if we couldn't round up a plethora of fresh jacks to hunt some Icthyans later in the week, but we were in fact met by rough seas at the legendary Juno pier, but still the ocean was pretty active, as large swarms of jacks made their way between the rolling waves just east of the "T". We sprung into action and nabbed about four ranging between 13-25lbs before the tide became low, the wind died down and the sea again became a wasteland.

   Hours passed with nothing to show but a brutal sunburn and our bait that we were trying to preserve under the shade of the fillet table with a moist autographed and personalized Guy Harvey T-shirt due to the mis-communication and lack of sleep from our celebrating the night before, we somehow managed to leave the giant cooler back at Shark Command Central, so we had to make due. Out of no where a football field sized school of silver mullet came barreling through the surf around 4 p.m. and with the lack of bait at the pier we sprung into action and were able to snag 5 lunker sized baits before the pod moved out, thus securing our bait for the waning hours of the day.

   The action was slow and the pier began to crowd, but Cody insisted on placing a 12inch mullet out on his trolly rig to see what would come up for the offering, I was skeptical at first but within twenty minutes of the initial soak, I heard a loud explosion and some other fisherman begin to shout. I leaned over the railing to see a large king-fish about 15ft out of the water with Codys mullet lodged between its razor teeth. Cody sprung into action and after a little bit of a fight and some nice tangles, Cody put this stud king on the deck.

   I was now a believer of the power of the mullet for the day, and with less than an hour until the closing of the pier I took our last mullet and deployed it down my rarely used trolly line. The mullet quickly swam down the line and away from the pier, but within a minute of the large bait leaving our view, the mullet came barreling back at the pier with a green fast moving king-fish chasing it like it was a SCUD missile. The explosion happened just a few feet from the pier and another nice hookup was solidified, and after a brief battle I put another nice king on the deck.

The action was fast but nobody else was landing any on X-raps, so Cody made a reach for our last live bait which was a runner that had been fished 4 times in the past few hours and was barely kicking. Cody was still motivated and slid it down the line with less than ten minutes left until the pier closed and the threats of Sheriffs coming to "take us off" the pier were echoed through the loudspeaker. Within two minutes of the broken blue runner hitting the water, the reel let out yet another hellacious cry and Cody was bowed up once again. He had to rush the fish to the pier as it was literally closing, and with a quick shot on the gaff another nice king hit the deck.

   We quickly gathered up our catch with our tackle haning and dragging off us looking like a giant moving birdsnest and made our way off the pier. For the first trip with Cody it went better than planned, we got a ton of fresh shark bait and got three stud kings while the rest of the pier got blanked on this day. I am looking forward to getting back into the game now as I feel the groove is finally swinging in my favor for the first time this season, so while we are feeling lucky, we are headed in search of giants...

      Until Next Time....God Bless America

  and

     Team Rebel Out!!

JAWS to Make Rare Appearance in Florida!

   You heard right! Get ready, because the worlds largest JAWS movie memorabilia collection is coming to Punta Gorda for the Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge on the weekend on May 14th!! Everybody has seen the movie JAWS, as it is one of the few timeless American cinematic classics, that has a lot of meaning to many people across the world. The movie JAWS impacted many peoples lives, from future fisherman, to those who will never forget witnessing the phenomena first hand in the movie theatre when it was released, and the feeling of terror it conveyed to the masses.

   I remember viewing this masterpiece for the first time when I was around 5 years old (many years after the movie was originally released) and this film just added to my ever growing infatuation with these denizens of the sea. I remember running around on the jungle gym on the playground pretending I was Quint, with my "air" harpoon gun and some old cans I would throw off the playground to simulate the barrels being drug off the pulpit by JAWS himself. The memories that have been engraved into my head from the movie will be with me until the day I can't hold a rod anymore, and will still hunker down anytime the legendary flick comes onto T.V., and to finally be able to see the items that have haunted my dreams along with millions of others for years will be on display during the Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge at Laishley Marina in Punta Gorda on the weekend of May 14th. You will get to see famous items that were used in the actual film, like the dive tank that helped JAWS meet his demise, along with poor Ben Gardners head, and of course, Quints legendary 16/0 Senator that is perched upon the faded brown Fenwick fishing rod.

To check out more about this collection and event, click the image link below, and make sure you are here for this once in a lifetime experience, and enjoy the display, along with the festival and shark tourney! So pack up, BEAST UP, and head West, and make sure you don't miss all the fun, and a chance to relive childhood memories, because I know I won't be the only person doing so!

Team Rebel Announcements for 2011 Season!

   Get Ready! Because after a bit of a lay-off due to injuries and other metal related set-backs, the Greatest Show on Surf is back again and here to stay! We have been working diligently on some new projects and collaborations for this season, and we promise it will not disappoint! So BEAST UP and hold the F#!* on! Because we are coming back at you with some projects you will soon not forget! We have something amazing in the works for the very near future, but for now, heres a couple of new collaborations that have transpired in the past couple of months. Make sure to check out our new "Our Purpose" message located at the top left of the home page, as well as our "Notable Accomplishments" section located in the picture link below.

Click the image link below to view "Notable Accomplishments"

   First off, a new sponsor...... Daryl Palmer at Double-D Extreme tackle. He makes surf shark rigs that Team Rebel backs and Guarantees will hold up to whatever toothy surf denizen you plan on tackling! More to come from this new collaboration in the VERY near future! Check it out, Daryl and his rigs will take care of you and your predatory needs!

Click Picture Link to visit the site!

        Next up......... a new kick ass shark forum that our friends David and Gary have setup over at TheOnlinefisherman.com! A great source of information regarding all types and styles of angling, they have done a hell of a job setting up this website and will be the benchmark in online fishing related material in the future!

Click the picture link to visit the Shark Forum

 Also, we have formally entered in the Second Annual Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge. This revolutionary tourney which is put on by close friends Brooks and Sean Paxton, is the benchmark model for catch and release shark tourneys in the future. It will be taking place the weekend of May 14th in Port Charlotte Florida at the Laishley Marina, festival and fun activity's for the whole family! Get ready, because Team Rebel is eyeing first!

Click on the picture link below for more info

   And last (for now) our West Side, Lunatic, Metal, and shark lovin' brothers Sean and Brooks have done it again with their newest outfit, dubbed Think Out Loud Productions! They are on the cutting edge of innovative wildlife documenting and production services, keep a close eye out on these guys, as well as joint ventures with us at Team Rebel, to properly document what the alliance is capable of accomplishing!

Click on the image link below for more info!

Keep checking in as much as possible, because the mind-melting and earth shaking reports are about to start flooding in!

Until then..........BEAST UP!!!

Team Rebel Out!