"Thanks"fishing

[frankypettolina]

In the spirirt of the upcoming holiday, I think it would be cool to have a thread where we can say thanks to the person or persons that got us where we are in the fishing community today. It can be someone famous you never met that inspired you, a relative, a fishing buddy, whatever.

For me it is a couple of people.

Capt Jay Champlin, for busting my balls enough early on in my fishing time, to make me want to be good. He taught me to test knots, learn to do things the correct way, rather than the easy way, and he had enough faith in me to give me a shot at Mexico and Venezuela, when I really did not have the experience that some of the other candidates for the job had.

I could name names in the next set of thanks, but these guys know who they are. The "big boat" guys on the traveling circuit that still include me and my dad and our old slow 46 post in their circle of radio calls and networking. That means more to us than you'll ever know.

And lastly my mom and dad who let me go do this fishing thing, but only after encouraging me to finish school (through college, when all my buddies were traveling and catching fish) and to stay on top of my studies. I was never straight A, but I held my own,and my parents pushed me to do this. I am blessed to get to spend darn near every day on or near a boat, and alot of them with my Dad. How cool is that? And my mom still puts up with me and dad bleeding the boat account dry on things like icemakers and spray rails. She is the glue that keeps the last call crew together.

[Squidnation]

Dad got us started fishing. First for perch and catfish at Fletchers Boat House where I think you can still rent a row boat. The provide the heavy rock tied to a rope that you use for an anchor. You provide the outboard. Thanks Dad

Offshore it would have to be Danny Lampe on the Full House who gave me my first job as a mate. I repaid him by throwing up on our first trip. Can't believe he let me stay on for the entire season. Thanks Dan but I am sure you can't read this from your hut in Nosora, CR

[mike hennessy]

thanks to my Dad, Jim Hennessy for giving me the bug with rainbow trout in the sierras then marlin in Cabo before i was 10

Bob Stevens in Newport Beach Ca draggin me off the beaches onto the party boats and starting my life as a proffesional crew to Capt.

Kewalo Basin crew in Hawaii, Lee Seaverse, Mike Derego, Russel Tanaka
Toots, you guys kill it.

To Costa Rica, thanks to the crazy germans for keeping me setup with the best boat always and the best gear money can buy.

Bobby Mcguinness for sharing his 40yrs of local knowledge of the big boy marlin holes,

And thanks to all my clients that support my psychosis of marlin fishing

gona cry.......

happy turkey day, and now would all you suckers take my survey on which fish fights harder, its getting down at the bottom of this page and i am gonna loose this fricken contest if someone doesnt help.

mike
www.cabo-matapalo.com

[Hatterized]

well no doubt....my Dad....sure my sister got her Barbie Dolls and Easy Bake Oven....and in my early years i got my GI Joe.....but it was that 1st Zebco rod-reel combo that i realized that fishing was it...the countless days that Dad & I spent on the water...every child should be able to experience such... and i have to laugh how Dad got me to do my chores for what seemed such a measely allowance...he said work for it and you will get it...soooo he take me to a tackle shop and i would be like a kid in a candy store...more chores more money and with that allowance i bought my 1st Penn 710 spinning reel and rod.....then onto a better set up...a Fenwick 20lb. boat rod w/roller guides and Penn Senator reel... ...Dad...thanks for the memories !!

[Randy Stinchcomb]

...my dad: Stew Stinchcomb, my dads older brother Donald and ther dad, my Grandfather "pappy"

all good people who are all gone now bless all of you, miss all of you


now all I have left is my brother Jeff who is 3,000 mile away in So-Cal, "Wish you were here bro"

[captcl]

My Dad first and foremost. Rockfishing, at the mouth of the West River chumming with manoes, at Gum thickets drifting eels and croakers, huge croakers off of beverly beach at night.Capt Al Jones,Capt. Tobey Walsh and Capt Kenny Holt for assiting me on my way to charter operting and Capt. Talbot Buntting who let me steer the boat when i was about 6yrs. old! That did it right there!

[frankypettolina]

This is what I am talking about here. Wasn't everybody's first reel a Zebco?

I can remember I had a green Zebco rod and some sort of closed face push button Zebco reel on it, and I had to troll everywhere we went with my dad's trawler. Only caught a little snapper bluefish every now and then, but Dad made it a point to stop the boat and let me fight the fish. Aren't dads great?

I miss having Danny Lampe around Bill (although I am sure he likes the weather in CR much better). He was one of the ones that first told me that a mako sharks mouth is proportionately small for the size of his body. Use a small streamlined bait and you will catch more makos he told me, and he was right. Butch Davis reinforced this to me many a time after the fact. Danny also showed me that sharks would eat a kite bait, and that you could use a kite loft kite to get the bait out, didn't need to be a fancy Bob Lewis kite. Come to think of it, it was Dad that invited Danny on that Shark trip to help out (I was 14 at the time and convinced I knew it all about everything- funny we started catching more makos after i realized that these guys all knew more than me )

[Squidnation]

First Mako I ever caught with Danny was on a live blue crab. He told me if I ever told anyone what we caught it on he would fire me on the spot. After he killed me. I would have never thought to use a damn crab for a Mako bait.