Who ever said the happiest days of a boat owners life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it was just flat out wrong... Transferred the paper to my skiff today. Going to a good home in Eluthera with good people but damn, what an empty feeling I have.
I had her built to replace one that had been stolen and wrecked. I had twenty five good years out of this one and ten from her previous sister. I know I know. I don't use her any more. I have my hands full with five others under my ass... She deserves to be used. She loves fishing more than even I did. Gotta let her go.
Man what a history! A couple thousand billfish visited her hull. Name a species she saw it. She saw marlin and tuna to 700 and change come over the gunwale. Makos a plenty were bested. Mini's record bluefish and my thresher felt her cold hard deck. She carried me to several solo swords including that fateful night I caught a tripple. Equally at home in the skinny stuff she rocked the world of bones, permit and tarpon, too numerous to count. I tip my riggers to you C Gull... Thanks for a quarter century of memories. Make her new owner proud...
20 foot Aquasport...
Yesterday was a heart stopper but not really depressing. I'm mixed on this one... Not depressed. Just feel like I'm not quite whole... Suppose its just all those years we spent together. The wild storms and the postcard calms. You know, all the mushy bonding bullshit that makes this sport great.
I'm actually tickled pink that she's gonna be fishing like she used to again... Might just have to go to Eluthera and work her a bit myself.
Brian
That tripple header was a hallmark in my life... I wrote about it before but I'll recap...
It was a solo run. Good moon and calm when I left. A front was supposed to arrive around midnight. I figured I'd go give a couple hours and be home long before the weather picked up.
Got the spread set. When it got dark my running lights didn't want to come on so I was forward playing with the wires. The deep rod started screaming and it was game on... I picked it up and helplessly watched the 50w spool dumping out. Wham! down came my mid bait which I had set in the rigger clip to keep the spread apart. Seconds later the close bait went!
First fish took over an hour and I was already toast. Decked it and had to dance to avoid the bill. The next fish was a brute and took two more hours. Got the leader and she was a biggun. I was too whooped to even give her a go and with a hundred class fish already in the boat, did the proper thing and let her go. Started to get ready to leave and remembered there was a third fish out there. This one had been just swimming around for three hours now and didn't have much to offer in the way of a fight. Still took better part of half hour to work her up for third and final release.
Looked to shore and couldn't even see the glow of land. Looked at my watch and some how it got to be close to 1:AM. "Ok" I figured, "The front crossed the beach, I'll hit some of it when I get in there..." Nope caught it head on about a mile in and had 17 left to go in shit city weather...
The most I ever caught in a night was six. Five pups and only one legal fish...
CLT the stable is still full with four of the bosses and one more of mine... Thats the reason this one went so idle. Still she was the old girl of the bunch. Not just in shear age but in time spent on her... Getting her gone was a logical "must do", still its hard to say goodbye to a "partner" like her...
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