Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational on the Hotshot

[giantfan]

We headed down to Beach Haven from the Raritan Bay on Wednesday morning aboard the Hotshot with Hotshot1 at the helm. We docked at Beach Haven Yacht Club and Marina surrounded by a bunch first class fishing boats and crews (Jersey Cape on one side of us… Big Kid on the other… Sea Cure just down the dock… and many other quality crews on the dock) I must admit that I felt a little intimidated, how the hell are we going to be able to compete with all of the talent that surrounded us? Feeling a bit like the bad news bears we went to the captains meeting.

With the forecast not looking very good for fishing the next day we enjoyed ourselves at the Captains meeting and went out for a couple of drinks after. Waking up a little fuzzy from the night before, we started getting the boat together for fishing on Fri. We got our delivery from Chris at 24/7 right on time (thanks Chris) Rigging baits and setting drags we started feeling a little better. We got to see Capt. Ron from the Sea Cure and he was very helpful with some local intel, thanks for the info and the tee shirts. It was great to see you again.

Waking up on Friday to a stiff breeze we cast off the lines around 2:30 am and headed out to the Toms canyon. It was a sporty ride out to say the least and remained that way throughout the day. Hotshot 1 did a great job of running the boat. The radio was alive with white marlin releases and tuna being caught all around us. We dropped a few fish and only managed to boat one long fin. With lines out at 3:00 we put our tails between our legs and ran for the barn. About ¾ of the way in the seas started to finally lay down. A quick wash down and off to dinner. Back to the boat after dinner and lights out.

Waking up on Sat morning to a nice calm, friendly ocean (What a difference a day can make) we made good time out to the Toms again as there was a lot of action all around us the day before. Lines in at 8 am we worked the same area we had the day before. There was a lot less chatter on the radio of fish being caught then there was on Fri and it seemed that the fish liked the rougher water. We were visited by a large mahi that made its way into the fish bag. We knew that the largest mahi from the day before was just over 20 lbs and we estimated our fish being around 40 lbs. Feeling pretty good with our chances of being in the money with the mahi, we kept pounding the area looking to get a chance at whitey but that never happened. 15 min before lines out we hooked up with a little chicken mahi that made it into the cooler. Lines out at 3:00 we ran to the scales. We did manage to win the dolphin division and get a beautiful trophy and a check to help pay for some of the fuel.

What a great tournament! We met a lot of really nice people and had a blast. We never raised any pointy fish but were happy with the action that we did have and spent some quality time with some good friends. Congrats to the Jersey Cape crew who finish in the money for 3rd place in the tuna category, it was very nice meeting you and I look forward to seeing you again next year.

Below are some pictures from our trip.

[Nauti Natured]

Nice work guys!

[Capt. Michael Mata]

Nice work guys. Congrats on the mahi and placing in the money.

[clt_capt]

Nice Mahi - Does look a tad sporty.

[Sea Draggin]

Pretty work to the Hot Shot crew. Congrats on the mahi.

[hotshot1]

Nice job on the post. Look forward to doing it again.

[Agitated88]

report and pictures Ted!! Glad to see you guys end up in the money!

[jrzcape]

It was great meeting you and your crew also, what a great tournament once again. I hope Rodney's leg is ok and we diden't beat up on him to bad. Congrats on your money fish and i hope to see you next year.

[giantfan]

Thanks everyone.

It was great meeting you and your crew also, what a great tournament once again. I hope Rodney's leg is ok and we diden't beat up on him to bad. Congrats on your money fish and i hope to see you next year.

Thanks Wayne, Congrats to you too. It was a pleasure to be docked next to you. You and your crew are first class all the way. We will see you next year for sure. That tourney was a blast. Hotshot has other commitments already for next year, but we will fish my boat. I'm sure I will see you at a boat show or something before next year. Good luck in the MA500.

"Rodney" is fine It was only a flesh wound

[WAHOONBOX]

I HAVE A LONG TIME SAYING I REPEAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN REGARDING TOURNAMENTS.....IF YOU ARE GETTING A CHECK YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT! IT MAY NOT BE THE CHECK YOU WANT, BUT THERE ARE ONLY X NUMBER OF CHECKS TO BE PASSED OUT.... SO IF YOU GET ONE...YOU ARE RIGHT ON TRACK

CONGRATS GIANT,'SHOT & CREW ON A JOB WELL DONE