What's a good summer job for a college student? Cutting grass? Waitor? Perhaps a little construction work here and there?
How about hooking up with 8 foot sharks from the beaches of Deleware? Now that's more like it. And that's exactly what NC State Bass Pack member Ben Dziwulski does with his summer. He's proven himself in the college bassfishing world competing in multiple national championships and making the first ever College Fishing All-American Team. But what most people don't know is that he's an avid and accomplished salt water fisherman as well.
It all started when Ben was about 5 or 6 years old. "My family used to go to the beach for a week every summer. I saw people fishing from the sand so I started asking them questions and annoying them." And it all escalated from there. A curious kid picked up a rod and one week at a time over the course of 15 years learned. "I started out small. Just catching whatever would bite. But then the baits got bigger and bigger. I got spooled several times and broken off. I heard of someone catching a shark and I freaked. That's what I wanted!"
So Ben researched. His tactics became more sophisticated. His equipment evolved. "I started out casting into the breakers. My biggest shark ever came on a cast into knee deep water." How big a shark can you really catch on a 30 foot cast? Try a 12 foot 1 inch tiger shark! That's insane. But it wasn't enough. "I read online that some guys used kayaks to take their bait out. So I got a kayak and tried it. My numbers increased dramatically."
Paddling 300 yards out with bloody chunks of tuna hooked to a 10 foot kayak over 12 foot sharks may seem a bit crazy. But its just another day at the office for Ben and his two partners, Jon Selfridge and Adam Majchrzak. "I took Jon out with me once and he was hooked. Two summers ago we caught 19 sharks in one week. And 16 of those were over 6 feet! He invited me up to stay with him in Deleware and start a guide service.Then I met Adam at the filet station where I got my bait. He wanted to know what we were doing with all the tuna and mahi mahi carcasuses." Once Adam got the scoop he was all in. So this past summer it culminated into Surf Sharkin Adventures.
At the beginning of the summer it started out slow. Word finally got out and they booked their first guided trip. "On our first night out we caught a pregnant 9 foot bull shark." Biologist estimated her weight at 550lbs. What hapenned next is a testimate to word of mouth advertising. "I woke up the next morning with five missed calls. By the end of the day we were booked solid for like 15 nights straight."
And it was non-stop all summer. It's still fishing though. There's no gaurantee that you'll catch a shark everytime. Although this first summer there might as well have been. The Surf Sharkin trio produced a shark from the beach on every trip they guided. Unfortunately the Shark Surfin has been put on hold until next May. Though the sharks are still biting, school's back in session. Ben's back on campus. Sneaking off as often as possible to wet a line. Settling for freshwater for now.
How They Do It
Heavy duty rods and reels, 80 to 100 pound test monofilament, and huge chunks of bait. They paddle out 75 to 250 yards, drop their baits, then paddle back in. Sit and wait. When the bite comes, war rages. All sharks are caught, measured, tagged, and released as an effort to preserve the sport. On one of their last trips this summer for the first time ever they recaptured one of their previously tagged sharks. If you think you would be interested in some Surf Sharkin action checkout their website below.
