Its a nice lemon shark at a measured 5′9″ and I was absolutely pumped beyond belief.

Straps57 and Justin did an awesome job helping the rookie out with words of encouragement, coaching, and making sure everything went smoothly. The team was clicking and it showed – it was like we had fished many times together before. Thats the huge benefit of following things like the handbook and everyone being a team player. So……………………………………………time to finish the chores, release the shark, and move on to the next fish. Hooks were rechecked, rebaited, taken back out and the waiting began again. We have out 5 or 6 rods by this point and the day is flowing well. The conversation begins again and out of the corner of my eye I see my rod bouncing again. This time I take off in a dead run and snatch the rod out of the holder. I start reeling in line and then I hit the wall. I jumped on the rod for all it was worth and made sure to have a good hook set. Thats when it began, the freight train run that wouldnt stop. Justin and I had already clicked well and he was awesome in coaching, he knew I could take the heat and he laid it on quickly guiding me what to do. This was a BIGGER shark and he knew it already. I had that look in my eye and the thoughts running through my head of wise words that a man told me about fishing a 4/0 for sharks. Many laughed basically and said it couldnt be done. Well I knew it could because I had already done it several times before this, this was different though. My little 4/0 puts out 25lbs of drag and it was close to locked down, this shark didnt apparently realize that though and continued taking line as if it were an open spool. I had a look of terror on my face im sure as I looked at Justin and said “im gonna get spooled”.

He takes off running away from me and I have to continue to concentrate on the task at hand. He comes running back with the mighty Alutecnos with a rod spike and an open loop at the end of his line and says “your not getting spooled now worry about the fish and dont think about that”.

My mind was at ease then because I have 100% faith in Justin and if he says its Christmas then you need to put up your stocking. Did I tell you that this fish was different ? The shark makes blistering run after blistering run and im feeling it in my arms, my hands, my wrist, my back, everywhere. Justin leaves again and comes back with my belt and gets my buckled in. This provides some relief as I can set the smooth butt of my ocean master in there and let it rest on the pin – its smooth though so I get no relief from the reel twisting every time I crank against 20+lbs of drag. The fight continues on and last for 45 minutes according to a bystander that was timing the whole fight. Well we finally get the shark to the surf after following it approximately 1/4 mile down the beach. The shark isnt happy. It continues to make runs of 20-30 yards at a time and we slowly gain the line back. Justin leaves my side and jumps in the water with Straps and begin the process of trying to leader the shark. The shark isnt cooperating at all. Finally the swivel is seen and the struggle begins. Straps and Justin do a great job and finally get close enough to tail rope the shark and start dragging it to the shore. Im exhausted both physically and mentally at this point and am in sort of a daze. Justin sees this and starts shouting instructions on where to get and how to get the pictures. Straps future wife is there taking pics like crazy (thank you !!!!) and im following orders.
9′6″ LEMON SHARK

Another lemon shark. This one was different though like I said earlier. Almost another four feet in length from the previous one. 9′6″. Holy cow this friggin thing was huge. We had a crowd of people around us and Straps and Justin do an excellent job of making sure everyone was safe – including me as I was still in shock at what had just happened. This is a huge adrenaline rush – if you could bottle this feeling there would be alot of drug dealers out of business !!!!!!!!!! Pictures were taken and the shark was released safe and sound. It was then that I was presented with a gift – a 16/0 mustad hook that had been cut at the eye – Justin had pulled the hook to make sure I had a souvenir of this shark (thanks Justin).

OK the celebration continues and I informed that I am done and I gladly comply – I couldnt have pulled a tennis ball back in at this point and I was content to help everyone else with whatever needed to be done. I brought in my rod and didnt even bother rebaiting or sending it back out – I was spent. We reel in a few rods and check some bait and move a little ways up the beach. Baits were taken back out and while one bait was being taken out another rod went off. Straps was out in the yak so Justin was up and he took the rod like the seasoned pro that he is. I try to remember all the things he did for me to make sure he had everything he needed. Once I got him strapped in and made sure he had some water to drink it was on.


Justins battle didnt last quite as long as mine I dont think because he was on a 9/0 I believe at the time – more line – stiffer shorter rod – and lots more experience. I stayed by him the whole time as we worked our way down the beach with this shark. We all knew it was a big one and I was stoked that we were getting two BIG hook ups on the same day. Im guessing around the 15 minute mark the swivel became visible in the water. Straps grabbed the leader and we began the tug of war with this one. Straps was incredible, he knew I had never leadered a big fish and was patient and understanding as well as instructional on what he needed me to do. We finally got the tail rope on and began the tug to the beach.

So we get the beast in and its another BIG lemon !!!!!!!!!!!!

Justin and Straps take care of some dental work.

Justin gets the measurements. 9′2″ lemon shark !!!!

Justins “shark” face.

Gettin’ a little feisty !!


Ok for those who werent counting thats “2″ lemons 9′ or better so far this trip. Well………………………..we said there were three didnt we ? We go out about the work at hand and get rigs repaired and hooks rebaited and deployed out and the waiting game begins. We have no idea what to expect. Its getting a little ridiculous at this point and the conversation is all about what a perfect this day has been. It wasnt long before Straps makes the dash to his rod and starts reeling in. Did we miss it ?
Are you kidding ? Straps knows whats up and he sets in to a tight line and sets the hook, Im running around getting a belt for him and get it secured to his waist, “THE BITE IS ON” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Straps is a seasoned pro and makes it look so easy, again his team is right there and makes sure everything he needs is there. We finally see the leader and get our hands on it – this shark is none to happy about being hauled in and gets a little feisty when he sees the head lamps. Shaun has to not only reel the fish in but set the rod down and come down into the water – its dark and with an inexperienced leader man like myself theres no use in taking chances. We all pitch in and get the shark to the beach.


INCREDIBLE !!!!!!!!!!!! The tape reads 9′0″ !!!!!!!!!!!! Thats three sharks 9′0″ or better in ONE day !!!!!!!!!!! How exciting is that ? It was truly a “BANNER” day.

We at this point are all exhausted but keep going to make sure the shark is healthy and ready for another fight in the future.


We decide to pack it in as its now getting close to midnite and food is a big priority at this point. After we all get loaded up we make our way to the closest Dominos and scarf down a large pizza and some sodas in the convenience store parking lot and relive the day. I would like to personally thank Justin, Straps, Straps future bride, and Justins girlfriend for an amazing experience. We put a team and a plan together and put in alot of work and paid our dues, the teamwork was incredible and I have made some new friends for life that I have shared an experience with that few others in life will ever get the pleasure of doing. I look forward to our next trip and am already eyeballing a new AVET 50w two speed and a kayak. Ive hunted all my life and I can tell you assuredly that I would trade all of that in to do this more in the future. Until next time brothers, Thank you all for the wisdom, the advice, the support, the forum to share all of these experiences on, and the most important of all the friendships that were made and solidified for a long, long time.

Scout (Dustin)

We have video of every fish we hooked into that will be posted as soon as it is edited.

The next morning, we got rained out, and right as we finished packing it in, the sky started to clear.  We headed off the sand had some breakfast and met up with Justin Stewart to discuss the game plan. Ended up going back to the spot and setting up.

Yaking the baits

Kayaked out the rods and let them sit. The rough surf limited the amount of rods but right after i got done kayaking, still in wet clothes, i ran over to my 14/0 because it started bouncing. This time i stuck the hook good and after a nice fight we beached this 7′4″ Sand Tiger. We worked great together getting the fish back into the water, it felt like we had been fishing together a long time.
Justin Stewart, Myself, NCSHARKER


Me and my dad

Release

NCSHARKER’s 12/0 starts screaming and he sets up but drops the fish soon after. It was a good one but hey that just shows how thick the fish were. Shortly after, NCSHARKER’s 6/0 starts rolling hard. He sets up and we know right away this was going to be a very big fish. Massive head shakes and strong runs had us walking down the beach after the fish. The fish refused to come over the bar, NCSHARKER played it just right and didnt force it. The water was low and the bar was shallow but the fish ended up coming into the first gut and we saw the massive Sand Tiger. It took two of us just to drag her a little out of the water. The girth on this fish was huge and the jaws were incredible. We quickly got her back in the water. She measured 9ft on the mark. What a beautiful fish.

We rebaited some rods and sent them back out through the huge surf. Not long after, Justin’s 9/0 starts bouncing and he sets up on a fish. Seconds later, my 14/0 starts going off and my dad starts fighting a nice fish. So now we have a double header within 20 minutes of the baits being dropped. If it wasnt for the rough conditions, we could have bailed these fish all day. Justin gets his fish in to the wash first and my dad follows soon after. We leader both fish and put them on the beach. My dads fish measured at 7′8″ but was hulking compared to the fish i had landed. It just shows how much 4 inches can do to a healthy fish. The double was awesome to say the least.

My dad and Justin with their double header fish.

The sharks had the feed bag on big time but It started getting a little dark and the wind was only picking up. Gusts were going at 35mph and conditions became unfishable. We called it and decided to get a good nights sleep so we could start early the next day. I’m glad we fought through the tough conditions as we were rewarded with 4 nice fish with each of us getting one. You really really cant beat that. Not to mention all the great conversation we had all day. I couldnt have been happier but we did have high hopes for sunday morning as the wind was going to die down but a cold front was coming through hard at night.

We woke up the next day with temps in the 40s with the high for the day supposed to be in the mid to high 50s. We got out to the beach early and NCSHARKER took out 3 rods in the cold temps. It was intense. Soon after, Justin shows up and we continue setting up. We try and fish for some bait my dad and i both score on some fresh bait. There was a ton of bait forming a 100yard wide band of bait stretching down the beach. the pelicans were having a ball dive bombing left and right. We all rigged up more rods and formed a spread of 2 6/0s, 2 9/0s, 2 12/0s, and my 14/0.

The surf was calm….

We sit around patiently waiting for something to happen. My dad and i just had a great time hanging out with you guys and then it happened. Justin’s 12 bounces, slacks and then starts rolling hard. He gives the fish line and sets up hard on the fish, and then hits it again. The second time around he got spun around and the fight was really on. The fish came to the surface and it was a MONSTER. Justin and I saw it right past the bar! The fish went under and started tugging hard. Justins rod was under a ton of pressure and then the hook pulled. Heart break…he need to take a seat after that one. Seeing his reaction and how hard he took it just shows how passionate he really is about sharking. That goes for both of those guys, they are pretty hard core fisherman that really love what they are doing.

About 10 minutes after Justin was hooked up, my 14/0 bounces and slacks then comes tight and rolls a little. I hop on the rod and video starts rolling. The fish plays with the bait and so i just let it do its thing. I put the rod back in the holder and and take a seat, a minute or so later, the drag starts going off and the fish has made up its mind, i pick up the rod let the fish eat the bait and set up good. I feel good weight on the other end and try my best to stay tight. I work the fish in with a tight drag until it gets closer to the the bar and then it takes off a few times. Im all harnessed up and im leaning into the fish hard. Finally it gets over the bar and in between waves, i see a fin, but its different than the ones we had been seeing. I knew right away it wasnt a sand tiger. The anticipation builds as the fish gets in closer. With Justin and Jason on the leader, they work the fish in from the wash. Jason screams DUSKY! Its a big DUSKY! Sure enough, we put this nice shark on the beach measured just over 7 ft. It was incredibly thick and the girth measurement was close to 4ft! Snap some pictures and with adrenaline pumping i walk the fish out in my clothes and boots for a clean release!

Out of all the sharks, i didnt think we were going to pull out a Dusky. We were all really excited. None of us had ever seen one in person until then…it was great to share that experience. After that we all had a serious adrenaline rush and the cold temps didnt seem to bother us and in no time we were kayaking out our rigs.

The rods sat quiet, until Jason’s 12/0 started clicking a few feet at a time. It went on and off for about 20 minutes. The fish unfortunately didnt commit. We had high hopes based on the bite.

As we were packing up, we hear a reel scream. We look around and we cant tell but i thought that it sounded like my 9/0. We wait another second and my 9/0 starts going off. I pick up the rod let the fish take it and set up and i get owned. The fish takes off and my drag was a touch too loose and the spool burns my thumb. I feel it rubbing me on the bar and then the line goes dead. I thought i lost it but i kept cranking anyway and i actually caught up the the fish. After a stop go fight i work the fish onto and over the bar and once it goes in the gut we realize its a BIG ray. Check it out!

After this we called it a trip. This was an incredible weekend of fishing and all of us had a great time. With personal bests going to NCSHARKER and my dad. I cannot thank NCSHARKER, NCSHARKBABE, and Justin Stewart for being so nice and helping us have a great time.

Keep in mind, there is incredible action video of every fish…it should be up soon.

-Matzy

so after work i desided i was going to give it another shot i mean why not the fishing has been hot. so my boss and his wife want to go with me and i am not the guy that wont take someone fishing so heck yea lets go. unfortunetly justin stewart couldent come on this trip but hey i wish you were there buddy. so i yakked out 2 baits on the 6/0s. and it was dead all night. so about 2:00 we deside to call it a night and start packing up. and as me and WES (my boss) were putting the yakk on the truck zzzz…………………..zzzzz………………………zzzzzz realy slow so i let the fish take it and then wam the hooks were set. it felt like a good fish but i will say i thought it was a sandy. but it just ran alot harder. well KATHY (bosses wife) had never caught a shark befor so i let here reel it in and helped her with the rod and line stuff. so the fish gets in to the wash and i grab the leader and then i see a tail i havent seen before. at first i thought it mite be a blacktip but the fight was so differant. and thenit roled and i freaked it was my first tiger shark well our first tiger shark. she was so perty . she wasent big but hey it was a tiger. we realeased the fish , finished packin up and went home. guys this week is one for the books for us here in NC i think we should all go out and play the lotery. jason

Caught this citation fish on a Penn 525 mag with 17 suffix tritanium on an any fish any where 6 and bait rod.

Ok you all have waited long enough . Ok so Thursday night is when Justin and I caught my first big sand tiger. Well after that I just needed more .so Friday morning I went to the tackle shop really early to get another top shot for my 6/0 that had been shredded the night before. Well these 2 guys asked me what I was fishing for with the big reels . So I told them aaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllll about the land based shark fishing thing. As soon as I was don’t they both said “im in” and we made plans to meet them on the sand and they could get to see all this first hand. So that night Justin and I meet up with them and get on the sand at about 7:00 pm. We went back to the same spot that I had caught the big sand tiger the night before and set up and yakked out 3 baits. Well it was stupid quiet for about 4 hours not a click just us talking to the new guys about what this sport is all about. What happened next Justin and I just couldn’t grasp. Out of nowhere zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Justin’s rod goes ape $&^&^$% so he grabs it sets the hooks and it is on. he screams get the belt so I get the release bag and get the belt on him and he says “this is a monster fish man” just than all I here is another zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I look back and theres my rod and she’s going off. So I pick up ,set ,and now Justin and I are in to are first STUD DOUBLE HOOK UP!!!!!!! Now as all this is going on keep in mind that we have other people on the beach with us that for 1 most likely thought I we where liars or crazy, and #2 didn’t have a clue as to what the hell was going on or what to do. So we are trying the best we can to guide them on stuff like the photos and what’s in the release bag and how to use it. All this while Justin and I are both hooked in to the biggest fish of are lives. So we start telling the guys that we met about how to grab this fish when it gets in the surf and there both looking at us like YEA RIGHT you want me to go where and do what with its tail. Well they didn’t have much time to complain because Justin’s fish was in the wash . I didn’t expect them to do it but they did great not a peep about it just ran in there grabbed it and dragged it on the sand like they had done it 100 times . So now its time for my fish and she’s in the wash to and again those guys were in and out with the tailing. So with both fish on the beach what Justin and I were looking at was amazing to say the least. 2 studs both bigger than the one I had the night before

. Well after some dental work and photos we got them back in ASAP and both fish lived to fight another day.

this was by far the coolest thing I have ever seen . Well that’s it I wanted to also thank the guys that helped us that night they did far better then I ever thought they would, and also to Justin for being a great friend and fishing buddy, it was super cool to catch these fish side by side with ya budd.

OK now as if this report wasent enuff for you I went back out last night with my girlfriend , my boss and his wife and yes i have another report for yall that you wont beleve. i will have that up in about an hour.

NCSHARKER & JUSTIN STEWART

These will cut right through a 12/0 mustad J hook…

Or a 20/0 mustad circle hook.

The idea is to get the shark back into the water in less than a minute.  If you keep them out any longer, release becomes harder.  Especially while you are walking a fish out backwords into heavy surf.

well we got to the beach at about 8:00 i got the rigs baited and yakked out just past the bar wich was only about 75 yards out. well what happond next mad history for me about an hour later click click click just realy slow and then the line went slack so i just reeled like hell and then there she was so i ran up the beach and set the hooks . as soon as i set up on her i knew this was the fish of my life just stupid heavy and the head shakes, oooooooo god the head shakes. well i played the fish for about 10 minuts and then bump gone .  The hooks pulled and i was pissed. so i just thought GREAT why wouldent the hooks pull i mean hell thats how i knew it wasent a blacktip because if it was i would have caught it.  Anyway i still had another bait out so I desided to just let it sit. so me and justin were just drinking some “sodas”  . and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz she just went. so hooks set and it was on and this fish felt even bigger than the first one. well this fish gave me hell up and down the beach. she ran like hell at me and away from me by far the best fight i have ever had yet. well about a half hour later she was on the sand and i had my first NON BLACK TIP. YIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPYYYYY. it was a nice sand tiger i mean this thing was fat as hell. we didnt get a good lenth on her because by the time she came in we were like 400 yards down the beach. but you guys can see from the pics she wasent a small fish by any means. i would say like around 7 or 8 but still my biggest landed fish.

so here she is

mabey not the biggest for some but i am so proud of this fish for the first time i fell like i am getting somewere.

ok but thats not it heres the iceing on the cake. so after we caught the fish and got her back in and swimin i yakked out 2 more baits. when i got back justin was on the phone with DEAVER. so he handed the phone to me and we were talking about the fish and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sorry deaver got to go fish on. set the hooks and ooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmy god this fish was HUGE!!!!!!!!!. It was the first time i have ever hooked something i just couldent do anything with. it just went as hard as i tryed it wouldent go anywere i wanted it to it just waned to go off shore. now i had just beached a 7+ fish not a half hour befor and this thing was much much bigger. well sorry to say the hooks pulled again. i will never fish a mustad duratin hokk again but hay i wasent mad at all i got what i had come for.

thanx to every one on the site for there info and for being good friends. you all made this fish posable for me. thanx

jason

Hello my name is Jason rosenfeld aka (NCSHARKER).  For the last 10 years or so of my life I have been land-based shark fishing in the waters of North Carolina with great success.  When I first started out in North Carolina one of the biggest problems I found was locations in the surf and where to place baits when shark fishing.  In this post I will go over some of the spots I have found and the reasons why they are so productive.  While I am going over these spots keep in mind the best places to find sharks in numbers are places where food must move, a place where the sharks don’t need to do much but wait and the food will go to them.  Also keep in mind that the TSF handbook has a lot of great information in it but that NC waters are 100% different waters than that of the gulf, Florida, and Georgia.  For example if you have read the TSF hand book (and you should) there is a lot of talk about fishing guts (the deep water between sand bars).  Well if you fish NC waters you will see that we don’t have this.  We only have 1 maybe 2 sand bars and they are very shallow.  Therefore we must adapt to fishing different structures. 

Finding and fishing a rip

Now that you have found your rip the next thing to think about is where to drop baits. The best way to fish a rip is with 3 to 5 rods. I will usually drop 2 short and 1 at the tail of the rip. Or 2 short 2 past the rip and 1 way out or way close what ever tickles ya.

5 rods 3 rods

I hope this helps you better understand fishing a rip. Just remember DON’T BE AFRAID TO DROP A BAIT SUPER CLOSE !!!!!. I have had some of my best fishing right in the white wash.

Shallow points and flats

Another great spot to get into some toothy action is just off the edges of shallow points and flats.  The best flats or point to fish are ones that are dry at low tide.  Think about this at high tide there is 2 or 3 feet of water on your point or flat.  Small fish will go up on to this flat to feed and for protection from predators such as Sharks, Drum, Bluefish, ETC.  Well as the tide falls these fish get more and more concentrated and before they can do anything about it they are forced to get off the point or flat.  The sharks know this and will take full advantage of it.  This is a great place to fish for the guy that doesn’t have the money for a yak but still wants to get into a big fish because you can walk out on the point and pretty much throw the baits where they need to be.
Ok to find a good point its simple just go to the surf at dead low tide and look than go back to the same place at high tide and drop some baits.  What you are looking for is at low tide look at the sand between the water and the high tide line.  The point will look like just that. A long point of sand jutting out in to the water.

Points can also be a great place to set up if the wind and current are really bad. If the current is coming down the beach from the right set up on the left side and if its from the left set up on the right.  This is because on the leeward side of the point will be a slack water pocket and there will be a small rip at the tip of the point this will hold bait and therefore sharks.

I hope this helps some of you better understand the beaches of North Carolina.  I will be posting more as I write them I will be going over inlets, shoals, and back bays in the next post.

Hope this helps! Thanx Jason.