Legends On The Big Water

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.