Sharkman Blog

Shark Pro Staff Mike Cessnun

2011-12-24T08:42:00.000-08:00

Hi Ed:
The Sharks are still doing their magic in Southeast Alaska! My neighbor and I caught this 23.5 lb. winter king a couple of days ago. It is going to be part of our Christmas dinner. Thought you and your family might enjoy the picture. I hope everything is going good for you and your family and that you have a great holiday season and a fantastic New Year!

Mike Cessnun

2011-08-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

We are very proud to announce Jakt & Friluft, out of Norway will be our new exclusive agent for Shark Cannonballs in Scandinavia. We are currently preparing a full range of Shark Trolling weights for delivery to Jakt & Friluft for early September.

Screaming with Screamer: Captain Dave Antoneri

2011-08-01T03:17:00.000-07:00

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream with Screamer!

Screaming all the way to the bank: Shark Pro Staff Team Screamer
Captain Dave Antoneri

Shark Pro Staff 2011 Lake Ontario Champions SCREAMER

2011-07-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

Couldn't have done it without the Sharks!

Shark Pro Staff Captain Dave Antenori and Team Screamer

2011 Lake Ontario Challenge Cup

Sodus Bay Pro Am Winners

Captain John Keizer; Salt Patrol, Testing Shark Spoons in Puget Sound

2011-06-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

"The ocean salmon fishery opened up this past weekend in Washington, and I finally got to give the Shark Spoons a work out. The spoon performed very well. It produced kings to 20 pounds. Can't wait for the big boys to get here this summer."

"The way I rigged it was a split ring to the spoon to a barrel swivel. I attached a 6/0 hook to the swivel. On the swivel I added a mini white glow UV Gold Star squid. The top of the spoon was rigged with six feet of 30lb flourocarbon leader to a ball bearing swivel. This was fished behind a 12 pound chrome Shark weight. When those big kings hit, it was like a freight train took it off the rigger." Captain John Keizer

Shark, Atommik, Team We Pound' Em: Winners

2011-06-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Atommik Tom Allen Presenting Big Fish of the Day Award to Capt Ryan Hare and Shark Pro Staff Team We Pound'Em

at the Scotty King of the Lake Tournament in Port Dalhousie

First Kings for 2011: Worldwide

2011-02-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

"Shark's still doing their magic! 20 lb & 15 lb. Winter King Salmon"
Captain Mike Cessnun: Alaska

Thanks Mike, I'm not sure if you are aware of the full signifigance of those two magnificent fish, but according to my information they could just be the first official Shark related King Salmon of the 2011 season worldwide. It was so cold in Scandinavia this winter, all the lakes froze over, and the Kings don't start on the west coast for some time. In any case, there will be a lot of guys out there with big smiles on their faces just waiting their turn in a month or so; this will really help.

More Bad News Good News

2011-02-19T07:36:00.001-08:00

Later in the day, Suzanne came running into the room, I could tell by the look on her face this was not going to be good. Suzanne has become experienced in delivering bad news over the years, being careful of my condition. What is it I said. She spoke quickly; Nikki and little Orion were just in a bad car accident; but she quickly followed up, She's OK, she's OK, and so is little Orion. He just has a black eye, the car is a write off. My heart still went into a knot; in the time it took to say the words, I went from deep shock to great relief at the news Nikki and Orion survived.

For the second time in the same day, I reflected on just how precious life is, and how vulnerable we all are, and especially how important it is to keep our priorities straight. To do our best every day to make the world a better place to live; I guess sometimes I need to be reminded of that. I said a little prayer for Nikki and Orion, and counted my blessings.

Nikki Downham was a big part of the Shark hammerhead crew; she could pound Sharks with the best of them. She was tough as nails, and she didn't take any BS from anybody.

Nikki has moved up in the world, taking care of little Orion gave her the strength and motivation to graduate with honours as a Recreational Director in a very tough course. It is a perfect fit, you can tell by the smile on her face, Nikki is the life of the party. She really loves to sing, and she always gets everybody else in the room singing as well. Thank God you are OK Nikki, you and little Orion; please take care.

Bad News Good News

2011-02-19T07:20:00.001-08:00

I sent ATOMMIK Tom Allen an email yesterday morning, not having any idea what he had just gone through. I was about a month late getting back to him, just some stuff about a fishing show; I'm a little slow these days. A short time later the news came in as a shock; an operation, a tumor, my God! Suddenly everything fell into perspective, how precious life is, how vulnerable we all are, and how important it is to keep our priorities straight. I went from deep shock to instant relief in the time it took to read the sentence; thank God, Tom made it through. I said a little prayer for Tom and his family, and counted my blessings. Good luck Tom; get well soon!

Lucky Rabbit

2011-02-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

Captain Tore and I worked things out, wished each other well, and we are both moving forward. I explained to Captian Tore there was some serious problems going on behind the scenes regarding the Shark Spoons. Just when we figured we finally nailed all the problems and we were actually going to deliver the much anticipated Shark Spoons to market, we encountered a nasty surprise with the company producing them for us. As part of the legal agreement we entered into with the other party to settle this matter, I can't really say too much; like how they tried to screw us over.

In short, I called up my pal Dan Haude from our pro staff team Erie Adventure, besides being one of the top guys on our team, Dan happens to be a "kick ass lawyer", he is as good at lawyering as he is at competition fishing. I wanted his opinion about a letter that I wrote to the offending party stating what was really on my mind. I just wanted to make sure I didn't break any USA laws in the process of unloading on these blankety blanks. With my type A personality, sometimes that is a hard thing to do. Papa bear sticking up for junior bear. Dan thought there was a better way to approach the situation. While I was talking to him on the phone, he surprised me by drafting a super letter to these *&#@ etc. advising them we were not too happy with the situation. I guess that and the fact he put it on the firm's letterhead convinced these characters it would be a good idea to give us back our tooling and our CAD drawings for the Shark Spoons.

I guess they must have checked out Dan's credentials and decided they wanted no part of this beef. They agreed to return our tooling and the CAD drawings pronto. Thank you Captain Dan.

With my luck, it just so happened to be the Chinese New Year and the whole country was shutting down to enjoy the festivities. This actually gave us some valuable time to figure out what to do; ship the tooling back to Canada and attempt to stamp the spoons out over here, or try to find suitable company in China willing to work with us on this project.

I called up a friend at Export Development Canada that has been following our story for the past ten years, Elliot has always done whatever he could to help us; this time he went directly to the Canadian Trade Commisioner in China. Holy cow, or I guess Lucky Rabbit would be more appropriate (the year of the rabbit), it just so happens the biggest fishing show in the world was running in China this week. Our friends at the Trade Commission have lined up a few companies that just might be interested in doing some business with us.

There is much more than just stamping out this one spoon; we have a full range of downrigger products that we designed ourselves ready to go. We told them we want a company that can work with us to deliver these specialty niche market products; that we have a ready made market of up to thirty thousand guys that actually own Sharks, and probably a half a million guys that have used those Sharks on charter trips and family fishing adventures. From what we understand most of these folks love the product and would likely give our new products a try.

The theory being, our new products will work as well as the original Shark Cannonball. We already know the new products really rock, so all the new company has to do is make them to our specifications. That's where it stands right now, we will see if that lucky rabbit will be lucky for us.

You are probably wondering what that giant hot air balloon has to do with this story, I mentioned it in my profile. I used to fly giant hot air balloons for a living for many years; the similarity with downrigger fishing is both sports are weather dependant. That darned wind; there were many days when it was too windy and we definetly should not have gone out, but we did. But that is another story; for next week. I will keep you informed about what happens in Bejing at the fishing show; we have a lot of fishermen counting on us to finally get those spoons out.

There is no light deep in the abyss

2011-02-14T08:01:00.000-08:00

Could the sound of success looks like this?

2010-12-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

Look Closely: Inside Or Outside

The fish don't care what side of the spoon the graphics are on.

Putting the graphics on the "wrong side of the spoon" will extend the life of the spoon by at least 50% and save you lots of money. At the same time, it is true we don't like putting paint or stickers on the outside facets, anything that will interfere with generating the same sonic signature found on our Shark Cannonballs. Let us know if you like the idea.

Join the Shark Spoon conversation on Facebook

2010-12-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/n/?photo.php&fbid=145694075482685&set=a.102683926450367.1170.100001262798886&mid=3677d63G5af35bbf0826G319bc0G9&n_m=shark%40sharkcannonballs.com

Please join the conversation on my Facebook page and contribute to the development of the Shark Spoon. We are looking for your favorite colors and some really crazy names for the spoons.

Bare Bones Captain's Pro Pack

2010-12-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

Bare Bones Captain's Pack
Most of the captains we know have their own personal preferences for spoon options. They all have their own favorite brand and style of hooks, both si-wash and trebles. Many captains sharpen their hooks after every fish, some captains simple throw away the hook and not take a chance on loosing a big fish on an expensive charter. The pro pack allows the captains to do what they want with their spoons and not have to waste money buying hooks and rings and expensive packaging. The savings on ten spoons is substantial.

2010-12-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

The single biggest complaint fishermen had this past summer is the cheap plastic stickers that keep falling off name brand spoons after only three or four fish. We want to make sure we don't make that mistake. We have been experimented with some really tough coatings that should last for a lot more than four or five fish. We baked on some polyester plastic powder coating on the famous Black & Purple with a White Face, my all time personal favorite spoon.

Shark Trolling Spoons Introductory Offer

2010-12-03T12:39:00.000-08:00

Fishing with Shark Cannonballs and Sharks Trolling Spoons together at the same time is a truly amazing fishing experience. If you love your Sharks, you will love running Shark Trolling Spoons behind them. The Shark Spoon is the perfect compliment to fishing with Shark Cannonballs, it is the logical conclusion to completing the perfect equation. The Shark Spoon has exactly the same facets as the Shark Cannonball, it makes exactly the same sound. It is the same sound that has made the Shark Cannonball the top choice with fishermen all over the world for the past ten years.

When your prize fish shows up to check your Sharks ripping up the water, don't disappoint them, give them a little piece of what they came looking for, give them a genuine Shark Trolling Spoon.
Shark Spoons will soon be available in tackle shops around the world, in the meantime we have put together an introductory offer for charter captains and tournament fishermen to try these exciting new spoons before they officially hit the market.

The Captain's Pro Pack is a bare bones offer stripped down to the essentials . No Hooks, No Rings, and No Expensive Packaging. 10 spoons in your choice of colors for $65. Shipping from Canada to anywhere in the continental USA is about $10. It is a good opportunity to try this exciting new product. Contact us: shark@sharkcannonballs.com to place your order; delivery time is one month.

2010-11-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

First West Coast King on Shark Spoon

2010-08-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Pete Sr.and Pete Jr. for their excellent efforts to catching the first King salmon (35 pounds) in the Pacific Ocean using a Shark Spoon; Silver/Sapphire Mag. Team Pitman has played a huge role in getting our message out on the west coast for many years now.

Shark Weights Shark Spoons: Big Fish

2010-08-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

Captain Ryan Hare: Shark Pro StaffTeam We Pound 'Em hoisting a big salmon caught on Shark Weight/Shark Spoon combo: Black & Purple with white face. Notice the si-wash.

Shark Spoons

2010-08-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Rainbow
Sunrise

Tomas Silden: Shark Pro Staff Norway

2010-07-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

Tomas Silden examining Extreme Shark:

More facets, deeper facets = more sound, but less drag?

One Small Fish for Man: One Giant Spoon for Mankind

2010-07-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

Way To Go Ryan:

First official fish for the record caught on a Shark Spoon; Black & Purple Mag with a white face. Caught by Capt. Ryan Hare, Team We Pound'Em; Shark Pro Staff.

Best Regards

Sharkman

With the CN Tower glittering in the morning light of the Toronto skyline Captain Ryan Hare of Shark Pro Staff Team We Pound 'Em hoist what could be the first official fish caught on the new series of Shark Trolling Spoons. Yes it is a small fish; at least we know the spoons work. Stay tuned to this blog to see what else we catch today.

I was not able to go along on this fishing trip with my great pal Captain Larry Vernon, but Suzanne and my son Alex and daughter Tara drove five hours to officially test the first Shark Trolling Spoons aboard the sturdy vessel Playboy in Port Darlington Lake Ontario.

Captain Ryan Hare is doing the pre-fish for the big Tight Lines Shoot Out in Whitby tomorrow. We are trying to get a couple of Shark Spoons the Captain Dave Antenori, Screamer; long time Shark Pro Staff. Dave is up from New York to fish this exciting contest.

Shark Trolling Spoons

2010-07-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Blue & Silver Mag Spoon

Shark Spoons/Shark Facets

Shark Spoons

2010-07-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

Shark Spoons/Shark Facets: The Real Thing!

Finally, the perfect compliment to the Shark Cannonball; a chip off the old block. Thousands of serious fishermen around the world have been using Shark Cannonballs with great success for the past ten years. Most Shark users understand it is the Shark Facet that makes this product work. We have perfectly duplicated the original Shark Facets onto our new series of Shark Spoons. We are looking forward to comments from the Shark Pro Staff Teams testing the Shark Spoons. Hopefully we can get our packaging done in time for this season. Yes that is an Owner treble. Take the survey; let us know if you prefer Si-wash or treble. Most of you already know my favorite.

Sharkman

Shark Pro Staff Team wins 2010 Challenge Cup

2010-07-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

Team Cold Steel Wins 2010 Challenge Cup

Team Captain Tom Burke: "Cold Steel has been using Shark Cannonballs to win for ten years; the results speak for themselves. I won't go fishing without my Sharks." Cold Steel Team: Capt. Tom Burke Andy Bliss, Tom Allen, Rick Drosihn, Rob Ripka and Casey Priscoe

The Lake Ontario Challenge Cup is largely regarded as the most prestigious Salmon Tournament in North America. Team Cold Steel winner of the 2009 Challenge Cup was able to repeat this amazing victory two years in a row. Shark Cannonballs is grateful for the support we have had from Team Cold Steel for the past ten years.

2010 Oswego Pro Am Winners: Team Cold Steel

2010-07-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Captain Tom Burke congratulates Team Cold Steel

Winners of the 2010 Oswego New York Pro Am.

"I have been using Shark Cannonballs for ten years to win many Pro Am Tournaments; I will not go fishing without my Sharks"

Captain Tom Burke: Team Cold Steel - Shark Pro Staff

Exclusive Agent In Scandinavia

2010-06-29T22:39:00.001-07:00

Great News From Norway!

We are very pleased to welcome Tore Karlsen of Norway as the new exclusive agent for Shark Cannonballs in Scandinavia.

Tore is an avid sportsman enjoying both hunting and fishing. His company Zoo Prep is well known for excellence in taxidermy.

Tore is has been on the Shark Pro Staff Team for the past year as the Captain of Team Vikingfjord. He will also be co-ordinating the efforts of all the Shark Pro Staff Teams in Scandinavia.

http://teamvikingfjord.blogspot.com/

http://www.sharkcannonballs.com/eu_buy.html

OVER 2000 HOURS OF TROLLING WITH THE SAME SHARKS

2010-06-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

Juha Merila is one of the most avid fisherman I know; Juha loves to fish; I mean he really loves to fish!. Juha travels all over the world to engage in his great passion in life: downrigger sports fishing. I got the contact from my great pal Don Stanton at Walker Downriggers; Juha was testing the Walker riggers in Finland at the time. Don referred to "the Professor" as one of the top fishermen in Scandinavia; lucky for us, Juha agreed to test our Sharks. Juha does not like his academic credentials to get in the way of his reputation as a competition fisherman.

It was a cold winter day when we sent the wooden crate to Finland; it was the beginning of the incredible journey announcing the arrival of Sharks in the land of the Vikings. Juha was the first Shark Pro Staffer in Scandinavia, many years later thousands of Vikings love their Sharks, and use them just like Juha whenever they go fishing. It was stories like this that kept us going through the tough times.

Hi Ed
I am still running the four sharks - and sharks only - you provided me years back in time. It is unbelievable that I still have them. I have not used any other balls since then, and given that I have put some 2000 hours of trolling with them, one might think my wires are made of kryptonite. But they are not. I guess I am lucky and careful, and I bet the Sharks are partly to thank - trailing is minimized. My sharks are not as shiny as they were (bouncing loose in the fish well during transportations), but they are still good to go. Perhaps they start to be the oldest Sharks in (ab)use in the world? Whatever, I will always remain thankful and loyal to you guys. It was truly amazing to receive the heavy parcel from Canada for free. I still have the box on the top my study shelf reminding me about the ocassion

Few images of my fishing: First one is from Russia: Lake Onega. Great big lake packed with landlocked atlantic salmon. We fished last August 6 days: we had some 230 strikes. Mostly small fish (minimum size 60 cm) but a whole lot of takers too. I am going again this August. My friend Mike from Germany made a DVD out this trip - there is an English version available. I will get you one. The other guy in the picture Jan Svenstrup, my friend from Denmark (he works in a fishing shops specialized on trolling gear). I am playing a fish and Jan is about the cut the other. Look at color of those salmons - they are so black!

This picture is from this spring: I was fishing Rügen in Germany with my firedn Mike Luner in his boat. What you see there is our days catch: average size +10 kg. Mike has desgned some rods and lures to Zebco Sports Europe - a real pro

Finally, a closer snap of in winter of 2009 in Simris. It was bloody cold and miserable, but we killed some salmon. In matter fact, we ate one in the boat fresh from water: sliced and spiced up with soya, ginger and wasabi

It would be great to try the extreme sharks. The Norwegian connection would surely work out somehow because people move with boats in between Norway and Sweden. But no worries- I hope to have my sharks to last for at least another 7 years.
More soon - tell my best regards to your family!

Cheers
Juha

.........................................................................
Juha Merilä
Ecological Genetics Research Unit
Department of Biosciences
PO Box 65 (Biocenter 3, Viikinkaari 1)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
E-mail: juha.merila@helsinki.fi
http://www.helsinki.fi/biosci/egru/
Gsm: +358-40-8374165
Fax: +358-9-19157694

SHARKS - TEN YEARS LATER

2010-06-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

Since we switched to selling Sharks online we found some serious communication problems developing at the street level; our previous dealers. We used to sell to the dealer network, they would turn around and sell the Sharks on the Internet, and we would literally get nothing for our efforts.

Some of our previous dealers and their support network are advising their customers Sharks are no longer the best option. The new darling of the cannonball department is what ever they happen to have in stock at the time.

That's fine, but in all fairness the customer still deserves to hear the truth when it comes to getting reliable information on how they will be spending their fishing dollars: Don't listen to the tackle shops, and don't listen to us; ask the guy in the next boat how he feels about Sharks over the past ten years.

Our volunteer Pro Staff has spread the word far and wide over the years, now we have thousands of guys you can ask the question: What is the best downrigger weight on the market?
I will be publishing special reports in this blog from our extraordinary Shark Cannonballs Pro Staff from all over the world regarding their use of Sharks over the past ten years. We owe our success to these guys; this is their story. I look forward to your comments.

Best Regards

Sharkman

Captain Troy Creasy Using Sharks for 10 Years

2010-06-19T11:11:00.001-07:00

Ed,
Good hearing from you.I hope your recovery continues to go well for you.Stay in touch, Thanks.

Here is what I think about Sharks:

As one of the first charter captains to experiment with the sharks I can not say enough about how well this weight fishes. As I have said in the past, I think the Shark is the greatest downrigger weight ever made.

While many captains are looking to reach the heavy depths which the 15 & 20 pound weights certainly do, I continue to be in love with my 10 pounders and use them constantly when I am fishing less than 80 FOW. They track perfectly straight, and they don’t have the blowback of conventional round weights. The facets will and do pull fish into your pattern, it is a fact!

The other thing I want to mention is how well the company in itself has reached out to the guys in the trenches that work on the water everyday. The support that you have given to the pro-staffers is very much appreciated. Ed Dzenis and his company provide a valuable product & service to the fishing industry.

I am proud to be part of the original alumni and the team.

Captain Troy A. CreasyHigh Adventure Sportfishing
Lake Ontario Outdoors1719 County Rt
28Pulaski, NY 13142315-298-2410

www.highadventurefishing.com
www.lakeontariooutdoors.com

Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever
`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸ ><((((º>´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸><((((((º>

Team Coldsteel Using Sharks for 10 Years

2010-06-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

" The 2 things I can say about Sharks is 1st they attract fish like your claims not only with the facets but that they look like a fish! Not a torpedo or ball!! Fish attract to fish!
Also we use to have at least 2 to 4 times a year with other weights and our terrible currents where two riggers would cross(tangle) each other.
Since switching to Sharks about 10 years we never get a tangle!! They track great and each one tracks the same"
Captain Tom Burke Team Coldsteel Osewgo New York

SCREAMER WINS 2010 ORLEANS PRO AM

2010-06-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Team Screamer wins big at 2010 New York/Orleans Pro Am

"I have been winning tournaments for 8 years using Shark Cannonballs, I wouldn't go fishing without them" "Sharks played a huge role in our win at the 2010 Pro Am Tournament at Orleans."
Captain Dave Antenori

Captain Dave has been on the Shark Cannonballs Pro Staff Team for eight years, he has won more tournaments than any other competition fisherman that we know of. Captain Dave has always attributed a big part of his success to the use of Shark Cannonballs.

After eight years of winning consistently in the Amateur Division of the New York Pro Am, Captain Dave joined the ranks of the Pro Division.

Captain Pete Alex Team Vision Quest

2010-05-19T01:32:00.000-07:00

Spring Fishing 2010 with Shark Cannonballs

Capt. Pete Alex, Shark Pro Staff, is one of the top tournament fishermen and charter captains on the Great Lakes. Captain Pete is always successful in tournaments or on charters, Capt. Pete has been using Shark Cannonballs to win for the past eight years.

That 20# SHARK is impressive !!! A beast but it's an awesome deep water tool.
Capt. Pete

Fishing with Sharks in Sweden

2010-02-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hi Sharkman!Andreas Dilén/ TEAM DILÈN Sweden here.

I will just say that we have used the Shark Cannonballs for about 3 years now and we are very impressed with the way Sharks atract fish.

Before we used the Sharks we used the traditional weights and yes they caught fish once in a while. But when we used the Shark Cannonballs for the first time it was a sunny calm day at lake Vanern. We caught 3 nice salmon behind the Sharks. I had no flashers one the line and I fished the bait about 10-20 ft behind the weight. After a couple of trips we saw a big difference in catching fish with the downriggers.

Trip after trip we went in to the harbour with nice fish, and our trolling friends asked if we have seen any difference using the Sharks and we often tell them that we have caught about 90% more fish on the downriggers using the Sharks. I have some friends that don't belive me about the Sharks. they say it´s waste of money.

But okay it´s their problem that we are before them in the competitions list ;) In my team the Sharks are worth gold!!! It´s outstanding and it´s one of the things that we can't be without.

Thanks for the Sharks Sharkman!!! Follow our fishing in www.salmontroll.blogspot.com Best regards Andreas

Thank you for your kind words Andreas, we are grateful for your support.

Best Regards

Sharkman

Norwegian Trolling Masters

2010-01-01T19:44:00.001-08:00

Norwegian Trolling Masters

It is with great pride the Executive Committee of the Shark Pro Staff Team is able to announce the appointment of the "A-Team trolling" from Norway to the Shark Cannonballs International Pro Staff Team. The "A-Team trolling" has the distinction of being the current National Trolling Champions (NM) of Norway. Over the years the Shark Pro Staff Team has become an elite collection of the best downrigger sports fishermen in the world; their common bond is their love for fishing and their high regard for Shark Cannonballs. The credo of team is to promote good sportsmanship in the fishing community and to share knowledge with other fishers. "A-Team",

Frank Ronny Johansen, Roy Idar Brandlistuen and Leif Johansen won top honors at the Norwegian Trolling Masters Tournament (NM) this past summer in a hard fought contest where the difference between first place and second was only 170 gm. This year over 200 boat s competed in the 2009 Trolling Masters in Norway, the "A-Team" took first place with a total weight of 16.57 kg. At the same time they also took the biggest trout of 7.68 kg. "A-Team trolling" used 2 fifteen pound Chrome Sharks to attract their winning fish.

Frank Ronny and Roy Idar have been best friends since they were six years old, they are neighbours now at the age 37. The two friends started trolling back in 1995, it was Roy who got Frank interested in trolling. Roy Idar had the boat and the equipment back then. Now its the opposite way. They have always fished together, their main advantage is they are well organized and are very patient. In the early years, the two friends did not participate in any tournaments, they just fished for the love of the sport. Some years later in 2007 Roy Idar was compelled to sell his boat, Frank Ronny enlisted the help of his father Leif Johansen to purchase their current team boat; an Ocquiteau 540 wac, 2003 model with a Suzuki 70 hp four stroke. The boat is equipped with: Lowrance Broadband radar, Lowrance HDS-8, Lowrance Structure Scan, Raymarine Sportspilot and Wallas 1800watts heater, and of course Shark Cannonballs.

At the same time the two friends officially started the "A-Team" . They documented their trips and events in their blog .Frank Ronny originally came from a fishing family, his grandfather and uncle were professional fishermen up north in Norway. The "A-Team" is mostly interested in trolling, but both Frank Ronny and Roy Idar are experienced fly fishermen as well. Frank has family in Milwaukee Wisconsin, one of the great trolling destinations on the Great Lakes in North America. Frank visited his relatives in 2004 and again in 2008, he got to do some quality downrigging on Lake Michigan, catching at least 10 salmon and trout on both trips. Next trip to USA will be in 2012, every 4th year.

For the most part, it is Frank Ronny and Roy Idar who do most of the fishing, but Leif, Franks father is an equal member of "A-Team". In 2008 they participated in several tournaments ( They did not use Shark Cannonballs back then). The "A-Team trolling" won the Mjøsa Ørretfestival (Lake Mjøsa Trout festival) 208 boats competed in the competition. They caught 7 trout for a total weight of 13,5 kg. The "A-Team" placed fourth in the Nordic Championship on Lake Vänern in Sweden. 80 boats competed. Interestingly in 2008 the team lost faith using downriggers. They just could not get the fish to hit the downriggers. They were only able to catch two small trout the entire year on the riggers, so in many of the competitions the "A-Team trolling" fished mostly on the surface.In 2009 the "A-Team" participated in several tournaments, they bought their first Sharks while competing in the Trolling Masters Tournament in Bornholm Denmark.

They placed 40th in a field of 240 boats, but they started to see the benefits of using the Shark downrigger weights, Things started to improve using downriggers from that point on. Both the salmon they took (10.4kg & 5.4kg) at Bornholm were caught on the downriggers using Shark Cannonballs. NM ( Norway Championship) 214 boats competed. In this competition there are two parts # 1: Most fish and # 2: The biggest fish. The "A-Team" won both categories of the competitions. They caught 4 trout weighing 16,57 kg . The second best team got 16,4 kg. Their biggest trout weighed 7,68 kg. The second biggest trout weighed 7,54 kg. They won the contest by 170 grams of total fish, and 140 grams on the biggest trout. Two of their fish were caught on the riggers using Shark downrigger weights. The "A-Team" placed 16th in a field of 55 boats in the Nordic Championship on Lake Vänern, Sweden.

They took a nice trout weighing 6,9 kg on the riggers, again using Shark Cannonballs to attract the fish to the spread. The team developed more confidence using the downriggers with Shark weights on the pre-fish day before the competition taking a nice 7.1 kg salmon. In 2008 they placed 4th in a field of 80 boats.In contrast to the 2008 season they rekindled their faith using downriggers, the Sharks played a major role in the process.. In 2008 they only caught 2 fish on the riggers, this year was a major turnaround; they used the downriggers every time they went out and started catching lots of fish. The Sharks played a major role in their winning strategy.

ProNav, Norway's biggest distributor of marine electronics was quick to notice the emerging success of the "A-Team" and signed them up for their pro staff program. We consider it to be a great honour for the "A-Team" to join our Pro Staff program and look forward to many years of exciting tournaments and fishing stories. Welcome aboard gentlemen!

Extreme Sharks - Extremely Popular

2009-12-15T04:01:00.000-08:00

Extreme Sharks

The new Extreme Sharks are being shipped out as fast as we can make them

International Lead Prices

2009-12-13T14:51:00.000-08:00

Lead Up 100% Last Year

We buy our lead from American Iron & Metal Company, the price has gone up 100% in the last year. Prices are expected to climb signifigantly by summer. Now is a good time to invest in Sharks before the prices go up.

http://www.infomine.com/Investment/HistoricalCharts/ShowCharts.asp?c=Lead

Extreme Shark Available for Holiday Gifts

2009-11-29T22:04:00.000-08:00

The Extreme Shark is available in Canada and the USA in time for the holiday season. There are three times as many facets, the facets are three times deeper, the Extreme Shark is designed to amplify the famous Shark signature. We have dedicated this special model to Team Extreme of Sweden for their outstanding performance over the years. Team Extreme has always shared the glory with us by using our product and and letting people know the Shark plays an important role in their success.

The Extreme Shark and our entire range of Shark Cannonballs are available for gifts for the holiday season if ordered before Dec 18. We use UPS Ground for fast reliable shipping. http://www.sharkcannonballs.com/superstore.html

Team Pressman wins Canadian Shoot Out - 2009 Tight Line Winners

2009-11-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

Sharks work very well in our spread... Not only there streamlined design that reduce blow black at greater depths... We also feel they attract fish into the spread... Agressive ones hit the riggers and the shyer ones fade out and take outlines...

Team Pressman
Captain Steve Fudge
Deryk Hastie
Chris Vanrooy

Fishing for Winter Kings in Alaska

2009-11-05T23:45:00.000-08:00

The very best part of my job is to meet fishermen from all over the world and share in their amazing fishing stories. Shark Pro Staff Member Captain Mike Cessnun from Ketchican Alaska has sent us some of his favorite fishing pictures for everyone to enjoy. Here is the link to the slideshow.

http://www.sharkcannonballs.com/promap.php?name=mike_cessnun

Thanks Mike!

Sharkman

Extreme Team: Extreme Shark

2009-10-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

It is our great honour to dedicate the Extreme Shark to the 2009 Swedish National Trolling Champions Team Extreme

Congratulations Team Extreme

Available in January 2010

2009 Swedish Trolling Masters Champions: Again

2009-10-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Team Extreme for winning the Swedish Trolling Masters Competition, they are the Swedish National Champions for the second year in a row!

A lot can be said about why Team Extreme wins the really important fishing tournaments, again and again, year after year. The real reason for their success is knowledge, they are true professionals, they are out on the water all the time; they know what they are doing. Knowledge is their winning tool. Quite simply, Team Extreme has demonstrated themselves to be the best competition fishing team in Scandinavia; there can be no disputing that.

The best teams always use the best equipment; Team Extreme has used Shark Cannonballs to win major tournaments since they came out, but more importantly Team Extreme has used Shark Cannonballs where it really counts, in their everyday charter business. Team Extreme is the best competition fishing team in Scandinavia, and they are also the best guides on the lake. They always seem to know where the fish are, and how to catch them.

In recognition of their extraordinary achievements over the years and upon this grand occasion, we are presenting Team Extreme with the highest honor from our company; we are therefore dedicating our most exciting Shark ever to Team Extreme. Every time Team Extreme is in the spotlight for their many awards, they are always gracious enough to share some of the glory with us.

We therefore dedicate our new Shark Cannonball to Team Extreme: They will be called The Extreme Tournament Series Sharks: Extreme Shark. We will be unveiling this new model in the near future. Besides their extremely successful careers in championship fishing and charter fishing, Ove, Dan, and Anders are true gentlemen and true sportsmen, on and off the water.

Congratulations you guys; you're just getting started: Sharkman

Norway Trolling Festival - Sharks Help to Win The Day

2009-10-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Viking fishermen!!!!!!

1st Place: Cato Pettersen Team Kytefskern 2009 Norwegian Trolling Festival holding winning fish caught on a 12 pound Chrome Shark. High winds, two metre waves, cold and raining; perfect weather for Viking fishermen. It was a really tough contest fought in extremely harsh conditions. Congratulations Cato! We will be sending you one of our new top secret Super Sharks as an extra prize for your support of our products. Good luck in the Swedish Trolling Masters on Oct 16.

3rd Place: Steiner Moen, Team Helgoya. Congratulations Steiner on your excellent 3rd place finish at the Norwegian Trolling Festival. Steiner caugth his winning fish using a 20 lb Mega Shark

5th Place goes the Allan Team Mayday. Allen used Sharks Cannonballs to win 5th place at the Norwegian Trolling Festival; his prize included two Sapphire Chrome Sharks

Super Shark - Top Secret

2009-09-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

We can't show anybody the new Super Shark just yet; patent laws etc. But we can let you in on some exciting results from our testing. We haven't changed a thing on our original Chrome Faceted Shark in the last nine years. Our philosopy has always been if it ain't broke; don't fix it.

So it would take something pretty earth shattering for us to mess around with the original design. Our new Pro Staffer Ryan Hare was so startled by the difference in performance of the ten pound of the new SUPER SHARK he actually ended up sleeping with it under his pillow for the week of testing. It was that good. Watch this blog for regular updates on the exciting new developments on our new Super Shark.

We have all had days when the riggers just won't produce. We try spoons, flies, meat strips, nothing will work. You can see the fish down there hugging the bottom, looking for some cold water. You see the occasional one streak to the ball, almost looks like it is taking a swipe at the Shark, but no hits. Before you resort to the copper and lead core; try this on one of the riggers. Take off the big 15 pound Sharks and hook up a light weight 10 pound Shark. The objective of the excercise is to get the lightweight Shark as for back from the boat as possible. Sounds weird; read this story.

My buddy Captain Jim Munoz up in Leland Michigan will only use ten pound Sharks. Jim has a 30 ft Tierra with four heavy duty Big Jon Brutes. I have tried to get him to use the heavier weights for years to no avail. Jim has always stuck to his theory that certain times of the year, (especially when the riggers are not working for most boats) the fish bang the ball because they are angry at it. I always had a bit of a problem trying to figure out exactly what that meant, but how do argue with a guy that returns back to port after an hour with a full limit of fish on a regular basis, year after year. Many of Jim's customers complain about the short fishing trips, he tells them "if you want to take a boat cruise, take that boat over there. The limit on this lake is five fish per person, when we get that, the trip is over" Captain Jim Munoz played a huge role in making the Shark famous nine years ago.

Anyway, let's have a closer look at what is going on here. Nine years later I got some clues from our new pro Staffer, Capt. Ryan Hare and his team We Pound 'em. We gave Ryan a proto type sample of our new Super Shark that we have been developing and testing for years. That's right :the Super Shark! We only had one ten pound version for Ryan to run his tests on. We knew we were on to something with this new model, but we were a little surprised to hear back from Ryan he was sleeping with the new Shark under his pillow.

Ryan reported when the new ball was out, all the hits came off the new ball exclusively. The other riggers would get hits when the new ball was out of the water. We were all pretty exited about this and decided to get right down and pound out a few fifteen pounders in time for the last competition of the year. Thinking inside the box, the fifteen pounders always worked better! Not always!
The team had a rough week out on the water, nobody was getting hits off the riggers; it was all copper line and dipsy's. But Ryan did make some excellent observations over the week. Although not much was coming off the riggers, certainly not like the previous week with the new prototype; he could see fish coming up of the bottom and literally banging the ball, but no takers.

Here is Ryan's actual email to me:

Its hard for me to give you accurate information on the new sharks because of the amount of fish caught but here is what I discovered.

The amount of blowback @ 25ft is the same as the original shark running 2.5mph

the amount of blowback @ 75 ft is also very close, however the new shark appeared to be experiencing a lesser degree of blowback.running down deep at over 100ft both balls are very similar in amount of blowback.

running down @150ft they both preformed very well however it was very hard to tell which ball was running with less blowback because to the depth. My graph would more often read the new shark leading me to believe that it was running with less blowback.

My rigger bite was slow, the best performing ball was the original black shark. ran tight to bottom in 70fow or down 153ft over 200-250 fow. The new black shark also took fish.The actual problem I was having was the fish where too attracted to the sharks.They would run up and bang the sharks but not hit the lure's Almost all big fish being caught where males. They where very aggressive but also very tight lipped. Most guys complained of dropping fish because of the light bite.

Back at Shark head quarters, we were super impressed with the data; the facets of the new Shark are about 10 times as rough as the old ones, yet the blow back was the same or even less. The golf ball effect really works! At the same time the more pronounced rugged facets are churning up the water way more than the older model; therefore creating a much greater sonic signature.
So what was the problem; why weren't the fifteen pounders working like the ten pounders. Isn't bigger better?.

I sent Ryan another email asking him for some more details: This was his actual reply.

I mixed it up through out the week to see if I could get more bites but no cigar.I did run spoons tight to the ball and with medium and long leads. Nothing 0 hits on spoons off the riggers. Big light bright coloured spoons off copper and lead core took a couple fish but that was it for my spoon bite.herring strips and paddles dragging bottom with long leads was my most productive rig. followed by flies off of dipsy's.A big part of this was simply because of the time of year.

a) these fish are stuck to bottom trying to find survivable water temps

b) they are highly aggressive and territorial right now but not so much hungry

c) intense boat traffic over shallow water quickly scattered the fish and made it even harder to entice a strike. still

hope to do a bit more with the new sharks before the season wraps up, but I hope what I provide helps a bit.

Ryan

It all started to make sense, especially item c) on Ryans list

Here's what is going on: The ten pounder is much lighter and the swing back is much greater. At a hundred feet down, it was dragging so far behind the boat, you couldn't even tell where the heck it was. Precisely! So far behind the boat was the clue.

I thought back to what Jim Munoz has been telling me for nine years; remember Jim only uses 10 pound Sharks; bingo!

I put that together with a story a scuba diver related to me at a fishing show in Seattle. He sat on a rock down about eighty feet and watched schools of spooky fish scatter when a boat came overhead. The fish always scattered in the same pattern; they broke out sideways and always circled back to the same spot when the boat passed by. The boats were running round cannonballs with a great deal of swing back. When the fish circled back they ran into the ball and they hit the spoons traveling close behind.

This is why the ten pounder worked better in Ryan's test: The fish scattered when the boat passed over, the ten pounder was far enough back when they circled back. The fifteen pounders were running right under the boat when the fish scattered; no takers.

This explanation would pertain to both the original "classic" Shark facet design or the new "radical" facet pattern on the Super Shark. That is a partial explanation of why there are days when the riggers don't work. It explains what happens to fish directly under the boat, and it also explains what’s going on to fish coming in from the sides; if they are spooky they won’t close in on the presentation directly under the boat, rather they prefer to investigate what’s going with the presentation dragging back a safe distance behind the boat. The Shark is still the best attractor out there; on days when the fish are a little spooky, you just need to run them a little further back behind the boat. Give it a try and let me know how it works out..

Then of course there are days when the riggers are going off as fast as you can set them, when the ball is just down ten or twenty feet. Go figure.

Thanks Jim
Thanks Ryan

Sharkman

2009 New York Challenge Cup Winners - Shark Pro Staff Team Coldsteel

2009-08-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hi Ed,
Hope your getting better after your accident. Wanted to drop you a line in the midst of this great run were having and thank you for the part Shark cannon balls have played. 2nd in the Wilson Scotty, 3rd in the Niagara pro-am, 3rd in the Orleans pro-am, 2nd in the West cup, 2nd in the Oswego pro-am, 3rd in the Sodus pro-am, 1st in the East cup, 1st in the Lake Ontario Challenge cup!! We have been with you from the beginning and have enjoyed watching you grow. The tourneys are getting tougher each year though, so do me a favor. Don't sell any sharks to our competition!! LOL
Thanks Again,
Tom

Team Coldsteel has every kind of Shark that has ever been made.

Sharks 30% Off In Sweden - Eliminate The Middleman

2009-08-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Shark Agent for Scandinavia

Our recent attempts to find an agent in Scandinavia have not been successful; the few big agents we talked to felt they would not be making enough money; what else is new. We came really close to making a deal with some less prominent agents, really close; but at the last moment, for some mysterious reason they would suddenly back out. What ever.

Our previous agent in Sweden was successful in selling 1600 Sharks in Scandinavia in less than two years, and that was before the Shark was even popular. Everyone knows they made some really big money. Many Scandinavian fishermen now have to buy their Sharks in North America and have them shipped back home at a very high price. Only wealthy or really dedicated fishermen can afford to do this.

Countries in Scandinavia have imposed a 28% value added tax to protect their economies. The negative consequence is their citizens have to pay a terrible penalty to have access to foreign made goods; even when the products are not made in Scandinavian countries. Shark Cannonballs has offered pricing to agents in Scandinavia for significantly less than we charge to dealers in North America as an attempt to gain access to your markets. Our attempts have consistently failed; the agents never pass along the savings to fishermen; what else is new. Instead they needed to make really high profits. The result of course has been only a few fishermen can afford to use our product.

We have a plan to reduce the cost of Sharks by 30%;eliminate the middleman . It is our hope we could interest a group of dedicated fishermen to get together and organize a co-operative effort to import Sharks into Scandinavia and distribute them to the fishermen at a low price.

The Shark has proven to be the top rated attractor and best cannonball on the market, the top competition fishermen in Sweden have the Sharks are the best product for the past five years. They win all the contests and they attribute their success to the use of Sharks. We will be keeping an extremely close eye to see who wins this year! We encourage private fishing clubs and individuals to network and organize a power buy. In return we will offer reduced prices on Sharks; 10% less than Canadian/US dealers, only if the saving are passed onto the fishermen. This should reduce the cost of purchasing Sharks by up to 30%.

A minimum purchase of 100 Sharks per shipment is necessary to make the project possible as ocean freight is a major factor. It costs about the same to ship 50 pcs as it does 100; approximately $500 US for both quantities.

We look forward to hearing from real Viking fishermen.

Shark Holder

2009-08-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

Shark Holder: Stealth Design

Easy to mount, the Shark holder is the perfect solution for onboard storage and efficient handling of Shark Cannonballs. Made of highly durable impact resistant plastic, the Shark holder is custom designed for easy access and maximum efficiency while using Shark Cannonballs on the high seas.

The open side access is designed to ensures fast and accurate handling of Shark Cannonballs while you are in the heat of battle. Just reach down for an instant firm grip on the Shark while you are changing lures and setting lines in the waves. The beveled guides for the tail slot makes it easy to replace the Shark in the holder with minimum effort and with just a quick glance.

The stealth profile offers a solid platform for safe storage for all sizes of Sharks while underway (up to 15 lbs), at the same time there are no sharp edges to catch on netting and lines

How Very Canadian Of Us.

2009-08-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

All due respect, I apologize if I conveyed the impression this flap is somehow limited to "tackle shop trade wars", I wish it was that simple. Suggesting "those tackle shops shouldn't be sitting back and watching how Canadians are handling it" is also wishful thinking. It is none of our business to tell US citizens what they should and shouldn’t be doing.
Just remember when they do say enough is enough, they have ten times the population base, ten times the economic clout, and ten times the ability to hurt us if they so chose in border related issues.

When I mentioned I talked to all the owners of the downrigger tackle shops in New York the other day to get a read on how this flap is shaking down, I should have elaborated. This is no rant, the tackle shops are a meeting place, a communications hub; a gossip centre. The townsfolk of Oswego gather at Larry's Salmon shoot the shit and to pick up a few things before they head out the two big marinas in Oswego. Fat Nancy's is the favorite spot in Pulaski. Narby's in Kent, Screwy Louis in Fairhaven. When I say townsfolk, I'm talking average American and some very influential people; money, power, wealth, the people who can afford the big salmon boats in the marinas. Business owners, lawyers, university professors, cops, border guards etc.

Oswego is a very tight knit community as is every little town along the south shore of Lake Ontario. Their patriotism and sense of community is something to behold. Anyone who has ever attended a captains meeting at the Pro Am knows what I am talking about. 200 people will stand up and put their hand over their heart and proudly pledge their allegiance to the American Flag. It breaks me up every time I see this. We could use some of this up in Canada.

These folks take their fishing very seriously, more importantly they take their communities very seriously. So when I say these folks are super peeved about how one of their favorite sons has been treated by Canada and Canadians, make no mistake about it. This is no rant, that border guard just whacked a hornets nest.

It is not our business to tell them they should not be sitting back and watching how Canadians are handling this thing. I assure you they are not just sitting back and just watching, this has become a flashpoint, galvanizing their general disappointment, disgust, and anger at how they are treated by Canada and Canadian. Sure they all have their stories how they love Canada and Canadians, they keeping coming back for more, don‘t they? At the same time everyone of them will tell you how they always get ripped off on the currency exchange by Canadian stores when they come up here to shop; a polite way of saying we are reaching into their pockets and stealing their money in broad daytlight.

Our border guards are there to enforce Canadian law, they do not make foreign policy. Telling prominent American citizens they are not welcome into our country when shakedown goes bad, goes beyond their job description. Fleecing American tourists is not something the border guards came up with themselves, this comes from a higher authority.

This has got nothing to do with Tom and his lawyer showing up at the border crossing negotiating the ransom, that’s what happens in Somalia with the pirates. This has everything to do with how we as Canadians treat our friends and our neighbours. This defines us as a people.

Let the record show when it came time to answer to the thousands of angry US citizens from New York State how Canada and Canadians responded to this shameful incident, we can proudly stand up and point to the 49 Canadians who stood up and voted in the Spoonpullers poll to let Tom back into Canada; How very Canadian of us.

http://spoonpullers.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=9628&page=2

Sharkman

Shark Attack New York Pro Am

2009-07-16T18:15:00.001-07:00

Congratulation's Captain Del and Team Liquid Plumber

Coming off an eighth-place finish in this year’s Niagara County tournament that he followed with a third in Orleans County, Del Casterline’s catch on Saturday was not only the best in the Amateur Division, but his overall score was better than any team in the all divisions. Captian Del credits his win to the custom painted Shark Cannonballs he was using" The Sharks definetely attract fish, I painted the tops of some 15 pound Sharks with black paint, and left the underside chrome."Based on 10 points per fish and a point per pound, Casterline’s Liquid Plumber team flushed away all other competitors with a total score of 206.06 points. Casterline’s finishes in the Niagara and Orleans events earned him the 2009 Western Challenge Cup, and he appears to be well on his way in his pursuit of the Eastern and perhaps even the lake-wide cup in the Amateur Division.Casterline’s home is in Mountaintop, Pa., but he spends most of his summer in Oswego pursuing his passion for fishing the rich waters of Lake Ontario.

Story and Pictures; David Turner

Shark Pro Staff Big Win at New York Pro Am

2009-07-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Shark Cannonballs Pro Staff Team T-K comes across big to win the Pro Division of the 2009 Oswego Pro Am Salmon and Trout Tournament. Capt. Bob Pultorak credits his new 15 lb Sapphire Chrome Sharks with the win. From left are team members Tom Pultorak, Kevin Davis, Capt. Bob Pultorak, Mike Kuzmiak, and Richard Davis.

Watch for more details from the tournament as Shark wins big again in 2009.

Blogging: Social Commentary

2009-07-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

I take back all that stuff I said about Chrysler in my earlier blog; all that stuff about putting that gas line filter behind the gas tank so I couldn't get at it to change it. This car saved my life.

I was driving back from my chainsaw shop, Penner's Farm Equipment in Tara, Ontario with my brand new Husqueverna 640 chainsaw (sweet) The old Husky my neighbour gave to me finally died; it was thirty years old.

A silver truck suddenly appeared right in front of me; he ran through the stop sign without stopping. I didn't have time to say what was on my mind, h#*y ! #*!#k! but for sure I was thinking it at precisely that moment. I was traveling along at 50 miles per hour (80 k/ph). I didn't have the benefit of loosing consciousnesses during the impact, it would have been nice. I was totally aware during the whole thing, all I can say it was gruesome. I survived, the two nice people in the other car survived. I am battered and bruised and glad to be alive; Thank God for airbags and seatbelts; Chrysler got that part right. Those two items hurt me more than I have ever been hurt before; like someone hitting you in the chest with a big sledge hammer. At the end of the day, it was a small price to pay for staying alive: pain is temporary.

I want to thank the people who stopped to help, the emergency services folks who got me out of the car and into the ambulance; it was no easy task, I am a very big man. I want to thank the people at the hospital that dedicate their lives to help people in trauma situations; they are outstanding individuals. The OPP for their frontline work dealing with human tragedy, and my family for always being there for me. I thought of them first during the moments after the impact while I was deciding to stay alive. I would also like to thank all our friends in the fishing industry for their kind support.

The guy I hit was in the next trauma room at the hospital with his lovely wife and their family; he came over to apologize. He was not drunk or on drugs, he just looked like a straight up guy; it was just one of those things. I told him don't worry about it; "shit happens, we are all human beings and we all make mistakes". It sure made me feel better; we all learned from the experience.

Screaming Again!!!!!

2009-07-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

Shark Pro Staff Team Screamer/A-TOM-MIK reels in top prize at 2009 Mustad Challenge in Oswego New York

Sunday, June 28, 2009 5:35 PM EDT

OSWEGO — First-place team: Shark Pro Staff Screamer/A-TOM-MIK captured first place Saturday at the third annual Mustad Challenge team fishing event held on Saturday.
From left are team members Joe Nogick, Gene Delicati, Chris Taramelli, and Captain Dave Antenori.

The team of Pennsylvania-based anglers had set out to fish for brown trout, but scrapped that plan because conditions weren’t right. The team then boated five salmon and one steelhead to win the top prize in the Mustad Challenge.The team’s biggest fish was a salmon weighing 18.3 pounds. Screamer/A-TOM-MIK brought in five salmon and one steelhead.

Poly Chrome Sharks: Time To Clear The Air

2009-06-27T03:37:00.000-07:00

Poly Chrome Sharks!

Let me clarify a few misconceptions and rumors that are floating around the pristine waters of Scandinavia regarding Poly Chrome Sharks: there is nothing wrong with them. They work exactly as well as real chrome, they are just as durable, and they are suppose to cost a lot less than chrome plated Sharks!

The only problems is when they are being misrepresented as chrome plated Sharks and people charge far too much money for them. Then of course there are those opportunistic individuals who never miss an opportunity to generate negative publicity about Sharks.

For the record, our Black Faceted Sharks have outsold real chrome Sharks in the USA for the past five years by a ratio of 9:1. They are coated with the same polyester plastic that is used on Polychrome Sharks. It is the same material used on propane cylinders on your barbeque tanks and NFL football helmets. In fact the Poly Chrome Sharks have two layers of baked on polyester; the first coat is white to make the chrome coat look brighter. Therefore they are twice as durable as the Black Faceted Sharks; we have sold thousands of Black Sharks and have never had one single complaint. Please check this statement with every Shark dealer in New York State.

The only problem with the Sharks has always been the cost; they are expensive to manufacture as they are hand made and they are very expensive to transport. We elected to make Polychrome Sharks (powder coated) as a means of reducing the cost to fishermen. We sold them to our agent at the time in Norway for $47 USD each. Add the shipping cost and 28% VAT = $65USD. Keep in mind the agent recovers the VAT from the government; therefore anything above $52USD is clear profit.

We have heard people are very upset with our company and our product; but it is not because there is anything wrong or substandard with the product; it is because the product has been misrepresented as having the original chrome plated finish and because people have been charged far too much money. In both cases, this is something that must be addressed to the former agent for Shark Cannonballs.

Regarding the rumors of fake Sharks circulating in Scandinavia: It was brought to our attention there were emails posted on the internet between two individuals apparently in the process of making counterfeit Sharks. Apparently, one of the individuals had the same name as our previous agent; we are confident this must be an unfortunate coincidence. The emails have been deleted from the internet. In any case, we wish them the best of luck as they will never be successful in duplicating the Shark. Besides the obvious poor craftsmanship that has surfaced in some of the attempts over the years; look closely at the detail in the word Shark stamped into the tail. The stamp was made with an original custom designed font, one of a kind. It has been our experience fishermen in the trolling community around the world are honest and decent people, and they would never tolerate using pirated products.

Best Regards

Sharkman

Exclusive Agent for Scandinavia

2009-06-24T04:39:00.000-07:00

Shark Cannonballs is looking for an exclusive agent in Scandinavia to sell Shark Trolling Products: Shark Downrigger Weights and Shark Trolling Spoons. Our product is very popular in Scandinavia and is in high demand. Our agreement with all previous agents has expired and we are looking for a suitable candidate who is familiar with the market and is well liked in the fishing community. Please contact us at shark@sharkcannonballs.com for details.

Shark Attack at 2009 New York Pro Am

2009-06-15T03:36:00.000-07:00

Clean Sweep:

First, Second, Third, Pro Div - First, Second, Third, Am Div

Shark Cannonballs congratulates the winners of the 2009 Pro Am at Orleans

2009 Lake Ontario Pro-am Orleans County Winners

Pro Division

1st. Top Gun - 378.42 Shark Pro Staff

2nd. Screamer/A-Tom-Mik - 370.13 Shark Pro Staff

3rd. Cold Steel/A-Tom-Mik - 294.78 Shark Pro Staff

Sunrise II - 279.87

Reel Excitement/Condor - 275.22

Tracker - 259.28

Reel Pleasure - 250.74 Shark User

Vision Quest - 241.83 Shark User

Free Spirit - 218.27T

Team Savant Spoon - 209.62 Shark User

Am Division

1st. Fish Nuts - 271.91 Shark User

2nd. 5-More Minutes/Siggs - 227.14 Shark User

3rd. Liquid Plumber - 203.89 Shark User

Wizard - 165.58

Still No Sponsor - 137.39

Telling It like It Is: The Pro Am Captains Speak Out

2009-06-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Official Pro Am Magazine

Shark Cannonballs would like to thank the organizing committee for the 2008/2009 Lake Ontario Pro Am Salmon & Trout Team Tournaments for formally acknowledging the winning role the Shark Cannonball has played in the Pro Am Tournament in the official Pro Am Magazine.
For the first time in the history of salmon tournaments anywhere in the world the organizing committee for the Pro Am took the bold step of giving Shark Cannonballs formal credit in reporting the results of the 2008 Pro Am Series.

Up until now it has been a tradition for officials and sports writer's everywhere to only report the name of the lure, the manufacturing company, and the color of the lure used by the winning teams. It was generally acknowledged the lure was responsible for the victories. We have been told privately by hundreds of teams all over the world it was their belief the Shark was responsible for actually attracting the fish; the role of the lure was to hook them once they were there.

Shark Pro Staff Team Coldsteel/A-Tom-mik Wins Niagara Pro Am

It is common knowledge most of the Pro Am Teams have been using Sharks at the Pro Am for the past eight years, an by coincidence these teams have won consistently; but our product has never received the formal credit it deserves for attracting the fish. For us, this acknowledgment by the Pro Am Series is our greatest achievement to date; we have been officially recognized as an integral component of successful tournament fishing.

Team Candy Wins Wayne County Pro Am With Sharks

It is a validation of what we have been telling everyone for years: The Shark Cannonball is much more than a downrigger weight, it is the best attractor on the market; it is the Sharks that attract fish to the spread, once they are there they will hit the trailing lure.

Shark Pro Staff Team Top Gun hands over Championship Cup to Team Candy

Finally, we would like to thank the Captians in the Pro Am Series who have supported us for the past nine years and for speaking out about what really catches the fish.

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

2009-06-09T16:39:00.001-07:00

Captain Troy Creasy

I would be remiss indeed if I did not comment why the Sapphire/Chrome Shark is not only still around but is one of our best sellers. We retired the model many years ago because of production problems at the time: flaking paint. It drove me crazy! We tried everything, the paint just would not stick. Captain Troy Creasy from New York, High Adventure Fishing, just would not let it go, the Blue/Silver Shark model was his favorite Shark and that's all there was to it. When we announced we were cancelling the model, Troy kicked up such a fuss; I agreed to make a few special one's for his personal use if he promised not to tell anyone; he did keep his promise, after all, it turned out to be his secret weapon.

I was running late as usual to my committed delivery time; I did not have any of our usual silver automotive paint on hand, so we took a few real chrome Sharks and sprayed them with some of the new automotive sapphire paint specially made for chrome. WOW!!!!! They looked fabulous. I dropped them off at Fat Nancy's, the top tackle shop in New York for Troy. Before he could pick them up, a number of people saw them there; by then it was too late. The word was out, we were swamped with calls to bring back the Blue/Silver Shark. This time we called it the Sapphire/Chrome. Basically if it wasn't for Captain Troy Creasy, the Sapphire/Chrome would have faded into obscurity and been lost forever. Now guys all over the world are catching lots of fish and winning tournaments with the Sapphire Chromes. It is a great third option between the our two most popular yet extreme opposite colors; the Chrome and the Black.

Troy is also the editor of one of the top fishing magazines in the USA; Lake Ontario Outdoors. Troy and his wife Shelley played a major role in organizing the Oswego Pro Am for many years. Troy did a super job at the master of ceremonies for the awards presentations for many years.

Captain Troy Creasy is also one of the original Shark Cannonballs Pro Staff members and has supported us for going on nine years. As long as Troy still wants Sapphire/Chromes, we will still keep making them.

Thanks Troy
Sharkman

New Agent in Sweden

2009-06-09T06:43:00.000-07:00

Shark Cannonballs Is Looking

For An Exclusive Agent In Sweden.

We are looking for a long term relationship with a reliable agent to sell and promote Shark Cannonballs and Shark Trolling Spoons in Scandinavia.

Please Contact

Us At

shark@sharkcannonballs.com

What Is The Most Important Piece of Fishing Equipment On Your Boat?

2009-05-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Just A Piece Of The Puzzle? Captain Alex Dzenis Showtime Charters

Fishing has become so incredibly complex with entire industries devoted to each component of our equipment. Gone are those simple days when you could sit on the end of the dock and drop your line in the water in the early morning and wait for the moment when you feel the first nibble. The excitement and magic of catching that fish has remained with us as our world has been transformed through technology and science.

Every single piece of equipment that you have on your boat is an integral component of a successful fishing trip; everything has to be just perfect. One little imperfection will become a fatal flaw, a little nick in your fishing line, a chink in your downrigger cable will come into play during the moment of truth when you are far out on the cold water. Your electronics play a critical role, one glitch in the software, and your fishing trip is ruined. Your boat and your motor has to be in perfect shape; when you break down at sea, it is not like breaking down on the highway.

If everything goes well in your life, you work hard, you might get lucky and have the opportunity to become involved in downrigger fishing. First you have to go out and buy a boat, motor and trailer, and all the necessary equipment to go out on the water and that will be an experience in itself. If you are blessed to live in a country that has managed the natural resources properly and if you do everything just right, there is a real possibility that rod might go off and you might catch a prize salmon; maybe.

All that was just a prerequisite for what is to come; hundreds of hours pounding the waves, learning how to use the equipment, finding the fish, and if your lucky, if your really lucky, you might just start catching enough fish to make the whole exercise worthwhile. Or you could just go out on a charter boat whenever you feel like going fishing. In any case it is going to cost you money and time.

About twenty years ago I noticed an ad in the newspaper for a salmon charter in Lake Ontario, I thought to myself: "this sounds crazy" big salmon in Lake Ontario, just twenty minutes from where I live. Three hundred dollars was a lot of money to a young family raising four kids. Up until then my idea of fishing was limited to the lakes and rivers of northern Ontario and Minnesota. I grew up in Thornhill, the northern boundary of Toronto, our family vacationed up in northern Ontario every summer, fishing in the small lakes was my childhood dream. I would get up before dawn every morning, how could you sleep with that crazy loon making all that noise anyway. I stepped into my canoe resting on the shore and slid silently out on to the lake; it was just me, my fishing rod, and my red and white Daredevil. I was trolling.

That was the moment I waited for all year; to get up to the cottage involved five hours of driving in a packed car, and when we got up there and stepped out of the car, you were instantly breathing black files and mosquitoes. The notion of a short drive down to Lake Ontario without the weekend traffic jam, the mosquitoes and black flies somehow seemed worth the three hundred dollars it was going to cost me. That fishing trip transformed the lives of every member of our family forever.

Captain Dave McConnell on board Jezabel

We got down to Port Credit and met the skipper, Captain Dave McConnell, his boat was called Jezebel. I though to myself reflecting on the biblical significance of the name, why would somebody call their boat the Jezebel? you know the evil queen. The Jezebel was a twenty six foot Bayliner with your basic Chevy 350, it moved out pretty good as Captain Dave took us miles out onto the lake. When we could no longer see the shoreline, Captain Dave cut back on the throttle hard and the boat gently settled into the water like a big goose coming in for a landing.

The first mate was not there to help the skipper that morning so my kids got a special thrill driving the big boat while Dave was setting up the lines. No sooner than he got the first line down when the rod went off silently; and then the reel started to scream like the devil was on the other end. Dave started to shout, what are you doing, you are supposed to be paying attention. Nobody told me anything about that, I was used to holding onto the rod while I was trolling from a small boat, so you could feel the fish hit. Dave grabbed the rod, set the hook and handed me the rod. Ten minutes later I pulled in a twenty pound salmon; I was hooked forever. We went on to catch ten more salmon that morning, until we were all exhausted.

That was the first trip of many that summer, I had my own business running an AV studio in Toronto and getting away up north was only possible once in a while. Salmon fishing in Lake Ontario was the perfect solution for family entertainment.

Suzanne with our first boat at White Sea

The business was going pretty good and we were really hooked on salmon fishing. Any ways to make a long story short, that is how it all started, it wasn't long before we got our first salmon boat; a twenty one foot Cutter with a 350 Chevy engine; this baby went like a bat out of hell. We kept it at the Port Credit marina for most of the spring summer and fall, but we would trailer her up to Manitoulin Island for a month every summer.

Captain Fred White (left) Sharkman with family

Whitesea Fishing Resort Meldrum Bay Manitoulin Island

The young man in the bottom left is our future president Carl

By the way Meldrum Bay is about as close to heaven as you can find on this planet. One cottage every ten miles, it was just like God had left it a million years ago; every rock and bolder was still in the same place.

Wild Sky in Owen Sound

Just hang in there, all this is leading up to how the Shark came into being. Years later and three boats later we found ourselves living in northern Ontario. Suzanne was involved in a car crash and needed some time to recover, it was right around then I discovered what it meant to be Super Mom. I never came close to that title but I had a new found appreciation for the job she did raising our family. We made the crazy decision to move up north for a couple of years, just until Suzanne was feeling better. That was fifteen years ago; we have never looked back.

On our way up to Manitoulin Island every summer, we would pass through Owen Sound and Wiarton. Small towns with the amenities close by on the shores of Georgian Bay, part of Lake Huron, and there was salmon in the water. It was heaven on earth. On our last trip back from the island, we made the decision not to go back to Toronto.

Our eldest son Alex and I took the fourteen week Power Squadron boating safety course in Toronto just before we moved. I got a little concerned one fine day running into some unexpected twenty foot waves up at Manitoulin, I thought we should be better prepared next time. At fourteen Alex was the youngest member to graduate from the North York Chapter of the Power and Sail Squadron. I barely made it through the course myself, they didn't let me use the GPS for the navigation. It was the compass and charts and that crazy formula. The squadron leader gave us a rhyme to help us remember the navigation formula. "Two virgins make dull conversation" : True, Variation, Magnetic, Deviation, Compass. Somehow this was going to save us in the event we got blown out to sea late one stormy night. Thank goodness for GPS.

Showtime Charters at Port Elgin

Anyways, it was inevitable we decided we needed a really big boat this time to do this salmon thing properly, Georgian Bay was famous for its rough water. Alex and I came up with a good excuse to buy the boat, we were qualified people; we could start a charter business. The boat was a thirty foot Sea Ray Amberjack; the only boat Sea Ray ever made dedicated exclusively to off shore fishing. She sat in the driveway for the month of May while we addressed every detail; refinished all the wood, installed the best electronics, twelve Mustang survival suits, four big Jon Downriggers. We bought all the equipment from Randy Ford in Collingwood. Randy later went on to buy the Walker Downrigger Company.

Cosmo and son; first customer for Captain Alex and Showtime Charters

We moved the boat to Port Elgin on the other side of the Bruce Peninsula, the fishing was better over there in the early summer. The first few charters were really great, lots of fish, happy customers, a great experience for Alex to learn how to run a business. It was right around then we discovered the down side of the charter business; people would pay up to $600 for a day of fishing and they had some expectations of catching some big salmon. Wrong! There were days when we would pull back into the marina without any fish in the box. An expensive boat ride, it wasn't just us, none of the other charter boats were having any luck either.

We came to realize, all the best equipment in the world did not make any difference to fish that would not bite. Problem solving was something we were good at as a family, we were resourceful and we would often design and make many things for our house and our business that would improve our life. We were unable to come up with the answer to this problem while we were running the charter boat. Anyway this is turning into long story, so I better "cut to the chase". The kids grew up and became interested in other things besides fishing, the boat was too big for me to handle by myself. Our experiment with the charter business was over. But we still loved fishing, so it was.back to the basics; I bought a little fifteen foot aluminum boat with a trolling motor. I will tell you there is nothing more exciting than to be fighing a big salmon in a small boat by yourself in three foot waves; that is living.

I will post the story later exactly how the whole thing started with the Shark, but for now I will get to the point; what is the most important piece of equipment you have on your boat. When there are plenty of fish around and they are hitting hard, it doesn't matter what kind of equipment you have, you will still catch plenty of fish. You can put a concrete block down in the water for a cannonball and use beer caps for a lure; you will still fill up the box. When the bite is down however, that is a whole different story. It is exactly right then and there that the fundamental principle of fishing comes into play. You will find out quickly the one thing that will make a big difference on a bad day.

Succeeding in getting the attention of the few fish on a slow day, and getting them to come over to your presentation and motivating them to strike becomes the essence of the exercise. Suddenly all the fancy equipment you have; the big boat with the leather seats, the expensive electronics, the rods and reels, the gas, the slip at the marina, the navigation certificate, doesn't mean a damn thing. That stubborn fish doesn't care about your big boat.

At that point your only connection to this mysterious creature is what you put in the water. Think about it; the only thing that actually goes into the water is the cannonball and the lure presentation; the spoon or the flasher/fly combo. That's it, that is all that you have going for you. Nothing else counts, zippo!

Up until then, we were using the traditional round cannonballs just like everyone else. We did not set out to create the "worlds best downrigger weight, by coincidence we created a downrigger weight that simply worked better that anything else out there. The real story begins when we started to figure out why the Shark worked so well. It was through hundreds of hours of observation, studying every bit of scientific information that was available at the time that we started to get some clues how to piece this puzzle together.

The conclusion was a simple matter of deduction; fortunately for us the principle design elements incorporated in the Shark responsible for attracting fish (the facets) were already included in our patent application. This idea was so important, Carl retained one of the best patent attorney's in the USA to protect his idea; a good plan.

There were many good clues out there explaining salmon behaviour, millions of dollars of research was already spent, but for the wrong reason. At the time, hydro electrical engineers were only concerned about keeping salmon away from the dams so they did not interfere with the turbines. Interestingly, an engineer from Ontario discovered salmon could only hear in the low frequency range. He did an experiment with a machine that generated air bubbles and voila! He learned the secret how to call salmon to the other side of the lake. The same noise a school of baitfish make with their air bladders. He got a patent for his discovery and went on to sell it for millions of dollars all over the world. Now I don't want any of you guys sticking your head over the side of the boat and start blowing bubbles; well, maybe two guys, but anyway.

It was too bad no one told the fishermen about this discovery for thirty years, we were all still in the dark ages thinking fish attractors were only visual based. Other things played into solving the puzzle, underwater sound detection became an obsession with navy's around the world. Sorting out background noise from enemy submarines produced an immense amount of research. Marine scientist discovered there was an unbeliveable symphony of sound going on under the water all the time. Fish were making noise and responding to noise. After a couple of years we finally put two and two together and came up with the answer. It was the sound coming off the Shark that was causing the fish to come to the ball. The definition of a sound wave is: oscillating cycles of compression/decompression. Exactly what happens when water travels up and down over the facets on the Shark.

Ten years later it remains a challenge to convince many guys there is little or no light down there, it is all a function of sound. The really smart guy's caught on quickly and went on to win many big money tournaments. The other really smart guy's thought they already knew everything about salmon and were a little more stubborn to accept this radical concept. But many of them are slowly starting to see the light; I mean hear the sound. There is one more questions that needs to be answered; the oringinal question: What is the most important peice of equipment in your boat. At the end of the day, what is it that really is responsible for actually attracting fish; is it the downrigger weight or is the winky little lure following behind?

Back in the days when anglers were using round cannonballs, it was a reasonable assumption to give the lure all the credit; especially if you were using a very long lead. Then the flashers and dodgers appeared on the scene and were given some credit, rightly so. But at what cost, personally it ruined the experience for me to have a bread board spinning around between me and my salmon while I am reeling in. But that is just me, I have often said "I would rather sit on the dock and read a book than to go fishing with a breadboard. Nothing has changed that.

Then Mr. Shark came along and changed everything: it was a primary attractor that worked at least as well any other product on the market, and it restored some dignity back into the sport. Now you could fight your prize salmon without fighting the swirling breadboard. I do appreciate there are days when dodgers and fly combo's work better than spoons, and if your in a tournament or charging people money on a charter; you gotta do what you gotta do.

We did a survey among some of the most respected fishermen in the sport, the captains at the Pro Am Series in New York. We asked them straight up: Is it the Shark or is it the little lure trailing behind that is responsible for attracting the fish. The majority of captains stated emphatically for the record once and for all; It was the Shark without question. http://www.sharkcannonballs.com/sn_2008_winners.html
When sports writers report the results of the big tournaments all over the world, they still give credit only to the lure. i.e. 35 lb salmon caught on a blue and silver whatever. We are looking forward to the day when they get the story straight.

Think about it; a hundred feet down you have four gnarly Sharks ripping up the water with big hammered facets, do you really think it is the winky little lure trailing behind the Sharks that is doing the work?

So, to answer the question: What is the most important piece of equipment in your boat?
It's definitely not your boat. You saw the big boat we had at the top of this story. How about this boat? It is a fifteen foot aluminum boat with home made downriggers on it. There is no fish finder, only a depth finder, when you are using Sharks, the fish come to you. You only really have to worry about the depth. I never worried about temperature, everybody knows the fish come out of their temperature range to feed in the evening. There is no big V8 engine, just a little 9.9 two stroke. All I had for a reel was a knuckle buster, no clutch. The fishing line was Dacron. I only had three spoons, all a guy really needs: green and silver NK, blue and silver NK and a black and purple NK with a white face. I went out every evening just out a hundred yards from shore in Owen Sound Bay and came home with my fish every night. Anybody that knows anything about fishing in Owen Sound Bay will tell you there is not a lot of fish up here. But that is another story.

After our family moved up to Owen Sound there was a period of time we went through some difficult times, there was just not enough money in the budget that summer to buy a bout and all the gear. It wasn't even an issue, I told you earlier we were very resourceful, me and the boys just rigged up some basic equipment from spare parts kicking around, and I went out every night and had the time of my life. Way more fun than I ever had in the big boat. I came back with fish many times when the big boats came home empty. I was very proud of that little boat then and I am even more proud of it today. The only reason I caught fish was because of the Sharks.

Since that time, there are about ten thousand guys around the world that agree with me; your cannonball is the most important piece of equipment; that's why they call it downrigger fishing.

Online Activism

2009-05-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

Do these fish looked scared?

Captain Dave Antenori has won many tournaments with Sharks

Online Activism
It is how Barrack Obama won the election; his supporters were better at text messaging than Hillary's or McCain's followers. It is how Ashton Kutcher out twitted CNN.

A Danish psychology professor recently conducted an experiment regarding the snowball effect of misinformation on the internet. A group of his students were instructed to start a fictitious campaign to stop the removal of a fountain in the city square. Website, blog, face books, and twitter accounts took on a life of their own; to the extent the students were helpless to stop the phenomenon when it got out of hand. They posted messages and plastered up posters announcing the whole thing was a hoax; it was too late. People had passionately embraced the cause and set up programs of their own to generate support for the cause. Apparently it is much easier to press the "send" key than it is to actually show up at a site carrying a protest sign.

Opportunistic cyber punks capitalize on this phenomena to spread disinformation to suit their purposes. One disgruntled “digital grease monkey” can do more damage in one day than a big company can to defend against it. Or the internet can be used by big companies to crush little companies.

Since our product the Shark Cannonball started to become popular around the world, increasingly we were compelled to deal with these annoying small minded people, big and small who were not able to compete with us based on product quality. Their only option was to get down in the gutter and start slinging cybermud from behind their computer screens.

Another interesting revelation of the online experiment was the lack of comments posted on the blogs; people apparently were cautious about revealing their identities online for fear of reprisals from the cyberthugs. I was relieved to hear this because I was beginning to develop my own psychological complex regarding my blog; nobody was commenting. Turns out I do have a bit of a following for my corny stories about a small family business and some social commentary of course, my blog is finally taking off; I’m a blogger!

The point of today’s blog is the negative information campaigns directed at us by cowardly cyber bullies, “Sharks scare away fish“, “we are going bankrupt” etc.

It is usually not too difficult to figure out where this repressed behaviour is coming from; feel sorry for them, they can’t help it, its not their fault, it was probably a mommy issue when they were growing up.

Online activism is a two way street; Let's get together and save that fountain in the city square!

If you are a blogger and you use Shark Cannonballs, we need your support. I am asking you to speak out in defense of small family businesses everywhere; post our logo on your blog and show these big bully companies that quality does make a difference and they can't dominate the market with just money. One of the bloggers today called me the "big boss" and suggested I am not saying anything about the Shark. First of all, I am big, but I am not the boss. That is my son Carl, he is busy making Sharks to send to fishermen around the world. This blog is about the Shark and about fishing; it is not good enough just to make the best downrigger weight in the world, it is the story of the bullshit we have to deal with just to get our product out there. Usually when I do talk about the Shark itself, these same fellows call it spam, so I let our pro staff do the talking about the Shark when they win major tournaments year after year. Most people would rather listen to them anyways, they are the real experts, and people listen to them because they are a volunteer pro staff team, not the kind you have to pay to say good things about your product.

It is possible you may not hear from me until Tuesday; this is the May two four long weekend celebrating the coming of summer, it usually snows. But that does not stop us Canadians from doing some very serious partying. Party On!

The Secret of the Shark: The Facets

2009-05-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

Why a Speeding Shark is Like a Golf Ball
Sharks Raise Their Scales to Dimple Their Skin Like the Surface of a Golf Ball

By DAVID ROBSON Nov. 10, 2008

"Shortfin mako sharks can shoot through the ocean at up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres an hour). Now a trick that helps them to reach such speeds has been discovered - the sharks can raise their scales to create tiny wells across the surface of their skin, reducing drag like the dimples on a golf ball."

The hydo dynamic shape of the Shark is part of the reason there is very little blow back; the facets are the other reason. It is called the golf ball effect. Lead is very porous, the facets cannot be included in the original casting. They have to be pounded in with a hammer to make them perfectly smooth like a mirror. The extra benefit of the facets is of course the "magic buzz" sound signature. Down deep, there is no light; it is all about the sound

Sharks Rock European Championship/Swedish Masters

2009-05-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

E x t r e m e l y E x t r e m e
2009 European Champions

Team Extreme/Shark Pro Staff

Sweden

Extremely well done Ove, Dan and Anders.
Shark Cannonballs

Congratulations Team Alva Shark Pro Staff

Germany

2009 Second Place European Championship

2009 Swedish Trolling Masters Leg 2

First Place: Team Extreme Shark Pro Staff

Second Place: Team Axelsson

Used Shark Cannonballs to win

Read the Signs

2009-05-07T04:29:00.000-07:00

I got an email from a friend fishing the 2009 Masters Trolling Tournament in Denmark. In the email he states he was watching fish come right up to the Sapphire Shark a number of times and then swim off. This burns me up to no end when I hear this; I have been telling guys for five years when they see this happening, it is time to switch to the Black Sharks. If you are using Black Sharks and the fish are swimming off, switch to the Chromes or the Sapphires.

The sound generated from the all the Sharks is exactly the same; the bigger Sharks amplify the sound over a greater distance as they displace more water. Curious fish hear the sound and come to the ball from great distances, what they do when they get there depends entirely what kind of mood they are in. If the fish are feeling aggressive while you are using Chrome Sharks they will become even more stimulated and will hit anything running behind it. If they are feeling a little spooky, the Chrome might be a little too much for them to handle, and they will swim off. If you see them swimming off two or three times, don't just sit there, they are telling you to switch to the Blacks. Sharks are attractors just like your dodgers and flashers, serious fishermen do not expect one color to work for all the conditions.

Confidence in the Black Shark :Yesterday from Thomas in Norway:

Black shark, spoon was silver with golden flake (homemade), 5 feet behind the shark. Speed 2.4 knots.

Regards
Tomas

Legends On The Big Water

2009-05-05T04:29:00.000-07:00

Darryl Choronzey: Honorary Shark Pro Staff

In recognition of the support Darryl Cronzy has provided to our project over the past nine years, we are appointing Darryl as an honorary member of the Shark Cannonballs International Pro Staff Team.

As a small family business operating out of Northern Ontario, we could not afford mainstream advertising. Right from the beginning, Darryl liked the Shark and took it upon himself to help our project. He featured the Shark on his TV show “Going Fishing” countless times over the years. The exposure on the show and the support from Canada's top fishing personality has enabled us to survive in a very competitive fishing equipment market among international corporate giants.
Darryl did this out of the goodness of his heart and asked nothing in return. Once in a while we were able to supply him with a few samples. We would like to mention at the same time, Darryl was the only Canadian TV personality that ever stepped up to help us out. We will be eternally grateful for your help Darryl.
Thank you
Shark Cannonballs

The Shark Pro Staff:

Our pro staff team is an elite group of fishermen committed to excellence in downrigger sport fishing. Individually these guys are some of the greatest fishermen in the sport, collectively they are one of the most dynamic pro staff teams in the fishing industry, they are all volunteers. From time to time we give the team members some new models to test out, we need the expert feedback before we can release a new product.

Team Extreme: Swedish Champions 2009

Except for a few members, all the original members are still with us today. I think it is safe to say most of them use Shark Cannonballs exclusively in their day to day fishing. http://www.sharkcannonballs.com/promap.html

Captain Jim Munoz and Suzanne

Nine years ago our dear friend, Captain Jim Munoz from Leland MI stepped up and was the first famous fishermen to join our volunteer pro staff team in the USA. http://www.sharkcannonballs.com/sn_munoz1.html Back then, we knew we had a great product, the problem was: how were we going to convince the world of that. Jim got the ball rolling big time, besides being one of the kindest most decent and generous man I ever met, Jim was a key player in one of the most spectacular salmon fisheries anywhere in the world; right in Leland Michigan. We couldn't afford to pay Jim; it wasn't a concern. Captain Jim said: "sure, you can use my picture, and you can quote me: the Shark is the best cannonball I have ever used." Well, it went way beyond that; Jim and his lovely wife Carole invited us to Leland a number of times to go fishing with Jim and to shoot hours and hours of underwater video. Jim and Carol invited us to stay in their home for the trips, Carol is a gourmet cook; but nothing could top their hospitality.

Nine years later, Captain Jim is still using Shark Cannonballs on his new 30 ft Tierra, decked out with four Big Jon Brutes. Since that time, 43 famous additional fishermen and 7 of the top tournament teams from around the world have taken their place in the Shark Cannonballs International Pro Staff Team.

Captain Tony Degaspiris of Action Fishing Adventures fishing out of our home port Owen Sound was in fact the very first charter captain to use Sharks anywhere; I am in the process of preparing a special blog on Captian "T"

Captain Mike Conroy: Proteaus

Oswego New York

For our family, it has been the most humbling experience of our lives; we are a small family business struggling to survive in the fishing industry. The Pro Staff Team gave us the kind of credibility that money could not buy. People listen to the Pro Staff Team because they are volunteers, we do not pay them to say good things about the Shark; quite simply, we could not afford to. Turns out, that’s exactly the kind of credibility people respect most. There is a great story associated with each and every Shark Pro Staff member, and this blog today does not do justice to the contribution and role each member has played in the project. I figure it would take me about three or four months just to document all the stories; I'm working on it. At the very least, each story deserves to be told.

Captain Dave Antenori A-TOM-MIK Screamer

Over the years many new members stepped up and join our volunteer army, based simply on their high regard for the product. The Pro Staff Team inspired us to keep going through some very tough years, they generated enough business to keep the project going. In a world of the $20 cannonballs, the Shark is still a tough sell. We do not have the kind of advertising budget to go head to head with the competition; big money companies that made attractors, dodgers and flashers. It is generally acknowledged we have the best tracking cannonball on the market; our job is to convince people the Shark will attract fish better than anything else on the market.

This little task has taken us eight years so far; the Pro Staff Team were the driving force the whole time, they just kept going about their business winning competitions around the world. The charter captains jsut kept useing Sharks for their day to day fishing. Eventually, even the most hardened skeptics warmed up to the concept the Shark was worth the money. Turns out it was a good deal for everyone, the Pro Staff Team helped us, the Sharks helped them win tournaments and catch lots of fish on their charter boats; and the consumers got the straight goods from the best Pro Staff Team in the business.

All I can say about the Shark Pro Staff is we love these guys, they are all legends in their own right, and we will be eternally grateful for everything they have done for us. Thank you gentlemen.

Team Helgoya's Blog in Denmark; Thanks Steiner

2009-05-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

We congratulate 3 norwegian teams with salmon today. A-team caught the biggest 10,32 kg and they used Sharks weights, Fiskeglede with a salmon on 9kg+ altso Sharks weights. A team caught the biggest 10.32 kg and they used weights Sharks, Fish Joy with a salmon Wednesday 9kg + altso Sharks weights. And the last norwegian boat with a salmon on 3 kg. And the last boat with a norwegian salmon on 3 kg. The leading fish is now 18kg, but we have plans of beating that record tomorrow. The leading fish is now 18kg, but we have plans of beating that record tomorrow. Best boat are now a different swedish boat, but my guess is that Johan Abelson gonna steal back that green flag tomorrow. Best boat are now a different swedish boat, but my guess is that Johan Abelson gonna steal back that green flag tomorrow.

Summary: Week of May 1, 2009

2009-05-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

Summary for the week:

Viking Fishermen: Looks like the Mega Sharks are going to arrive in the land of the Vikings in time for the Masters Trolling Tournament in Denmark this week: just barely. I thought we were going to have to do an emergency shipment by air. We will be cheering for our favorite Scandinavian Teams.

Team Hooked: Speaking of Vikings, we are proud to announce the appointment to one of the top teams from Sweden; second place in the National Championship behind Team Extreme.

Shark Spoons: Interesting development. When we published the story on our site of how we were going to use the "lost wax method" to cast our spoon because none of the stamping companies were up to the task, apparently. A couple of these companies took issue with this claim. It certainly will not be the usual high speed stamping process used by all the other spoon companies; apparently we will have to go to a 200 ton press at slow speed to get the detail right. But a couple of these stamping companies want to give it a go. We have opened up the bidding to any stamping company that feels they are up to the task.

Everybody that understands Sharks knows it is the facets that are responsible for the high success rate of the product; the facets on our spoons will have to be exactly the same. We will keep you posted.

Back Orders: Everybody will be happy to hear we are slowly but surely catching up on our outstanding backorders

Scrap Lead: Local scrap dealers across the country are paying seven cents per pound. Nobody is bringing in for that low price. We are happy to pay 4 times the going rate. If you have a few thousand pounds kicking around contact me at shark@sharkcannonballs.com

Attitude? Give me a break!

2009-05-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine read the blog and told me it seems like the pressures of business are getting to me and affecting my attitude. He may be right, but that's the way it has been behind the scenes for years. This is just the first time I have gone public with it. So, why am I doing it? The story needs to be told for a lot of reasons; for starts, it's what happened, and this is the Shark story after all, including all the lumps and bumps.

It's important for anybody thinking about getting into business for themselves, so they know what to expect when they become successful; especially the fishing business. It is important to correct a lot of the misconceptions floating around out there about our product, our family, and what it took to get here. Apparently those two clowns are still spreading rumors about our company; desperate measures by desperate people. Silly boys; don't you know nothing can stop the Shark! So, to answer my friends concerns; yes I have attitude, I have major attitude. Who is going to listen to you in this world if you don't have a little attitude.

I was an AV producer for most of my life doing corporate presentations for Fortune 500 companies. You want to see attitude, you want to see down and dirty in the real world, I watched industry giants go at each other behind closed doors for years, this is a picnic by comparison. But at any level of business, survival is survival and things will get ugly. My attitude is just fine; I'm just getting warmed up.

Out of the gate in Bornholm Day One
Let's see what else happened today? Oh ya, the big Trolling Masters Tournament in Denmark, 300 boats, it is insane. Teams from all over Scandinavia and Europe show up for this four day contest. The money is nice $25,000, but it's not about the money; bragging rights and national pride. Since they cancelled the European Championships, it's the only way these guys can square off. It's a long way from the top of Norway to Denmark; but you haven't lived until you have competed at Bornholm. There are 299 teams that do the long lonely drive home every year licking their wounds, but that's what keeps them coming back. These guys are a hardy bunch these Scandinavians; when things freeze up in the winter, and our boats have been out of the water for two months, they just put on their survival suits and keep fishing. They don't miss a beat.

We got lucky, our Mega Sharks got there at the last second to be tested in the biggest fishing contest in Scandinavia; Bornholm. The Norwegians are calling it "their secret weapon". After day one the two Wildwater guys (our ex reps) were in first and second place, now what are the odds of something like that happening: First place: 1 out of 300. Second place: 1 out of 300; First and second place: one out of the 300 squared. Pretty amazing, I guess it was team work.
The second day they were winded out; a lot of unhappy campers. Day three started late, but they got out there at 11:00 am. Here's the link in case anybody is interested from by buddy the organizer from the TV station Jan Jorgenson. Se resultaterne her - dag for dag

I got a email from Steiner Moen (Team Helgoya) from Norway, he was a little pissed from being winded out yesterday, but more importantly he was a little concerned about the bruising the Mega Sharks were laying down on his Scotty's.
Steiner's new boat up in Norway

I panicked and did the unthinkable; I called Gord at Scotty headquarters in Sydney BC. What else was I going to do? We just kinda breezed over a few things in the past; Gord said, "it's water under the bridge" but don't worry about the Scotty's, they can handle the beating, they are warrantied for twenty pounds, the west coast guys have been using the #20's for years". Gord told me to tell the guys in Denmark "just tighten down the nut on top of the spool and the break will work better". I thanked Gord for the info passed it along; it worked; the Vikings were happy. Let's see what happens on the last day tomorrow.
Geez, we had a real close call on the first day out, could you imagine if Johan and Per were using Sharks; scary. I would really like to hear from some of the teams at Bornholm that were using Sharks, and how they were using them.

Everything Is Connected

2009-04-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

Every fall for the past 12 years, Suzanne and I go into the bush for about a month to cut wood. We do it for a lot of reasons; we need the wood to heat the house and burn in the foundry to make Sharks. That one month of exercise is the only thing that has kept me alive over the years, next to fishing cutting wood is my most favorite thing to do in the world. The spectacular fall scenery, the escape from reality, we see it as our vacation every year, I wouldn't trade it for a month on the beach.

My neighbour Ernie gave me his old Husqueverna chainsaw after he dropped a tree on it, and he also gave me his old farm truck; an 1983 Ford pick up with a straight six block. I welded up some chains (mud grips) and have hauled over 300 cords of wood from deep in the bush over the years. I hooked up a home made trailer with a five ton axle on it and would load that rig to the "nines" a ton and a half on the truck, three tons on the trailer. That's a good day's work.

We used the old Ford as a skidder; I drop a big tree deep in the woods and hook it up to a one hundred foot rope. I give Suzanne a hand signal, she rev's up the Ford and takes a good run at it; the rope stretches out about thirty feet and that log sling shots right out of the forest. It is a helluva sight, we were careful, no one ever got hurt, and no damage to the truck.

The gas tank fell off one day as I was driving along, just as well; it wasn't in a good place under the truck with all the driving through the bush. I just put a jerry can on the roof with a piece of garden hose straight to the carb. That was ten years ago. When Ernie gave me the truck, the suspension on the left side was gone, (literally) it just wasn't there. I fastened a chunk of hard maple between the axle and the box, it worked just fine. We have a quarter mile lane for a driveway, sometimes its a bit rough keeping up with the snow in the winter.

No point blowing it out sometimes as it would fill in an hour later. With a load of hardwood in the back, I blast down that lane two or three times a day through two feet of snow. Best damn vehicle I ever had; it still starts every time I turn the key.

The point of my story is of course, they don't make them like they used to. I was sitting in a hotel in Vegas many years ago (I go there fore the computer show) watching a special on Asian imports and how it was affecting the American economy. It was pretty hard hitting as it was a very serious matter. Buy American, Japan bashing was the theme. They played up the Day of Infamy, even showed a clip of the American figure skating champ at the time Christie Yamaguci and how she didn't get a major sponsor after her brilliant gold medal victory for the USA.

But I was deeply moved by the message and saw the necessity to buy American to save our way of life. I have to admit I did own a couple of Nissan's up until then and was pretty impressed with the cars and the companies. But I felt a deep routed sense of patriotism as a Canadian to buy American made products. A lot of us Canadians love America (as well as Canada). I went out and leased a brand new Ford Exploder, I mean Explorer. I went through four transmissions, Ford just kept replacing them under the warranty program. I wondered how they could afford to do that, apparently I wasn't the only guy that had that problem.

Despite the problem with the transmissions, I traded up to a newer Exploder (damn; I mean Explorer). Apparently, they sorted out the transmission problems. I got a call from my son one afternoon; he crashed the Explorer. Right through an intersection and crashed into a rock; he was OK, the car was a write off. My son told me he put his foot on the break and the car sped up and wouldn't stop. I thought there was something odd about the skid marks across the pavement. I called my buddy Keith Uttley, he did accident reports for insurance companies; I wanted an independent opinion. The investigating cop said he would drop the careless driving charges if we could prove the car was at fault. Keith looked at the wreck at the dealership and said there is indeed something screwy going on here. He recommended we call Transport Canada.

To make a long story short, the cop dropped the charges, this government guy flew out from Ottawa, looked at the car and came to the conclusion "somebody must have been making out in the front seat, and bent the brake pedal closer to the gas pedal in the process". I told him "don't look at me, it must have been the kid"! Keith and I traveled around Ontario from dealership to dealership looking at a whole bunch of 97 Explorers; sure enough somebody had been making out in the front seat of all of them. All the brake pedals were bent right close to the gas pedal.

We called the popular consumer CBC TV show Market Place, they sent out some tough talking folks to check out the scene and said they were going to do a show. Apparently with all the people making out in the front seats these days, it would be a good idea to make a stronger brake pedal; so it wouldn't bend so easily. We check the NHTSA data base, there was a whole pile of pending lawsuits from SUV roll overs, so it's no wonder they didn't have time to check out this issue.

For some reason, the TV folks dropped the show like a hot potato, I guess it was more important not to piss Ford off as opposed to getting the message out and saving lives. Transport Canada wimped out as well and closed the file. They should have recalled all of them, but it was swept under the carpet so to speak. Now somebody had to pay for the wreck, I wasn't going to allow our insurance company to pay it out because it would reflect back on us. Interestingly, Ford dropped the whole thing and didn't go after us for the damage to their car $25G's ; which was quite unusual. I was not impressed with the way they treated me when I spoke to them, my son and a lot of other people could have been killed. Apparently some were. I gave up the fight at the time, but told them I'll be back. Hello.

Always dreamed of owning a big black Yukon, leather seats, the works; the kids were driving to Blue Mountain every weekend for snowboarding. I figured you only live once, and this would go a long way to saving the enconomy; if not the sticker price, then sure as hell the gas this thing used. Fabulous vehicle, at that price though, I was afraid of getting a scratch on it. Never did take it into the bush and the gas was killing me.

Anyways, I thought I would try my luck with Chrysler; Caravans. Other than the fact that the tyranny's kept exploding; some bolt flying out through the transmission wall, it was a pretty good car. I did put on a few miles on it driving around the Great Lakes visiting all the tackle shops. I have to thank Will and Troy at Bear Wheel and Brake, for their endless patience replacing those exploding tyranny's, especially the last time.

But here's the thing that finally got me about the Caravan's; apparently the issue exists in a lot of cars. Some evil son of a b___ decided it would be a good idea to put the gas line filter tucked in behind the gas tank. So if you want to change it, you have to drop the gas tank. I also cannot access the sparks plugs and you need a special tool to change the belt that wears out every couple of months. I checked the NHTSA data base again, apparently I am not the only fella that this is happened to.

Now all this feeds back to the collapse of the economy and especially the problems with the big three car companies in North America. The sales are down, people are loosing their jobs, I have friends that worked for thirty years for GM that may loose their pensions. There is talk about the collapse of the car industry as we know it. Who's going to buy a Chevy, Ford or Chrysler with all this bankruptcy talk going on. It seems nobody has enough confidence in the product or the company to step up and buy a new car; and I can’t say that I blame them.

When I was a young man, guys went to Canadian Tire every spring and bought new points, plugs and condensers and new fan belts. We could change them ourselves without any special tools. I don't want to hear about the bails outs and the restructuring, I just want Dodge to come along and announce they are going to change their ways; and they can start by putting the gas line filter in an accessible spot where I can change it myself. I can't afford the hundred bucks at the dealership to change a three dollar part.

Two of my kids are looking to buy cars, they are university graduates, it will be their first car. My daughter has planted 2000 trees a day in a mosquito infested swamp for two summers to pay her way through school, what am I suppose to tell her, buy a Ford?

You may ask; what does this have to do with fishing? Everything! That little gas line filter is symbolic of the overall problem with our way of life. When we stopped doing shit like that, things will turn around. The problem is there is only so much time left before it is too late for all of us.

It rained too much last fall, we could not get into the bush to get the all the wood we needed. I’m going out into the bush today to scrounge around for some dead wood, to make some more Sharks; I will be taking the 83 Ford, it works as good now as the day it was built. The Shark project has relied on our ability to make do with what we had over the years. Quite literally, we could not have done it without that old truck and that old Husky. As it was, we barely squeaked through, and we are not out of the woods yet.

The Distributors

2009-04-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

We started the business in the spring of 2001 bright eyed and very naive thinking we have a winner here with the Shark and let's just go for it, simple; right? My son Carl often says: " if he knew then what he knows now, there is not chance he would have committed to this project". A world without Sharks, it just about happened.

We figured the first thing we need is a good distributor; got in touch with the folks at Triple S in New York. The package of sample Sharks was sitting on the kitchen counter ready to be delivered to New York, when we got a call from the neighbor; "turn on your TV! We just caught a live glimpse of the second plane slamming into the World Trade Center. The world changed forever that day, and at times it seems like it has been going on a downward spiral ever since. The samples didn't go out to New York for about two months. We thought about packing it in, it seemed like there was no point continuing. We were wrong, fishing took on a whole new meaning next summer as folks needed some relief from the world around them. We decided to carry on and give it a try.

Later that winter we were invited to attend the Triple S dealer show in New York. It was a good experience, met all the New York dealers, (what a pile of characters) sold a lot of product. We made a verbal agreement at the show; unfortunately it did not pan out in the spring. One of the partner's explained it to me: "Ed you are dreaming in Technicolor" I responded: " if your going to dream, it may as well be in Technicolor" we parted company.

A few interesting things did happen at the show; we were placed next door to the Walker Downrigger booth. That's where I first met this cocky young rep Don Standen. He was going on like most reps do about all the important people they know etc. Don said: " Have you tried to get into Cabela's yet?" I told him we tried that route but we didn't get past the front door." He said: I bet I could get you in with that product of yours" Ya right buddy. Well Holy Crap Batman, at five to nine Monday morning I got a call from Cabela's head office in Sydney Nebraska: we are in. But that's another story. Don turned out to be one of my favorite people in the business, he continued to offer his generous help for years to come. I'll get back to the Don Standen story in the future. Anyway one distributor down, three to go.

My Pal Don Standen

We had a short lived encounter with Don Largess in Michigan. Don and his wife Jackie were absolutely terrific. Don was an aerospace engineer laid off a few years previous and thought he’d follow his life’s dream: to become a distributor for fishing tackle. Don drove endlessly back and forth across Michigan visiting all the dealer’s promoting his line of goods. He would have made it if the fishing hadn’t dried up on Lake Huron. He lived on the shore; Lake Michigan was a long ways away. Unfortunately things didn’t work out; we parted good friends. Two down, two to go.

Don Standen told us to get a hold of Donny Rufo, their rep in New York. " Donny's got a truck and he does the rounds, he would be perfect" said Don. Well I met up with Don and Jill Rufo in March of that year in the port town of Oswego NY. They were both super people, well loved and respected in the community by their friends and acquaintances. Don drove me around the circuit and we established about 10 dealers that day.

We went on to have a great relationship over the next two years; sold a lot of Sharks and had a lot of fun along the way. One time in particular I remember; Donny said why don't you offer a special prize for the Pro Am Tournament coming up in Oswego. He suggested $1000 to the winner on the pro side if they win using Sharks and $500 on the Am side. I thought to myself, this could look good for us, and what's the chances of someone winning with Sharks anyway; there's over 40 boats in each category.

Notice Tom Allen in the red shirt smiling!
There I was up on the stage with Rufo handing over $1000 American dollars to none other than A-T0M-MIK Tom Allen on the Coldsteel Team. Two minutes later I was handing $500 dollars over to Del. For then on, we donated prizes to the derby every summer. We sure got our money’s worth as most of the winners got Sharks and we got the mention in front of the big crowd. From that day on most of the Pro Am captains in New York started using Sharks. Eight years later, they are all still using Sharks for their charter business and for fishing derbies. It was a sad day when Don & Jill left Oswego to seek other endeavors.

Tom Allen was just starting his little piece of the American Dream back then. Tom also liked to dream in Technicolor. Suzanne and I sat beside Tom and his girlfriend at the picnic lunch under the big top; I said to myself, "who is this guy" as he just kept on winning cases of beer in the raffle; about five or six of them. What a lucky guy!

We hooked up with Mike Bussing in Michigan the same summer; Mike's a good guy, I really liked him and his family and his team of super salesman. I have to say Mike's wife makes the most sensational peach cobbler I have ever tasted. Mike bought 1000 Sharks in one go. I had a lot of confidence in the product and told him: "you don't have to pay for them until you sell them". Six weeks later, I called Mike to see how it's going. "Haven't sold one Shark". I suggested I come down to Michigan to help out. I went down there and sold 1000 Sharks to dealers across the state in one week. I remember Mike saying "What kind of mojo did you put on these folks". There were a couple of guaranteed sales; if the dealer didn't sell them, I would take them back. Never had to take any Sharks back.

Down the line things turned sour, push came to shove on a few issues; we pulled out of the deal. So much for the peach cobbler. Three down, one to go.

Air Express to Sweden
Our forth and final distributor was Wildwater Fishing in Sweden. There was a lot of controversy surrounding these boys; but what the hell, they bought 1500 Sharks. They air expressed 50 Sharks across the Atlantic just so they could have them in time for a derby. Ouch! We stuck with the Wildwater Boys for about two years, but it finally fell apart for some really dumb reasons. It wasn’t the money; they were just too busy to promote the product the way they agreed to.

That was it for dealing with distributors, prices were going up for everything from gas to raw material; not a lot of room left for the wholesalers mark up. We figured we would just go direct to the dealers at this point. That is another story.

Downrigger Companies

2009-04-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Downrigger Companies:

I used to do the rounds at fishing shows, in store events etc. Generally I was invited to attend by a local dealer. The reps from Big Jon, Scotty, Walker, and Cannon were there most of the time. I tried to get along with everybody; most of you can remember seeing Sharks hanging off all the riggers at the shows. The Shark had a way of making all their products look better; it was definitely a show stopper.

In an attempt to ingratiate ourselves with the "big" tackle companies, we made it a point to return the favor for them displaying our product at their booths; we would often give away a few Sharks with downriggers that were sold by the dealer that invited us. Big mistake! Found out about six months after one of these shows, one of the big 4 got their noses out of joint by this seemingly innocent gesture. This company got their butts kicked by another rigger company, and we became the scapegoat. Apparently, we “stabbed them in the back” after all that good stuff they did for us. By giving away four Sharks to customers that bought riggers from this other company, this was now the excuse why they got their butts kicked at the show. Ya Right!

The repercussions for this "seemingly innocent gesture" have been reverberating to this day. We have been at odds ever since. We gave away thousands of dollars in Sharks to all of them equally through dealer sales at the shows; but the notion of favoritism was more than they're ego's could handle. For the record, I still consider a few of their reps to be outstanding individuals, they went out of their way to help us out in the early days; Don Stanton from Walker would have to be one of these special people.

As far as downriggers go, everybody that knows me, knows my personal preference has always been the rigger John Emery and his dad designed 35 years ago. Form follows function is my golden rule to good design, the Big Jons have the best design for functionality. The lift arm takes the ball out of the water and into your hand in one smooth move in a split second; do your business and then back into the water just as fast. If you check out our video Fishing with Captain Jim Munoz, you can see this move executed by a pro. It is the essence of what a rigger is suppose to do.

Bring It On!

2009-04-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

Bring It On!

No more Mr. Nice Guy, no more turning the other cheek, no more taking the moral high ground; the gloves are off and the last man standing wins; regardless who has the best product!

For the past eight years my kids kept throwing all this stuff back in my face that I taught them about being decent people, how they should conduct themselves in the world, especially in the business world: don't stoop to the same level as the competition when they attack with the negative ads etc. The same crap my old man drilled into my head when I was a kid. Well, we tried that and it didn't get us very far; this is a different world than the one I grew up in. Wake up kids, I was wrong, none of that is true, none of it matters.

Nowadays, the public likes a good fight, turning the other cheek is a sign of weakness. A lot of folks say John Kerry lost against Bush because he didn't fight back when the negative ads started. Maybe there's something to it. Last year the GLA message board took a vote on the "best thread of the year". I was a little surprised at the number of guys who voted for the Sharkman vs. Terminator thread. It started out as fun, but it got down and dirty pretty fast; I complained to the moderator; he said it was good advertising. I didn't see it that way; I never posted again. Interestingly, when we scored the big knock out victory in one of the most important markets on the Great Lakes, New York State with the Pro Am Captain's Survey; http://www.sharkcannonballs.com/sn_2008_winners.html. Its was one of the single biggest endorsements for a downrigger product in the history of the sport, not a peep from the any of the nay sayers on the GLA message board. My point precisely.

I go back once in awhile to take a look. It's encouraging to see some of the guys actually discussing "sound" and one of the guys mentioned something to the effect maybe it's not such a great idea to run somebody out of town because they have some different ideas. Is it just me, or are the message boards getting a little ho hum with all the info censorship?

At the end of the day, I was run out of Dodge by some of the more vocal members and my kids put a muzzle on me for simply trying to engage in a meaningful exchange of ideas. That's not the way it works in big business, it's human nature to protect your turf, and that's all there is to it.

So, who ends up loosing while all this BS is flying around? The consumer, the readership, the guys that tune into these message boards for good information on how to spend their hard earned cash so they can go fishing on the precious few days they can get out in the summer; it's something they wait for all year. They basically get ripped off for their time, opportunity and money by the group who has the power to control the flow of information; the big money.

There is no freaking chance the ordinary everyday fisherman will ever get the straight goods on what the best product is. The ability of powerful lobby groups goes way beyond the message boards and magazines. The big money is well connected all the way down the line; dealers, pro staff, the word out on the lake. So how does this play out in practical terms?

The Shark rules in a numbers of major markets around the world, based strictly on its performance record. But we can't get our foot in the door in a few key markets because the gate keepers of the information do such a good job of keeping the truth from the local fishermen. Take the east side of Lake Michigan for example, we can't get any dealers to handle Sharks there even if we gave them away for free. It's not because Sharks don't work there just as well as they do in New York.

The owner of Captn Chucks in Ludington Dick Coleman and his son Craig proved it by winning the big derby using Sharks.

The boogeyman must have got to the other dealers and charter captains on the coast, because you can't mention the word Shark without getting a dirty look. Try to Google the words Shark Cannonballs; this is what comes up.

anyone try the shark cannonballs yet - Great Lakes Fisherman - 6 visits - 20 Apr
10 posts - 9 authors - Last post: 5 FebWe tried the Shark Cannonballs about four-five years ago when they ... The Shark Cannonballs definitely messed up our normal spread and ...www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4322 - 83k -

Do you have any idea how hard some busy beaver has to work to make this ancient thread from April 2006 keep coming up ahead of our website year after year? This is the thread that claims the Shark "definetely messed up their spread". We have ten thousand of the top fishermen in the world that will tell you the Shark will definetely not mess up your spread! This is an example of how big business will try to control the flow of information and spook consumers. BS!!!!! and this is how the little people in the industry, the techno-peasants fight back; we still get lots of sales from MI going directly to our internet Shark SuperStore; those sales should be going to local dealers to help the local economy.

The people of Michigan deserve to know the truth about their fishing equipment without being bullied around by some big company who tells them what they can and cannot buy. After getting both sides of the story, they can believe whatever they want, but at least let's get both sides of the story out there.

I said it nine years ago, I have been saying it ever since. The Shark Cannonball is the best downrigger weight/attractor on the market any way you look at it. It tracks better, it has less blow back, and it attracts fish to your spread better than any other product on the market. And so say the majority of Pro Am captains for the past eight years And so say the thousand of charter captains and tournament fishermen around the world who started using Sharks nine years ago and are still using them today.

Now there is a group of people out there calling me a lying cheating so and so who makes a product that "definitely will mess up your spread". It's your choice folks; you can beleive them or you can beleive me.

Get a Job!

2009-04-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

My wife says: "Get a job, talking to guys about fishing is not work"

I have personally met over 6000 charter captains and tournament fishermen over the years, and talked to them at length about all aspects of downrigger fishing. I met them at fishing shows, in store promotional events and salmon derbies across the country.

For starts, I gotta tell you it was the experience of a life time, just from the social perspective; some of these guys are the most incredible people I have ever met. But my son did not pay my travel expenses so I could fly around the country and socialize; my job was to get out there and sell Sharks. I found out quickly it was not going to be an easy task. Having a great product was a good start, but convincing anybody to buy one, that was a different story.

Your typical charter captain is a grumpy old salt, retired, bought into the concept of buying a dreamboat and paying for it buy chartering. To make a long story short, there wasn't a lot of money left over for a lot of them to buy some new fangled fish shaped chrome downrigger weights. Many of them would stand there and laugh at me and say: "you must be kidding!" The younger guys were not so bad, they didn't have all this rigid thinking going on with preconceived notions.

That's usually all it took to get me going. So we would start; as I got into my spiel, the crusty old captains would stand there in a combative stance with their arms crossed on their chests; there was no way any one of them was going to spend $80 on a downrigger weight, let alone four of them.

I started using words like lateral line, thermocline, tracking, sonic signature; and I would ask them a few question about all that. Well it didn't take long before they were scratching their heads, realizing they can't be missing the boat on any of these issues. They were stubborn, but they certainly weren't stupid; they all knew what it means to come back to port with an empty fishing box. After about twenty minutes or so , you could just see they wanted to try this out real bad, but still needed some sort of validation so they could explain to their wives they bought "a what for $80" The clincher was I would tell them "the legendary Captain Jim Munoz, up in Leland swears by them“. Well, at that point they bought one Shark; later they would come back and buy the other three. That's just great, they walk away happy as hell and I have absorbed a half an hour of hostility, rudeness, insults, humiliation etc. Multiply that times 6000 and you can start to understand why I am a little cranky at times.

I thought to myself, this is never going to work; if I have to go through this for every sale to get the product out there, there just isn't enough time in a year to make it worthwhile. But that's how it all got started, one grumpy captain at time. The thing that kept me going though, the following year I would meet these guys again and they were still using the product.

Fishermen are a skeptical bunch, they've heard it all before: "guaranteed to catch fish". So on it went, two, three, four years later; one sale at a time. And my son Carl just kept making them by hand for no wages. No heat in the shop, and living at home with the parents, how much worse can it get. A lot worse! All that was nothing compared to what was coming down the pike.

By this time the Shark was making waves; guys were winning derbies and these grumpy old salts were still using them four years later with great results. Now we caught the attention of the competition; not just cannonballs, but the notion the Shark worked as an attractor was apparently a concern to a few companies. At first we didn't understand what was happening, despite the initial grumpiness, most of the fellas seemed friendly and it was always fun to do the shows. But then things got ugly, extreme negative attacks on our product and on us. There was a well orchestrated behind the scenes campaign going on to put us out of business; rumors about us and the product, it wasn't looking good.

I guess all the hardship we went through toughened us up a bit, we are not quitters. We dug in our heals and just kept right on going, and the rest was history. Just a short note on the hardship, not looking for sympathy: don't need any. Well one day I broke my shoulder a few years back, two of our kids were off at college, another one was recovering from surgery. Winter was around the corner, and we were not finished our wood cutting: big problem. I wasn't ready to beleive my shoulder was broken just yet, because there was too much work left to do; it just hurt a lot. I didn't go into the hospital, not a bright move.

The next day I proceeded to build a solar frame so we could continue splitting the 30 cords of blocks that were piled up outside into the bad weather. The solar frame was later used to dry the wood after it was split. I also build a device to put my saw in so I could start it with my left hand; the shoulder was broken, but my trigger finger worked just fine.

About a month later, we were still splitting wood in the solar frame, the shoulder felt pretty good, so I gave the pull starter on the woodsplitter a good yank. The cheap Honda knock off kicked back hard and snapped my shoulder again with a loud crack. This time my wife made me go to the hospital. I told her what is the point, the guy there will tell me not to use the arm and prescribe some expensive therapy that I can't afford. That's exactly what the doctor said to me, then he went to the next bed in emerge to talk to this other guy, Yoder.

Yoder had been sitting there quietly waiting his turn; Yoder wasn't a big sissy like me. He was not moaning and groaning, he sat there quietly with his wife as the broken bone in his forearm was sticking right through his sleeve. The doctor explained to Yoder, they couldn't perform the surgery at the local hospital, but there was a team waiting in Meaford, (another town just down the road) that could do the job; if Yoder could just get there. You see Yoder lived in Canada for twenty five years, but was not a citizen, paid taxes and everything, but he was not entitled to our health care. Yoder tried unsuccesfully to phone someone he knew in Owen Sound, and he didn't have the funds on him for a taxi ride; the ambulance was not an option, I guess it wasn't an emergency. The doctor wanted the cash for the examination; at $25, at least that sounded like a good deal.

I sat there listening to all this bull shit and thought to myself if I was ever going to do a good deed, it should probably be now. I stuck my head through the curtain and announced I would drive Yoder to Meaford.

t was a short interesting drive to Meaford, got to know Yoder and his wife a bit. Heard about their 14 kids, they heard about ours. Dropped Yoder off, never saw him again, (at least not yet) and counted my blessings that I was not injured as bad as him. I didn't tell Ernie what happened to my shoulder, because I didn't want him to feel bad; it was his wood splitter. I am not going to dwell on the hardship, all I can say is we had our fair share.

These days we use the negative attack campaigns as a measure of how well we must be doing. I figure we must be doing pretty damn good judging by the time and effort certain people are spending trying to shut us down.

A lot has changed in ten years, but some things still remain the same; I was in a fishing store the other day talking to one of these grumpy old salts. He says: "how are you today?" "Not bad I said for an old guy on medication" Old, he says; how old are you? I told him I just turned sixty. He laughed and said: "Your still a punk!"

The Truth Is Out There - Somewhere

2009-04-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sharkman and daughter Tara shooting Shark Video on the

shores of Georgian Bay

So Why Now? April 20, 2009

So why am I writing this blog now? I generally say what is on my mind, but I have been muzzled for the last few years by my family (for good reasons: I guess) for speaking about certain issues in the downrigger sport fishing industry. Apparently much of it is politically incorrect, you can't say a damn thing about anything in the fishing business without stepping on some very important toes.

This explains why I can talk to certain people and not others. i.e. A local personality who has helped us greatly is friends with another great fishermen who is friends with an ex rep who is aligned with a manufacturer that I am butting heads with. I don’t believe in polite small talk, so I would probably say something that would come back and cause a big flap; so it's better that I say nothing as an official company spokesperson.

I found a way around it: the blog. My kids told me to make sure the disclaimer is out there that all this stuff is my opinion and is no way connected to them reflecting the policies or opinions of their company.

Disclaimer:
The opinions and statements contained in this blog are my own and do not reflect in any way the position or opinions of Shark Cannonballs. I am not an employee of the company; I do a little volunteer work; that's it.

Sharkman Blogger Profile:

I have always thought of myself as a sporting modern day renascence kind of guy, a little overweight with some issues (nothing serious) , my friends on the other hand tell me it is somewhere between Homer Simpson, Al Bundy, and Archie Bunker; whatever. I just turned sixty, my body believes it but apparently I still think and act like I did when I was 18; just a little slower. I sent a letter to my doctor and told him not to find anything else wrong with me and that I want to go off my meds so I can enjoy the rest of my life with some clarity. I told him I'm taking up whiskey, cigars and chasing around loose women. Now he wants to send me off for an assessment and is getting even with me by cutting off the only meds that do any good; the painkillers.

I have had so much fun over the past nine years helping my kids out on this project and I have met so many fantastic and interesting people along the way. There are some really hilarious and serious stories that just need to be told.