picture of WORLD RECORD Mediterranean snapper - Page 4

flatbottom · 02-04-2006, 09:10 PM

very good reading SeaBiscuit, more more. Great stories there of the day. !!

slip slidin · 02-04-2006, 10:06 PM

mucho bueno seabiscuit

SeaBiscuit · 02-05-2006, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slip slidin

mucho bueno seabiscuit

Thanks for posting Slip Slidin. Welcome to Marty's world!
Biscuit

JMS-ILM · 02-06-2006, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TriAngler

Biscuit Tales in the finest Greek tradition are best savored in the humble corner of a backyard full of love, engineered for peace and hospitality

no more true words have ever been spoken. great story nick.....and you even managed to get kevin and nick p to post....good work!

Honey Hole · 02-07-2006, 12:55 PM

... outstanding story-telling... I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment. Heritages and experiences are had by all. The ability to relay them in the manner in which they deserve is a true gift. "A tip of the hat" to you!

AhiSlayer · 02-09-2006, 09:18 PM

Aloha!

I'm so lolo I paid for the whole chair when all I needed was the edge of it

ahi

SeaBiscuit · 02-09-2006, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AhiSlayer

Aloha!

I'm so lolo I paid for the whole chair when all I needed was the edge of it

ahi

Come again, please?

SeaBiscuit · 02-11-2006, 04:24 PM

Astakos bay in the morning

The goatfish night continued unlike most others. We fished hard. The fish box bottom was covered with a decent catch. The old man was mellow yet active tonight.
It must have been around 4 AM when he put out the fishing light. I covered the fish with a wet burlap sack and started the motor, taking a heading north. The captain reached under the little boat's hollow bow and came out with a basket of handlines. His left hand went up and I turned the boat headed not to town, but offshore toward the dozen or so little islands silhouetted by the moonlight.
Although tired and hungry, I was having trouble containing my excitement. I wanted to talk to him, ask him a million questions. Where are we going? How many lines are we fishing? What baits? What are we hoping to catch?
There were no words spoken, of course. My captain busied himself sorting through the fish box and readying the handlines. Not making eye contact meant he was thinking the same questions, making the plan, drawing from the database of a lifetime of experience on these waters.
Passing by the near islands named "tongue", "rat" and "monk" I find myself in an open water pass of 3 miles or more to the next set of islands. I've been there before, but not much. It is one of our "far" fishing destination, a set of 3 small islands called modia. Dry and rugged, these little islands come up from depths of 100 - 500 fathoms. Currents can at times be a problem there.
Handline fishing is very simple in Greece. The tackle consists of a length (typically 100 yards or so) of heavy mono attached to a piece of rope on one end and a 10/0 or so J hook at the other. The art is not in the tackle, but in the quality of the bait, targeted location and most importantly, presentation. I remember the late Denis teaching me how to properly gig octopus, avoiding rupturing the ink sack and vital organs inside the octopus' head. Octopus goes to market "clean', but the mass of organs from inside an octopus' head, carefully removed and lightly threaded on the hook makes one of the finest baits.
Captain Yannis lines up 10 baits on the bow. Half are octopus baits, the other half 6-8 inch mullets. He signals me to cut the engine and get on the oars, as we near the largest of the three islands. Here's where location and presentation meet. He directs me to position the boat so that the bait, once placed in the water will move only by the influence of gravity and current. No weight on the line. No dragging a bait through the water unnaturally. He told me once, that the grouper will stay in his hole and watch that bait from the moment it enters the water. He will study that bait for as many minutes as it takes it to land on the bottom somewhere near his home. He will not react to it, unless everything looks perfect to him. Most baits will never make it near the grouper. An eager jack, porgy or snapper will snatch it. Unlike the grouper, these guys bite their food not inhale it. We hook them sometimes, but not very often. Handline fishing is for the big bottom fish.
Once the bait is overboard, I row the boat toward the island rocks, while he uncoils the mono into the water. He reaches for the rocks and loops the handline rope around one of them, before we move on to set the next line.
All ten of our lines are set around this one island and by now, morning is breaking. I start the motor and motor toward the first line. They have fished long enough. We survey the lines from a distance, looking to see if any of them have come tight. Sometimes current will make them seem tight and I can't tell the difference between that and a fish, but the old man can. We have a line tight. I can see no change in his mellow disposition as he points me to that line, but his body is going though the motions that tell me he is readying for battle. He removes the bow hatch and lowers his legs in there, bracing his thighs against the deck. This will increase his leverage and keep him in the boat. The idea here is to gently untie the line from the rock and move the boat in position directly over the fish without giving him any cause for alarm. A grouper will hole up in Greece just the same as he will in America, Australia or anywhere else in the word groupers live, for that matter. The Greek sea bottom is full of holes!
The old man is calmly talking while slowly coming tight on this first fish. He is not talking to me. He is charming the fish to "behave" himself and promises the Sea a reward if only She will let him have that fish. Once directly over the fish he lifts hand over hand quickly & steady. Captain John is not a big guy. 5'6", maybe 140 lbs. His overhead stretched arms are violently jerked downward. He holds firm. The bow of the little boat dips hard. The battle does not take long. What it lacks in duration it more than makes up for in intensity. By the time the big beautiful fish is on the surface, he is belly up, gases expanded faster that he could regulate them. I have never seen a fish like that! My uncle reaches to the water one handed and grabs the fish by the eye sockets. He is in the boat and oh my God, he's big!

Taking a photograph with another man's catch is uncool to say the least. If you are related to the proud fisherman and the catch is truly special, it is hard to resist.
Pictured below, is my cousin Nick posing with the two very large groupers his father caught that morning. My brother snapped the shot. Everyone knew I was the mate that night.

These fish were 19 & 18 kilos respectively (42 & 40 lbs). My uncle has caught bigger, but never two in one trip. More importantly, my cousin Nick and brother Peter had never caught one that big.
Please note how the old man appears to be a little impatient in the photo. He seems to say " I don't know what the fuss is all about".
He told everyone that I caught those two fish and has been calling me "admiral" ever since.
Biscuit

flatbottom · 02-12-2006, 12:28 PM

Great reading SeaBiscuit and beautiful pics, Keep on typing, I read everyone and look forward to the next.

Bite Me · 02-12-2006, 12:32 PM

What a great read.

02-11-2006, 04:24 PM	#38
SeaBiscuit I think Admin is going to let me have this space Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 4,046 Credits: 13,499.7	Redemption Astakos bay in the morning The goatfish night continued unlike most others. We fished hard. The fish box bottom was covered with a decent catch. The old man was mellow yet active tonight. It must have been around 4 AM when he put out the fishing light. I covered the fish with a wet burlap sack and started the motor, taking a heading north. The captain reached under the little boat's hollow bow and came out with a basket of handlines. His left hand went up and I turned the boat headed not to town, but offshore toward the dozen or so little islands silhouetted by the moonlight. Although tired and hungry, I was having trouble containing my excitement. I wanted to talk to him, ask him a million questions. Where are we going? How many lines are we fishing? What baits? What are we hoping to catch? There were no words spoken, of course. My captain busied himself sorting through the fish box and readying the handlines. Not making eye contact meant he was thinking the same questions, making the plan, drawing from the database of a lifetime of experience on these waters. Passing by the near islands named "tongue", "rat" and "monk" I find myself in an open water pass of 3 miles or more to the next set of islands. I've been there before, but not much. It is one of our "far" fishing destination, a set of 3 small islands called modia. Dry and rugged, these little islands come up from depths of 100 - 500 fathoms. Currents can at times be a problem there. Handline fishing is very simple in Greece. The tackle consists of a length (typically 100 yards or so) of heavy mono attached to a piece of rope on one end and a 10/0 or so J hook at the other. The art is not in the tackle, but in the quality of the bait, targeted location and most importantly, presentation. I remember the late Denis teaching me how to properly gig octopus, avoiding rupturing the ink sack and vital organs inside the octopus' head. Octopus goes to market "clean', but the mass of organs from inside an octopus' head, carefully removed and lightly threaded on the hook makes one of the finest baits. Captain Yannis lines up 10 baits on the bow. Half are octopus baits, the other half 6-8 inch mullets. He signals me to cut the engine and get on the oars, as we near the largest of the three islands. Here's where location and presentation meet. He directs me to position the boat so that the bait, once placed in the water will move only by the influence of gravity and current. No weight on the line. No dragging a bait through the water unnaturally. He told me once, that the grouper will stay in his hole and watch that bait from the moment it enters the water. He will study that bait for as many minutes as it takes it to land on the bottom somewhere near his home. He will not react to it, unless everything looks perfect to him. Most baits will never make it near the grouper. An eager jack, porgy or snapper will snatch it. Unlike the grouper, these guys bite their food not inhale it. We hook them sometimes, but not very often. Handline fishing is for the big bottom fish. Once the bait is overboard, I row the boat toward the island rocks, while he uncoils the mono into the water. He reaches for the rocks and loops the handline rope around one of them, before we move on to set the next line. All ten of our lines are set around this one island and by now, morning is breaking. I start the motor and motor toward the first line. They have fished long enough. We survey the lines from a distance, looking to see if any of them have come tight. Sometimes current will make them seem tight and I can't tell the difference between that and a fish, but the old man can. We have a line tight. I can see no change in his mellow disposition as he points me to that line, but his body is going though the motions that tell me he is readying for battle. He removes the bow hatch and lowers his legs in there, bracing his thighs against the deck. This will increase his leverage and keep him in the boat. The idea here is to gently untie the line from the rock and move the boat in position directly over the fish without giving him any cause for alarm. A grouper will hole up in Greece just the same as he will in America, Australia or anywhere else in the word groupers live, for that matter. The Greek sea bottom is full of holes! The old man is calmly talking while slowly coming tight on this first fish. He is not talking to me. He is charming the fish to "behave" himself and promises the Sea a reward if only She will let him have that fish. Once directly over the fish he lifts hand over hand quickly & steady. Captain John is not a big guy. 5'6", maybe 140 lbs. His overhead stretched arms are violently jerked downward. He holds firm. The bow of the little boat dips hard. The battle does not take long. What it lacks in duration it more than makes up for in intensity. By the time the big beautiful fish is on the surface, he is belly up, gases expanded faster that he could regulate them. I have never seen a fish like that! My uncle reaches to the water one handed and grabs the fish by the eye sockets. He is in the boat and oh my God, he's big! Taking a photograph with another man's catch is uncool to say the least. If you are related to the proud fisherman and the catch is truly special, it is hard to resist. Pictured below, is my cousin Nick posing with the two very large groupers his father caught that morning. My brother snapped the shot. Everyone knew I was the mate that night. These fish were 19 & 18 kilos respectively (42 & 40 lbs). My uncle has caught bigger, but never two in one trip. More importantly, my cousin Nick and brother Peter had never caught one that big. Please note how the old man appears to be a little impatient in the photo. He seems to say " I don't know what the fuss is all about". He told everyone that I caught those two fish and has been calling me "admiral" ever since. Biscuit Last edited by SeaBiscuit; 12-03-2007 at 04:49 PM.

02-12-2006, 12:32 PM	#40
Bite Me I think Admin is going to let me have this space Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Wilmington, NC Posts: 2,074 Credits: 9,626.5 Occupation: Living Life	pretty cool stuff there What a great read.

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02-04-2006, 09:10 PM	#31
flatbottom Fish the Edge Team Sportfishermen.com Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bear, DE Posts: 8,260 Credits: 24,347.9 Boat: 232 center console Home Port: Indian River, De Best Catch: off the shot gun Occupation: jackleg	very good reading SeaBiscuit, more more. Great stories there of the day. !!

02-04-2006, 10:06 PM	#32
slip slidin I think Admin is going to let me have this space Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 1,208 Credits: 10,372.6	mucho bueno seabiscuit

02-07-2006, 12:55 PM	#35
Honey Hole Sit down Shut up And fish Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 493 Credits: 1,765.6	... outstanding story-telling... I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment. Heritages and experiences are had by all. The ability to relay them in the manner in which they deserve is a true gift. "A tip of the hat" to you!

02-09-2006, 09:18 PM	#36
AhiSlayer Crab mustard is good Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ya may get bonus letters cuz I'm posting from my cell phone Posts: 873 Credits: 1,510.2 Occupation: pole benda	Aloha! I'm so lolo I paid for the whole chair when all I needed was the edge of it ahi

02-12-2006, 12:28 PM	#39
flatbottom Fish the Edge Team Sportfishermen.com Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bear, DE Posts: 8,260 Credits: 24,347.9 Boat: 232 center console Home Port: Indian River, De Best Catch: off the shot gun Occupation: jackleg	Great reading SeaBiscuit and beautiful pics, Keep on typing, I read everyone and look forward to the next.