BigBendFishing.Net

New registered user but have to admit to reading the posts for years. Been paddling around the Hickory Mound area for about three years and finally made the jump to a boat (22' panga) about a month ago. Now going out to the closer reefs and saw something this past weekend that surprised me.

Chummed in numerous small sharks and had a 3' one on when all of a sudden a hammerhead about 10' long started trying to attack the smaller shark. I kept the small one on top of the water making it tough for the hammer to get on top of him and bite him (posting a few poor quality photos below - friend filmed one of the passes the hammerhead made... if you look real close in the bottom left frame you can make out the small shark and the hammerhead coming up to say hi).



After about two violent circles around the boat the hammerhead actually came up to the edge of the boat and looked at me and the two friends that were fishing with me. He was amazingly UN-shy and I would be lying if I didn't admit it was a little spooky After getting the evil eye I thought maybe it might be time to quit playing and let the small shark down a foot or two below the surface and after I let him down he was short lived. Fought the hammerhead for about 5 seconds and I don't think he even had the hook in his own flesh, just the prey in his mouth. Made short work of the 100lb mono I was using as a leader.

Reason for the post is that I haven't heard many folks talk about hammerheads in our neck of the woods. Been out to the closer platforms / reefs with friends a number of times and hooked blacktips and bulls but this was the first hammerhead I've seen firsthand in the big bend area.

Common or uncommon? Definitely interested in knowing if I am likely to see them on a regular basis offshore... don't have ANY desire to keep one as a pet but would enjoy taking family and friends out for the "shock and awe" factor. Might even have to make a special trip out with the mother-in-law and see if I can talk her into swimming!

Wow.. I guess the divers might not like to see this fish!

We usually see 1 or 2 a year offshore out of Carrabelle. The largest we have seen, we estimated to be 14 feet long. Saw him on top of the water at the Yamaha reef a couple of years ago.

Welcome aboard, big bend gyrene.

Welcome aboard BBG.

Like birddog said, you will see them occasionally. Not real common, but they're out there.

Have seen a few in the 14-15 foot range and 1 several years ago that was as long as the 19 foot boat we were in. Tigers are also a shark that you will see on an infrequent basis, but I see 2 or 3 a year.

Welcome, even if you are a jarhead! (from a former squid).

Seen a few hammers, and all were large. Kind of like tiger sharks. All of those I see are absolutely huge, and one came up to my boat and swam around it, all the while taking a look at us. Pretty cool but pretty scary.

Luck,

EJ

Welcome aboard Gyrene. Maybe Eddie Joe will give you a ride if you ask him real nice. I like your Eleanor Roosevelt quote.

Welcome aboard.

Now that's a hell of a first post!
Amazing story! Welcome aboard.

I have seen a few around 6-7ft while jet skiiing around the Cut on St George. I also saw a guy catch one from the shore at the East end while I was mackrel fishing. The guy was targetting sharks with about a 12ft pole and huge bait-casting reel, and probably 100lb test or more. It took the guy about 3 hours, and he got it in to the shallows before it broke loose. I would guess it was between 12 and 14ft. It was pretty damn spooky to know sharks that big are swimming around out there!

I don't want to see any of those wading at St. Teresa Welcome aboard! OOH-RAH !

Did you say out from Hickory Mound area ? Don't chum here , it draws the sharks in...Maybe he will be gone before i get back...

GC wrote:Now that's a hell of a first post!
Amazing story! Welcome aboard.

What he said.

dbplug, struggled between two signature quotes, the Roosevelt one and the one below (for all the squids out there, including Eddie Joe!)

"A ship without Marines is like a garment without buttons!" - Admiral David D. Porter, USN

Frank B., as for chumming sharks into the Hickory Mound / Econfina area I don't think the chum is really needed. Last three years using the canoe in close to the grass, I had some really big bull sharks cruise into honey hole spots I was fishing and I'm talking about 30 yards from the grass-line.

Not knowing if hammerheads were common I posted the pics to help serve as objective evidence for my offshore report... don't have any pics for proof on my best inshore story but am telling the truth when I say I had a big bull take a Top Dog Jr. on an ultralight rig inshore near the Econfina. He followed a cast up to my canoe, spooked and circled away, and then followed a second cast to within 10 feet of the canoe before giving me a top-water hit I will never forget. OK... telling the whole truth, but here's where I know some of you will cry foul! The bull quickly ran my ultralight (spooled with power-pro) down to the mono-backed knot... whereupon... the mono stretched but did not break and the Top Dog popped out of the shark's mouth and sailed back toward me. Sat there questioning why I cast the plug at him anyway, but the heart racing at 200bpm and the adrenaline rush gave me my answer! Called it a day that very moment, not out of fear but out of a high degree of confidence I wasn't going to have any other hook-ups that day that would compete.

Ahh yeah, i've seen a few big sharks on the flats around HM & RI also, most of them getting gone when the see the boat. Thats right in that 5 to 6 ft scalloping water . The last time we hit the water in 55ft we had just caught a small shark and a larger one had tried to eat him. He was stripped from head to tail. I saw none on the bottom and we did a drift dive for about 25 minutes. Seems to be no shark shortage in our area !