Since Admin hasn't got his report up yet or either Mary... I guess I'll give the Deep view of the "War at the shore".
I arrived early Wednesday stopping at Hinches first. The store was jammed with people working over the best stock of offshore goodies in south Jersey. I don't know how they do it but even under slam jammed up conditions its like they some how find time to personally walk you through like you are the only one there. Every customer's question is answered thoroughly and every customer is treated like family.... I carry almost everything a man can carry but a trip to Hinches and Off the Hook always has me carfrying packages of goodies out.
I slid to C Dock where slip C-9 held the Foolish Pleasure my ride and home for the next few days. Ike the full time wheel turner was there to greet me and walk me through the magnificent girl. I've seen her in Palm Beach and cosmeticly she's gorgeous. Big boats seldome really impress me but this girl was dressed to the hilt. I went up one set of stairs to the air conditioned bridge an returned to the main salon via a spiral staircase. Impeccible!
I went about checking drags and knots etc and Tims tackle is top shelf and then some. He wraps his own sticks and being a rookie could not be determined by looking at the fine workmanship... Next came bait doin and we were ready to rock...
In typical fashin the Canyon Club/ South Jersey event was first class. Plenty to see and do at the captains meeting. Friendly handshakes and "good lucks" aree exchanged though deep down you know they are really saying "I hope I beat the shit out of you". Now flanked by Tim, his daughter Alexa, Dad Dick, step mom Bonnie, Nimrod Paul, Admin himself, Chuck, Mary, Ike and his Missus... We joined the fray and snacked on a wide variety of goodies...
Day 1:
Untied about 4:40 and rocketed of to the Washington in some pretty sporty conditions. Arriving just about lines in time the water was green er than I'd like to see but fishable. I guess we were an hour into it when a tight dink on a 25 was slammed. We got Tims daughter, Alexa into the chair... She was coola s a cucumber as she turned the crank and shortened the distance between us and the fish... I saw color grabbed leader. Tim needed a bigger gaff, smoothly upgraded and stroked the yellowfin with a bullseye.
Ike put us back in gear and we pounded the area. The long super sneaky bait got drilled next. It was our white! It didn't stay stuck...
We pounded the area for a long time with nothing more a violent curent was running and the water went ugly so back into the canyon we went. Near the tip we found some debris. This got us beating on dolphin with regularity and Mary from Hinches drilled a nice ten pound speciman...
Back at the dock we saw few flags. Our catch was pretty fair in comparison. Alexas fish went up the scale at 56 pounds and points were on the board. I learned at the points table that Sea Splendour with Whitey and Box had bested a white and was glad for them. I then saw a blue had been taken which set the bar real high...
Lay Day:
Generally I hate lay days. You always get talked into having breakfast. Then you adust spreads from the day before. The green heads tear you up. Its hot. Mechanics run around fixing stuff on warranty boats that should have been right in the beginning. Condo owners and fishing crews walk on by... Lunch party though was top shelf. Out by the big poole they went all out first class right down to the bacon wrapped scallops and lobster newburg... It was rig baits time again.
Then for dinner we had an allstar cast with Chuck and Mary and now Mary 2 (Luck Lady) had joined us, then our favorite human pinyata joined us ... Seafood Johhny!
Day 2:
Shorter run this time. 5:30 lines off and we were early getting to our spot. The various temp services ahd reported favorable water in spot X but I wanted to try spot Y a few miles from there as it holds a lot of blues and a lot of promise for points. Lines in call was made and a monster spread of 11 baits, 2 dredges, 2 teasers and a partridge in a peart tree were deployed.
I spotted a huge mako do a drive by on the WWB but no take. Birds, porpoise, etc showed some signs of life. Nimrod Paul spotted a marlin tail and we circled that way. We had no take on the first pass but comming back through on a second run the Island Pro got popped...
There he was! A smallish blue back there window shopping and test slapping a few of our baits before exploding on the rainbow teardrop! I saw the bait go down the throat and it was game on. Alexa got back in the chair as the 5r0 tiaga sounded like a harley in heat... Half a spool out shed started to get string back. She followed the coaching to a tee.. "Turn the cranky thing there"... She did. fifteen minutes later leader was in reach grabbed and score 300 more points for team Foolish pleasure and one sore mouth for team Blue Marlin....
High fives were quick and the spread went back a couple passes later the WWB got doinked and the horse attached was wrecked. Another pass had the flat screaming out. Lucky Lady in the chair this time ... For those who don't know , despite all the teasing I give here this gal is a very accomplished angler and she worked that fish like a pro. At the transom the 40 class yellowfin found the zinc bolts before the steel found him... Oh well not a point fish any way. That would be our last real bite for the day.
Back at the dock it was a waiting game to see where we stood. The officials tallied and counted and counted and tallied...
Ceremony time was an SFC sweep... First place white marlin. Sea Splendour with Whitey and Box taking those honors. Top Junior ... Foolish Pleasures Alexa! Top lady... Foolish Pleasure's Alexa! Top boat...Foolish Pleasure! Top overall team... Viking! It don't get no better than that!
Foolish Pleasure the pleasure was all mine...
__________________
Deep C 27'Albemarle: Florida/ Bahamas http://www.sportfishermen.com/deepc/
Last week things were getting kinda ugly around here. I had a few lame shots at humor come back and bite me. When tossing out "humor" its intent is to draw a grin or two from its recipient. Sometimes "humor" is offered up as a self defense "mask" to hide other emotions trying to get out. Maybe it was losing my buddy in a plane crash. Maybe it was that feeling of seperation as once again I'm away from my family... Who knows? What was clear though that something was leaking through into what I was thinking as innocent jabs and pissing people off. I tried to apologize but things got worse. My knee jerk reaction would have been to stand and slug it out but that would do this site I care so much about no good at all. It was fourth and long from the wrong end of the field so I needed to drop back and punt...
I took a couple fishing trips with nothing remarkable to report. I took care of some other chores then decided to take a few days to get my head right. Vacations come in many forms... For many it involves stuffing the Samsonite and jumping on a big iron bird. Maybe off to a ski slope out west, maybe to the "old world" across the big pond, maybe to some place to wet a line. For some it may involve boarding a floating city, eating round the clock and enjoying exotic ports of call. For others yet they follow the path of the Griswolds and a stuff the staion wagon and undertake a pilgrimage to Wally World or at least six flags.
Chores all done and a few days open I considered a trip to the Poconos to stand in a stream and try a trout or two. Maybe a ride north to someplace I havn't been before and try my hand at besting cod or pollock. Then I looked out the kitchen window and got inspired. ...
People always talk about how great it must be living in Florida. It does have its perks. Big game a mile off the beach, warm winters, swaying palms... But. looking out that window I could see so much life right there I knew what might just be fun. In my field of view I could see all kinds of birds... A couple species each of sparrows and finch, chickadees, tufted tit mouses, redwing blackbirds, starlings, robins, orioles, grackles, cardinals and even a hummingbird...
I've been part of this neighborhood for going on 45 years... It was time to refamiliarize myself with it...
Nearly a half century brings with it change... It used to be a neighborhood of just plain big houses. Recent years have seen them one by one bow to the never ending pressures of progress... Castle Deep North stands as it did all my life...
I look a couple houses to the north where my childhood sweethearts house stood as recently as a couple weeks ago and see what will eventually become of my home...
No doubt her simple structure will be replaced with some other monolithic architechtural triumph as a monument to its future owners success in life. I look at others surrounding her and wonder what will stand there when she nor I are still there.
These ones have been erected in the last few years. Where once humble one story ranches stood...
Enough realestate 101... This is a wildlife site...I continue up the road a couple thousand feet to "where it all began"... A pond that my buddies and I spent untold hours at. It was a lively place with bluegills and hybrid bass abundant to obscene levels. Bullfrogs, green frogs, painted and snapping turtles rimming the two acre body of water.
I take a seat on the bank and as I eat a mullberry from the old familliar tree I'm transported back forty years... Can feel the excitement as my old buddies and I catch fish after fish on the nightcrawlers we had collected from under the rock pile that remains today. In just minutes I'm alive again. Senses return... I'm no longer alone... The first shapes are plain to see.
I remain quiet... My eyes adjust and other shapes appear...
A barely dectable movement infrontof me catches my eye... I focus and see the starry gaze of a relic from the past... As a kid the pond had a fair number of these snapping turtles. I notice now that they have proliferated to such numbers that they are no longer content to hide in a hole along the banks and wait for a meal to happen by. Now they were on the move working from spot to spot and actually hunting...
We share stares in silence... The longer I sit the more life gathers around me... I look up to see this girl doing a drive by...
More time passes... My stillness makes residents more comfortable... They come for a closer look.
Minutes turn to hours... I enjoy the solitude and my company... Troubles fade.. The sun moves across the sky... Time to move on... A couple more "friends" come to say goodbye...
Yeah,,, I know... Bunnies, squirrels, deer, turtles are no big deal... True unless you live in a place they don't...
I walk back to my old house... Above, a 747 with the fancy winglets on downwind leg to JFK reminds me of the change. Gone are the prop driven constellations, martins, electras, and dc7's of my youth. They were replaced by noisy black smoking 707 or Dc8's... Also gone only to give way to the high tech Boeing giants and fly by wire Airbusses... I feel good... The tensions of the world around me have been erased... I'm awake... Soul cleansed and almost home I stop for a moment and watch another of our new Rumson residents trimming her lawn...
Last year when my buddy Eric bought his contender 27... He had one goal... He wanted to go from his back yard in Rumson to the Hudson Canyon and catch something that would pull back. A couple runs last year fell short...
Leaving at 4AM today along with Deep Deckhand, Colin, we cleared Sandy hook as first hints of light were on the horizon... As more light grew we pushed the stick father forward... I guess we covered the 89 NM and arrived about 7:45... We had maybe a half dozen others sharing the whole canyon.
We banged the tip and the pots in there for about an hour with nothing before a nice dolphin found the bird bait. No slob but at least a fish...
Working out the west wall we saw some bottle nosed dolphins working a spot hard and went for a look. As the dolphins played at the bow. There was an explosion back on the Offshore Inovations "match the hatch" bar on her maiden swim. Hard nearly half spool on a 50lrs run was nice to hear...
I was thinking big when that went down but the fish tuned out to be a 40-50 ish class tuna... (later at the cleaning table we found striated liver- Big eye)... No slob but a day maker for any exploratory trip.
We continued around the canyon finding more dolphin and signs of life. Heading back along the west wall there was a massive boil on a rigger bait but no bow up... We hammered the area and other boats came to see if they could score as well. In the middle of the pack both riggers went down. One a short run the other nearly a spooling on a tld 25...
The first fish was decked quick... A dandy 30 class yellowfin... The other fish didn't want to play nice nice... Now normally If I bow up multiple headers on tuna they are usually the same class and almost always same species... This fish would throw that out the window...
Minutes turned into several multiples of ten and just about 4:00 our poon dart found its mark on this dandy speciman! (also striated liver)
I looked at the GPS and it showed 97 NM to the hook. Time to go and go we did! Eric had me jack the throttles to 4900 and the 27 contender rocket flew...2:40 to cover those 97 nautical ones was impressive! Thanks for having Colin and I aboard Eric... It was a blast!
Though the turn out was fairly low. The quality of this event was second to none. Cowboy, the people of Indian River Boating Association, the facility of Indian River Marina rally put on a first class event...
My crew a couple men short of a full crew but Blackwatch 26, Beatsworkin, and Scotty2 made up for it in spades with their enthusiasm...Day one we had good water but very little big enough to eat the blue marlin spread we had decided to go with. A lone mahi tried to tackle a bait nearly as big as himself and wound up being bridled as a trolling bait later in the day. The asame fate befell an overzealous skippie... It was late in the day when the water parted and we bowed up a 50lb yellowfin. At least we got the chance to head for weigh in. We sat in third with that one for a while before getting bumped to fourth by the last boat in...
Day two we hit the same area only to find green water. There were scattered signs of bait but the radio indicated very few fish. From the Baltimore down past the deep of Poormans was slow to cough up any fish. We managed a weighing class dolphin and some skippies but that was it.
Dinner last night of shrimp, clams, chicken and other goodies was a good as it gets! I want to congratulate Box, Tim, and the crew of the Foolish Pleasure on their dolphin that nudged ours out of the money. I again want to thank Cowboy for the use of his great boat and thank my crew for being so hard working...Good meeting you there along with everyone....
Despite best efforts this bridaled skippie just wasn't the right "hail Mary"...
Teasers paid a heavy price from dolphin, that one whiite, and a mystery one that got my rubber hoos and bowling pin...
A whole lot of fun...
Things were quiet on my calendar this week so when I was asked to take a run on the Cammy's Dad for some flukin... My moms significant other joined Don who owns the boat, his pro bowler friend, Randy and myself...
The party boat fleet was clogging the bay along with zillions of private craft, so we slid deep along the Ambrose channel... Good call. We started picking and though it never really got hot and heavy we managed a near limit of good fish...
My Mom's "s/o" with his first ever flatty...
Randy gets the hook bacxk from a nice one...
Say ...Ahhhhhhhh.... [/QUOTE]
Last week my buddy Eric wanted to get tuna blood all over his pretty 27Contender... The tuna obliged and the wish was granted... Seeing this, his buddy Charlie wanted to get a little thunnus hemoglobin on his Contender 31 WA too...
We loaded up the boat with Charlie, Eric, Erics dad, Charlies boat washer and Frank (Juango), leaving me at the helm of this rocket...
Rounding Sandy Hook at around 4 am we could see that the wind was not the variable 10 or less called for. Instead it was steady 15 and the chop was growing. Roughly half way to the Hudson, it had grown sporty at best. Slowed to 20 kts by now it was decision time... Abort? Clobber another 2.5 hours into a growing sea or go with plan B?
I havn't caught a bluefin in a long time and was worried about that prospect but it out weighed possibly hurting some one in the now 3-5 slop.
I carry a kit just for this occasion in myt offshore bag and soon we had cedars, spreaders and hoos in the wash... We covered the monster ledge to the Mud Hole to HA buoy then off to near the glory before the hatch match Offshore Innovations bar got clubbed. A cedar soon folowed. Ok not giants by any means but these footballs made a great way for Charlie to break in his boat and his guests to have some fun. That pair was followed by another by another and a single that we dropped... All in all not red hot but enough action that everyone got to pull on something. The light tackle and cedars were the kings of the heap today...
Here is Charlie beating up on one... Take a close look at the rod... A work of art with an exotic bird feather from Charlies place in Belieze wrapped intjust above the fore grip...
Frank (Juango) holds one of the wonderful day savers for a quick pic before letting it go... [/QUOTE]
I coulkd smell the ill wind brewing. Although 309 of 396 boats felt compelled to flex their muscles I felt the promise of 25 knots blowing my spread around wasn't necessary with four days to go. Baits and engines were done yesterday so there was not much to do. I did manage some chores and make work things but was done by noon.
My stomach grumbled and craved Tuna Bites... I sauntered to the Reel Inn where my sweeties were there to make things great for me. Just their smiles are well worth the walk...
Around me the place comes to life. The local drink of choice, Orange Crushes , flow like water at $9 a throw!
Lunch done it was time to grab a couple small spinners with Dooshberry my trusty deck hand... Flounders liked the jigs we offered and while some were small, some were down right respectable... This flabby flatty was taken on a fin-s.
The sun moves across the sky... Its time to eat again. The crowds are at the scales and superstition keeps me away from watching others weigh... So its a quick walk in anay direction in Ocean City to come up with some "sea spiders"...
So that was the day... Now a stroll on the boardwalk ought to fill out a good evening... Beats watchin tv or sleepin...[/
After layin yesterday... It was time to get wet for day one today... Got to our area to find great looking water. some porpoise and dolphins but not much other life...
Conditions called for a clasic meat spread and it slithered, slapped, and swam beautifully today. The problem we had though was getting on top of fish. About Mid day we finally had a visitor. Raised under the Mack erupted behind a dink, did the classic zig zag before eating a second tier flat line... The prertty blue though didn't stay stuck. After comming undone she didn't split immediately... Instead she was pissed and darted behind the riggers before swatting one then going away...
Oh well... That was the highlight of the day... We did have one more drive by as a tiny mako ate one of my strip teasers off and did a corkscrew jump with the shredded remains of the strip still in its teeth...
Well sorry for the sucky report we'll try harder our next run...
We were at the 40 line of the Washinton a half hour early. Tunas busting all over... Porpoise and dolphin working bait in pretty pretty water had us chomping at the bit... Then with ten minutes to go it went quiet. Not a sign of life.
Lines in call came and we beat that area first... Despite wishes the fishes didn't want to play. We steamed for the area we intended originally to fish. Arriving there there was dolphin and porpoise working hard. My dredge clip down bait popped up cut neatly in half. I guess a wahoo...
I no sooner had that one replaced than a yellowfin (not very big) launched on a dink. Missed the hook...
As that bait was slid back in place a small white came up and slapped a monster lure we had running for blues. One shot goodbye.
That was it for the day. We worked it hard. Steve and Mike took turns at the helm trying different things. We had a great looking spread, water couldn't have been nicer, but nothing worked. We tossed everything in our kits out there trying to get jaws unlocked but no good. That was day two.
Back at the dock our crew who were on working vacation checked schedules and orders from distant offices. Their work ethics are strong and though a gut wrenching choice they opted to blow off our day three to answer the call of duty and get back to their jobs.
Before you guys draw conclusions about that choice of theirs, understand that I respect it. There are all kinds of people that go to the big show. Some are all about hard core gung ho big game fishing. Some chase the millions with foaming mouths. Then...Some are there to just soak up the whole atmosphere. The noise, the smell, orange crushes and tenderloin scantily clad ladies as far as the eye can see. Thats what my crew was there for. fishing was just a bonus to a great experience... Yeah, I want to fish hard and win and give 110% but these guys work hard iun their respective worlds and got to respect their desires to play at their own pace...
Any way that was the WMO for me. A blank. A laid back adventure and excercise in just soaking it all in. The "Dad" now leaves her Harbor Island home and takes up residence at Cape May's Utches in preparation for next weeks Ma500... New crew new game... These guys want to fish and fish hard... I hope I can help them acheive that wish...[
After layin yesterday... It was time to get wet for day one today... Got to our area to find great looking water. some porpoise and dolphins but not much other life...
Conditions called for a clasic meat spread and it slithered, slapped, and swam beautifully today. The problem we had though was getting on top of fish. About Mid day we finally had a visitor. Raised under the Mack erupted behind a dink, did the classic zig zag before eating a second tier flat line... The prertty blue though didn't stay stuck. After comming undone she didn't split immediately... Instead she was pissed and darted behind the riggers before swatting one then going away...
Oh well... That was the highlight of the day... We did have one more drive by as a tiny mako ate one of my strip teasers off and did a corkscrew jump with the shredded remains of the strip still in its teeth...
Well sorry for the sucky report we'll try harder our next run..
We were at the 40 line of the Washinton a half hour early. Tunas busting all over... Porpoise and dolphin working bait in pretty pretty water had us chomping at the bit... Then with ten minutes to go it went quiet. Not a sign of life.
Lines in call came and we beat that area first... Despite wishes the fishes didn't want to play. We steamed for the area we intended originally to fish. Arriving there there was dolphin and porpoise working hard. My dredge clip down bait popped up cut neatly in half. I guess a wahoo...
I no sooner had that one replaced than a yellowfin (not very big) launched on a dink. Missed the hook...
As that bait was slid back in place a small white came up and slapped a monster lure we had running for blues. One shot goodbye.
That was it for the day. We worked it hard. Steve and Mike took turns at the helm trying different things. We had a great looking spread, water couldn't have been nicer, but nothing worked. We tossed everything in our kits out there trying to get jaws unlocked but no good. That was day two.
Back at the dock our crew who were on working vacation checked schedules and orders from distant offices. Their work ethics are strong and though a gut wrenching choice they opted to blow off our day three to answer the call of duty and get back to their jobs.
Before you guys draw conclusions about that choice of theirs, understand that I respect it. There are all kinds of people that go to the big show. Some are all about hard core gung ho big game fishing. Some chase the millions with foaming mouths. Then...Some are there to just soak up the whole atmosphere. The noise, the smell, orange crushes and tenderloin scantily clad ladies as far as the eye can see. Thats what my crew was there for. fishing was just a bonus to a great experience... Yeah, I want to fish hard and win and give 110% but these guys work hard iun their respective worlds and got to respect their desires to play at their own pace...
Any way that was the WMO for me. A blank. A laid back adventure and excercise in just soaking it all in. The "Dad" now leaves her Harbor Island home and takes up residence at Cape May's Utches in preparation for next weeks Ma500... New crew new game... These guys want to fish and fish hard... I hope I can help them acheive that wish...
Originally today was supposed to be a bluefin inshore ride but slowish reports had us looking for bluer pastures.... Since I may be running to this spot for the Ma500 I wont say where it was but I wll say it was worth the bumpy trip.
We got a late start leaving close to 6:15 after some wiring issues on the boat. We arrived at spot "A" about 9 AM... Promising water color had no signs of life so we steamed un increasingly rough water to the place I really wanted to play.
A mile short I loooked back at the more basic spread I had promised my self to get back to and there in the middle of a spreader bar I saw a white just beating the dog crap out of a center squid. A pitch did nothing tp draw his attention. Finally a rubber and wire hangover got the best of him and he just went away.
We got right to my mark and I jacked the wheel for a run that has been good to me before. Less than a hundred yards into the leg... Pop goes the flat line.. Then Pop goes the the other flat... Pop goes the rigger and we trippled up on the tld 25s with some dandy drag burners... The seas were now pretty stiff. Up over Under around and we kep the three mystery fish seperated. Finally fwe have color and the first of three big 50lb class birds hits the deck. Number 2 and 3 followed and a 3 for 3 had me tickled...
We had drifted over a mile off my mark and as we pressed up sea that way I saw the tip on the bird rod just twitch. I picked her up and looked back to see a white just swimming out of the spread... I tried to see my swimming hoo behind the hoo but it just wasn't there. The blue water antichrist had beat me ... Oh well.
The sea continued to freshen and at 4-6 and growing it was time to leave the spot and take a safer down sea course... We hammered several good looking potential spots along the way. We saw some mahi but they had lock jaw...
Then it happened... The blinding flash , a geyser of water heading skyward, a hole in the ocean that could swallow a semi... I checked for radiation burns and since ther were none the nuclear device going off theory was squashed. A very large back racing off with my bird in tow spelled it out that megazilla big eye himself had foiund us and had picked a 30 to torture!
The regular rodbelt was replaced witha full grown harness at the half hor mark. This fish was smokin hot and I was lovin the workout I was gettin jackin the clutches and throttles. It would dump 3/4 a pool then charge the b oat then go into the clasic spiral. I countered with all I could muster in the still growing seas... I chased, backed, corkscrewed and did what I could. This fish was big... way big and the 30 gear was not much more than an irritation. I glanced at the chart plotter and the 200+ pounds of sushi on the hooh had dragged our collective butts from one wall all the way across this canyon to the other and half way back...
Deep into the second hour despite some great angling and a load of fun the rod stood straight and a pulled hook ended the game... You know? Part of me wants to be pissed but it felt so good having a good ol fashioned slugfest that I don't mind losing the pig. Besides the three birds was more meat than we could store any way...
As we plowed our way home I revelled in good fishing, great company and shaking that skunk off my back... The guys were doing the picture taking and as soon as they send them over I'll gey em posted...
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