Barta on "Team Run Off"

[Ponce]

Daniel and I were lucky enough to be able to fish on the Run Off this year for the Barta tournament.

Before I start the actual fishing report I have to say a few things.

I know for a fact that I will not be able to adequately put into words how great the last two days spent with “Team Run Off” was. I hope that some of the others on the boat will be able to add to the report. Trust me there was much more than catching fish going on.

First I want to thank Billy and Kathy the owners of the Run Off for making us feel so welcome and at home. Their hospitality was fantastic, even though we met for the first time Friday morning before leaving the dock it felt like we were fishing with friends we had known for 20 years. Their son Will is a fine young man and showed much more than being a good fisherman (more on that later).

When fishing on the Run Off it goes without saying, but I will anyway. Capt Brian and Marty bust their butts to get you on fish and make sure you have the best time possible while you are on the boat. Once again they delivered and then some. What more can be said other than these guys are a fantastic team, that deal with every curve ball in a professional manner. They just make it happen!

Ricky thanks for giving me and Daniel the opportunity to fish with you and your boys Noah and Austin. Because of you we have memories that will last a lifetime. Noah and Austin are fine young men and a real pleasure to spend time with.

Now I want to thank the stars of the weekend; Will age 10, Noah age 10, Austin age 7, and Daniel age 9. These young men met for the tournament, but you would have thought that is was a group that had known each other since the day they were born. I believe that these young men embody what this tournament is all about. They never gave up and showed great courage, unselfishness, teamwork, compassion and friendship. They displayed these characteristics from the time the first line was thrown at the dock to the end of the awards ceremony. I know that I could not be any more proud of these four young men than I am. I also know I would feel the same way had they not caught a single fish. I’m sure everyone on the boat feels the same.

So now on with the report.

Thursday

Before the tournament Marty wanted to get the boys down to the boat to spend some time with them and allow them to meet each other. Unfortunately Will had an appointment and could not be there. Marty took the other 3 and show them how to make their own circle hook rigs and had them each make one. Then he showed them how to rig a floss Ballyhoo bait and had them each tie one. Finally he showed them how prep the ballyhoo and put it on the circle hook. That had them motivated and ready for the next day of fishing.

Friday Day 1

Everyone met at the boat at 0500 introductions were made and we got ready to leave. Word was that it would be a little on the rough side, but that it should be doable so off we went. As we got ready to break the inlet we got the boys settled in the cabin on bean bags, the inlet was pretty angry as we went though. The trip out was pretty choppy I don’t try to guess wave heights, but I know it was big enough that a lot of adults would have spent the day “calling fish” or curled up on the deck. About 0700 with an hour to lines in it didn’t look very good for the home team 3 of the 4 boys had done some “fish calling” and none of them felt very good.

At 0800 when Capt Brian pulled back and said lets fish it was like someone had flipped a light switch and all four where in the cockpit ready to roll. Marty had them guess the number of Ballyhoo in his hand to determine the fishing order. The order was Will, Daniel, Austin, and then Noah. It wasn’t long before Will had a gaffer in the box, I believe it was about 12 lbs. Next Daniel got a slinger. Austin had one on that flipped off just before getting it in. Noah was up and it had been awhile without a bite when he got a real nice one hooked up it ended up being 32 plus pounds. When he got him close to the boat we hear Capt Brian say “There’s another real nice one with it, somebody get a bait in front of it”. Billy does a great job and now we have two 30lbs plus. Mahi hooked up. Noah is fighting one and Will the other. After a few minutes we have two beautiful Mahi in the boat. We get lines back out and a short time later Daniel gets another slinger. With about 45 minutes left its Austin’s turn again and we hook up with another nice Mahi that in a heart breaker comes off only about 10-15 feet behind the boat. During the day we also had a couple of visits from billfish, but never hooked up.

The four boys had fished hard from 0800 to 1400 in much less than ideal conditions and they never stopped as a matter of fact they were smiles all day. They had an afternoon cool down shower thanks to Billy and just fished hard and enjoyed themselves all day.

I heard some pretty funny quotes that day; they also kept Capt Brian on his toes. I’m pretty sure that if an adult was saying some of these funny quotes they had better be a good swimmer. Here are just a few I heard: “Hey Capt B when are we going to get a bite?”, “Hey Capt B how many billfish releases have there been?” (that was asked at least every 15 minutes by the boys) I think at one point Capt Brian’s answer was that there had been 346 releases, “Hey Capt B when are we going to catch a marlin?”, “Capt B why is it so rough?”

Then there’s Marty: “Hey Marty can I gaff the next Mahi?”, “Awe Marty I wanted to sling that one and Marty can I get the next slinger”, “Marty if we get a billfish can I let it go? or Marty can I leader a billfish?”

Overall the boys did great in less than ideal conditions and Capt Brian and Marty made it happen. When it was all said and done Noah had the 1st place dolphin on the board and Will had the second and another place(it ended up as 5th). They all had a chance to at least crank the reel and they all helped each other and helped in the cockpit. Marty co-awarded Austin and Daniel the sportsmanship award on the boat, Austin for working his butt off and trying he just had some bad luck with the Mahi and Daniel for giving one of his Mahi to Austin to weigh.

Day 2

Again we met at 0500 and it was forecast to once again to be rough so Capt Brian said that we could do whatever the group wanted to do stay inshore and fish for sharks, spot, croaker ect. Or give it a shot. After a little discussion we decided to play around inside for the day. The boys once again had a great time catching a variety of the inshore variety of fish.

Like day one they kept both Capt Brian and Marty on their toes. In between spots Marty pulled all kinds on contests out of his bag of tricks. Bobbing for grapes, tomatoes, who could catch the first of a certain type of fish at the next spot, and the tough man contest both as individuals and as a group which was standing without moving while a 5 gallon bucket of ice water was dumped over their heads. Another great day was had by everyone on the boat.

Awards

Noah and Will each won multiple awards for their Dolphin which were the biggest two dolphin caught. I can’t remember exactly what all of the awards were or how many awards it was, but it was quite a few. I may be wrong here, but I also believe that Capt Brian and Marty also got them to full size dolphin mounts to represent their fish, what a fantastic move Capt Brain and Marty's part. Austin and Daniel got medals for their dolphin.

Now here is the part that shows again what it is all about I have to say that I’m very proud of both Will and Noah and I’m sure their parents are as well.

We were taking pictures of the boys and here was what I hear between Will and Daniel, Will: “dude that’s not fair that your dolphin got knocked off the leader board, you deserve a trophy. Here take one of mine” Daniel: “Thanks man”. Will and Noah both also offered to do the same thing with Noah's brother Austin.

Putting everything aside from this weekend and looking how these boys handled themselves to put in a word was amazing. I know for a fact that there are a lot of adults that could have learned plenty from these four young men this weekend.

Once again I would like to thank everyone involved for giving me memories that I will take to my grave.

Sorry this was so long winded, but like I said at the beginning I don’t think I can do the last few days justice by trying to write about them.

Life is indeed good!

Here are some of the over 200 pictures I took, unfortunately I didn't get Will's picture at the scale because I was filling out Daniel's paper work.

A little afternoon cool down











Catching a slinger



Will helping Marty



Having fun 50 miles offshore









Heading to the scales













Unloading the boat

[Ponce]

Dock pictures











Day 2









Barta





Awards





Here is were Will gives Daniel his trophy







Team Run Off

[Ponce]

More awards

[Agitated88]

Such a great report, and amazing pictures. Although, pic #10, "kissing the gun's" still has me laughing!! Those boys will be re-telling this story for years to come. Thanks for sharing!!!

[clt_capt]

It was great meeting all of the boys - They are definitely going to remember the weekend forever - All of them truly embodied the spirit of the Barta Tournament.

[merry marlin]

Five Star Report Jeff.... Great to see those boys enjoying themselves out there in the Rough Blue .
Congratulations Blackboat team.
MM

[weekender]

awesome report, pics, memories made, congrats to all

[reelreturn]

Fantastic report and pictures. Nice to see the young fellows competeing and having a good trip. Those were some nice mahi for sure.

[slip slidin]

That is one happy looking crew. Great write up and pics. Congratulations to team Run Off.

[seapower]

Must be the best feeling in the world, to have a job that allow's you to provide the "best trip" of a lifetime! Those day's and picture's will be talked about (and added to I'm sure) for many year's to come. It take's alot of work and long day's, but how many get the chance to offer what you do? Great report. Frank