On June 10th at Hooks at Little Harbor Resort in Ruskin FL, we will hold a Black Tip Shark Shootout called Hooks King of the Bay Black Tip Shark Tournament to benefit The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, For details visit : www.anabananafishing.com or call 813-267-4401.
This time of the year Black Tips are in their post spawning mode. We catch them daily. You can legally keep up to 2 per day per boat. They are great fighters, very prevalent in Tampa Bay and in many peoples opinion taste better than grouper. We hold our summer kids fishing camp called Ana Banana Kids Fishing and have up to 24 kids per week ages 5-15 years old. Almost 100% of the kids will choose to catch a shark over any other fish we target. Kids, adults, everyone is intrigued by sharks. That’s why Shark Week has turned into Shark Month on TV and Tampa Bay is the shark capital of the world, has the biggest population and variety, and is also one of the largest Black Tip shark breading ground in the world.
In 2005, I got a call from renowned Captain Norm Isaacs, TV host of The Extreme Billfish Show and Hawaiian Resort and Marina owner to tell me that he and his son Captain Darrin Isaacs have started a kids summer fishing camp called The Professional Fishing Academy, at IMG Academy in Sarasota. Norm informed me that his son Darrin would be the offshore instructor and he ask me to be the inshore instructor. Without hesitation I accepted his offer.
My son Joseph, became my first mate at age 5. He was 7 years old when I started with IMG and participated in much of the fishing academy activities. When Joseph was 11 years old he wrote and published his first book called I LOVE TO FISH. At age 12, he wrote and published his second book titled I LOVE TO FISH COBIA CAMP FIRE and donates 10% of his book sales to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. Joseph is now 18 years old and will graduate from high school this year. He is now the youngest Master Captain in Tampa Bay and he plans to charter his way through college. Ana and I are proud parents and we attribute much of Joseph’s early success and happy childhood to FISHING!
One of my former IMG students, Noah Bressman is now a Marine Biologist from Cornell University. By the end of his second summer at IMG, 12 year old Noah could give the scientific name for almost every fish in the ocean. One day Noah and I fought a shark for 3 hours as it pulled us more than 3 miles! Noah never gave up! In addition to providing a great adventure and inspiring strong respect for the environment, fishing teaches tenacity and builds character.
For a charter with Captain Joel Brandenburg of Ana Banana Fishing Company visit www.anabananafishing.com or call 813-267-4401. *For Summer kids fishing camp visit. www.anabananakidsfishingcamp.com
For info on Hooks King of the Bay Black Tip Shark Tournament visit www.hookskingofthebay.com or find him in person at Hooks Bar and Grill at Little Harbor Resort.