Team Rebel signs on with Aquatic Nutrition Fishing Chum

    This is long overdue, but we here at Team Rebel and Team Rebel Fishing Charters are product to announce our partnership with Aquatic Nutrition and their innovative line of chum Products. They are quickly cornering the market with their product, due to its scientifically formulated product, along with the dry storage capabilities of this highly concentrated product. It really is an impressive product, and we have been out destroying many sharks since we have began using their product! Check them out, "like" them on Facebook, and stay tuned for much more as we used their product in many new and interesting ways!

Bringin' it Strong!

  I just looked at the calendar, and it is already four months into 2013, almost five months removed from doomsday, and finally ready to break out of our Trout filled hibernation, and do the beach thing one more time. However, this year will be a lot different, I have relocated much further North, into a strange land, and will not be stalking the South coast in search of the elusive sicklefin for the first time in ten years. But sometimes you get lucky in life and you run into some people who truly "get it" and are ready and worthy of having the torch passed to them, to hold down the legacy that was left behind. Cody got his feet wet for the first time last shark season, and proved he was really worthy of some of the information handed down toward him, along with his trout fishing borderline cyborg counterpart  Adam "Redfisk" Fisk.

   They came up to Shark Command Central North, expressing their interest in fishing this season, so we convened, and decided they need to get the right set-ups to get a Team Rebel quality job done. And after much searching, and a lot of headaches, their rods were built, reels were filled, and they were finally ready to hit the surf after one of the longest winters I can ever remember here in Florida.

 The weather had finally warmed, and their first day had finally arrived. But there were a couple of setbacks, such as not having a tip for Codys new whopper stopper, and well, no bait. So as soon as Cody got off work he began driving all over the county in search of two items that they could not fish without. The tip was acquired without much incident, and luckily for once, so was the bait, but now the ace to prime time was on, and Cody had to fight through the merciless Southern snowbird rush hour traffic to deploy baits for prime time...

  We here at Team Rebel like to tell the truth, no matter how brutal or unsettling might be, so get ready for a quickie about what legnths we go through to catch sharks.

 Cody was three cars back in a turn lane, when the light changed, and some guy in a new Mustang decided that he didnt feel the need to move forward. And in true South Florida fashion, Cody gave him the one finger salute and a heavy dose of horn when he got the chance to get around him and go. Well, apparently as soon as Cody did this, the guy took off behind him, and continually harassed him in traffic for the next fifteen minutes or so, screaming many things out his window from behind the PS-1 (Codys truck) which garnered many solitary fingers in response. Cody pulled into a gas station to fuel up to meet Redfisk at the beach where he was waiting, when the Mustang followed him into the gas station. The guy immediately started yelling at Cody from his window while Cody was trying to gas up, and Cody was having none of it. He ran to the mystery mans car who at this point was shouting "you need to chill out!" When Cody started punching him repeatedly in the face while he was trying to roll up his window and get away from the situation. After a good 6-7 shots to the guys face, he tried to speed away, while Cody was still in pursuit on foot. Well somebody called the police at this point, and they were pulling in while Mr. Mustang was pulling out. While they were trying to figure out what was going on, Cody was thrown into the back of a squad car, where he was able to snap this convenient picture, before the police let him go after many bystanders confirmed that the guy followed him in to start the issue. And just like that, he was on his way to deploy.

 Cody arrives at the beach with "Albatross" blaring from his speakers and echoing down the still lively streets while Adam rushed to unload to get baits out before nightfall. 40min before dark the first baits were dropped in a menacing looking ocean, when I received a text saying the first baits on season were finally in soak mode.Only fifteen minutes had pased when Adams brand new Avet 80 started screaming, needless to say both of them were in complete shock being 15minutes into the season. A harness-less Adam sat down in the sand, cranked tight and the first fish of the year was hooked up and taking line fast!

Cody called me about 15minutes into the fight and said they were hooked up, and that they saw a Hammer dorsal rise up in motion out far and it was a decent one. I was completely ecstatic by this news, and right before he hung up I yelled "get a good picture!" as the phone line went dead. The shark came in in under 20minutes, and it was LIVID. It was going completely ballistic in the wash, while Cody was trying to work the leader and secure a tail-rope on this guy solo.

 After a short and brutal struggle, Cody was able to secure the shark for a moment and remove the hook while they "tried" to take a few pictures. I say tried, because neither of them thought it was a good idea to bring a camera, and apparently their Iphone photo skills are not really up to par, it will be a learning experience for sure, as you can see from these incredible shots taken.

 The photo session was short, as they wanted to make sure the shark swam away healthy and quickly. This did not go without incident either, as the shark was "still trying to eat them" all the way till the moment they released it from their grasp. Less than an hour into the season they were on the board with a 10ft range Hammer, very skinny but with freakish appendages.

About 20min goes by and Codys new 14/0 setup goes off. He gets harnessed up , and locks down and comes tight with the fish which immediately starting stripping a lot of line off his reel, unfortunately after a SOLID  run, the hook inexplicably pulls, leaving the beach silent once again...

 It was heartbreaking, but the sting was eased knowing they had a nice one on the beach from a short while earlier, but not to be deterred, they paddled back out what little bait they had left. While Cody was out in the darkness deploying the second bait, a black-tip flew out of the water infront of him and clipped the front of his kayak. He immediately turned back toward shore and found dam wrestling this little guy to the beach single handedly. One quick picture and she was pushed back out to sea.

 The rest of the night went without incident and sat in silence for another few hours before packing up to catch a few hours of sleep before work in the morning. Both of them were able to catch lightning in a bottle their first trip out, hell their first bait out. And if this is any indication on how this season may go, you better stay tuned, because we will all be bringin' it stronger than you can possibly imagine!

Team Rebel out

Prior Arrangements

 We were pleased that we fished one night the previous week and were able to land a decent fish for the first time in a long time, and apparently that little lemon was all it took to ignite a fire under the asses of Viktor and co. to go out and try to get in on a little shark action himself. Vik called me and told me his plan of action and I agreed that it was a good idea and to go pound sand until he got what he wanted. But there was one little problem.....there was no bait...

  Viktor decided he would address this matter himself with a lure that no unwilling future shark bait could deny; the cold steel shaft of his AB Biller spear gun. But the sea was lifeless as it has been for months now, thus making this task much more difficult than it even seemed at first. After a total of 14 hours and 6 locations over the course of two days scanning the depths for stingrays, Viktor finally was able to get a couple small ones and depart back toward the coastline for the original purpose.

 Viktor called me and told me the location he would be fishing on this particular night, and I told him I had some prior arrangements with Cody, and that if something changed we might take a stroll out to scope out the situation. Well, as usual, the plans fell through, so after a long trek back from the northern lands, chewing on beef jerky, and completely overloaded on nicotine and Black Label Society, we launched a sneak attack on the small, discreet shark camp.

 When we walked up on them, I noticed that the beach had the "vibe" that I always mention when I feel like there is something nice swimming in the perimeter of base camp, so we decided to hang out for a while and see what woould come of it. But shortly after our arrival Mikes 12/0 let out a fast and steady run. It sounded like a nice fish had taken the ray, and with one quick throw of the lever, the circle hook was buried in the corner of the fishes mouth and the battle was on!

The fight was short lived but full of plenty of belligerent headshakes and sharp turns. Within a few minutes we saw the signature double dorsal rise up in the wash, and we knew we had a stout Lemon on the other end of the leader. We charged the surf and cody and I secured the tail so we could get a couple quick shots.

After about approximately 30-40 seconds in the wash zone, the shark was on its way back into the trough so it could continue its regular routine and casual cruising and sight-seeing tour up the coastline.

All in all, not a bad not for any of us, even though we had some prior arrangements fall through, we were able to get over to spot x and help out a little bit with Mike and Viktors fish. And one thing we all took from this besides a couple of nice pictures, is the fact that everybody has a fire ignited under their ass right now, and who knows what tomorrow could bring.

Until next time.....

-Team Rebel Out

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March to the Shore

   It didn't seem that long ago, that we were coming off our worst season to date, dull of despair and emergency room trips. Yet, here we are again, the flowers have began to bloom, the ducks are beginning to take flight, accompanied by the endless sniffles and headaches that come along with the spring time allergies. It is time to dust off the gear and try to sneak out for what may be our final spring shark season.

 The smell was in the air, and the motivation was still at an all time low even after an almost year long hiatus from shark fishing. We had no plans to fish at all this year, until something strange occurred a couple of nights ago.... Long-time readers and followers of our operation know what we are talking about when we make mention of the "ducks", and during a nap a couple of days ago I awoke to my dog barking out my front window as if somebody was trying to tear my front door off the hinges. But when I walked out to investigate, a chill shot up my spine when two of the ducks were on my porch, staring through my window with their soulless eyes, and it was at that moment I knew, no matter what had happened in the last year, it was time to get the gear, and march toward the shore, if only for one trip.

 It just so happened that Brendon called me soon after the incident had occured, and I asked if he wanted to give it a go on a whim, which he reluctantly agreed to. However, for the first time in 2012, the skys were about to open up and unleash the floods upon us...

 We took a page out of the old Team Rebel scriptures and decided to beast up no matter what bad weather was coming to give it a shot. We were met with HEAVY resistance from above, and were punished in four hours of blinding rain and lightning, in which we had no shelter, and had to resort to throwing our camera and phones into a maggot infested trash bag to keep the only things that mattered dry, as we stood in the pitch black ocean for 2 hours just to stay warm.

 By some miracle, the rain stopped and shortly after Brendon got a steady run on his rod. He harnessed up and I came tight on the circle hook and the fight was on.

The battle was short but well fought by our adversary, and after about 10 minutes we were happy to see a dorsal rise in the surf. I went out and roped it and we left the guy in the wash zone and snapped a quick pic in the rain during the hook removal process and sending him on his way.

Nice to get tight again, and who knows, maybe we will have to go fishing again one day soon.....

Until next time....Beast Up!

-Team Rebel out

The Demons of Durban - Part I

   With the popularity of Land-Based shark fishing again reaching a point of interest, which hasn't been seen since the late 1970's, I figured it was time to release some information I have diligently worked on gathering and researching over the past few years. We do not just participate actively within the sport of land based shark fishing, but we also like to pay homage to the history of the sport, to get a clear picture of how this revolutionary style of angling began, and if we can learn anything from the fore fathers of the sport. So it brings us to this day and age, its the year 2010 and do we know who really was responsible for the beginning of land-based shark fishing? Well, now you are all about to find out who these visionaries were and what their accomplishments consist of. It's truly amazing that not many have heard of this group of anglers from Durban South Africa, for their accomplishments were nothing short of amazing. This is the beginning to a multiple part series that we will be spotlighting the anglers and their achievements, along with how they executed these miraculous feats, that I can honestly say I didn't believe were possible until enough research was done, until I finally got to see it for myself, as you are about to witness first-hand with your eyes, so sit back and be prepared to be left aghast with the stories and pictures of "The Demons of Durban".

Part-I

"The Beginnings"

 Early in the twentieth century, in a town which is now known internationally for its history of violent shark attacks, a group of men would fish on the legendary South jetty of Durban South Africa just off the edge of the shipping and whaling lanes for grunters and various other pan fish for table fare. But over the course of the years during the South African whaling season, the anglers would constantly see numerous large sharks that entered the lanes to feast upon the whales scraps that were useless to the whalers, and tossed aside into the harbor's dead end. Every year between May 1st and September 30th, the south jetty of Durban, would be littered with the anglers that formed a small group called the Durban Shark Club.All these anglers congregated here during this time for the sole fact that this was the time period allotted for hunting the Baleen whales that migrated down the African coast, and that was the signal that the demons would be entering the harbor to feed. When the whalers would arrive back at port with their catches in tow, the sharks would be nipping at the heels of the boats and their prize harvest. Many accounts have even recorded that up till the moment the entire whale carcass was drug up the whaling chute, that there were Zambezi (Bull) sharks, hanging onto the carcass until the last possible moment to get one last chunk of the rich blubbery flesh before they awaited the return of the next whaler in the fleet.

With the assistance of the railway that ran offshore on the south jetty, which was placed there to lower large rocks into the water around the jetty for repairs after rough seas damaged the structure, the anglers would head over to the whaling slip and gather their bait for the afternoon. They would then proceed to place a hundred pounds or so of discarded whale blubber on the railcar and begin the trek to the end of the jetty, where the demons patrolled the channel,looking for yet another opportunistic, and easy meal to be presented toward them. But the task ahead was a tall one, with many of these sharks eclipsing the 500-1000lbs mark, how could these men hook these fish, never the less have a shot and landing one of these giants..........