As this past week wore on, and despite ever changing and often discouraging weather forecasts, it became apparent that, in addition to me and mine, the Mitchells sans Bart ,who was going to be in Sarasota, and Wayne and the Bella Marias intended to fish on Saturday if at all possible. There were rumors of big dolphin and wahoo and occasional billfish shots just off the SW Edge toward the Nipple, which meant that the trip would be short enough to be bearable if the weather was snotty, and might not be bad at all if the wind was in the NE in the morning and went around to the SW in the afternoon as predicted, because we would be running down sea going and coming.
That being the case, it was decided (by Maria and Drew, I think) that Saturday would be the Second (not Annual, because not consecutive) East Pass Marina Billfish Invitational. There were four paying fish categories - billfish, dolphin, wahoo, and tuna. Billfish were catch and release (250 points for a blue marlin, 150 for a white marlin, and 100 for a sailfish) with $300 in the billfish calcutta. The dolphin, wahoo, and tuna calcuttas were $150 each, heaviest fish on the dock being the winner. With three boats, this meant we each had to pay $250 to play. (This is pretty serious money for those of us who are not regional restaurateurs like Wayne or advertising and t-shirt manufacturing magnates like the Mitchells, and I was apprehensive about the risk I was taking.) There were no time limitations on lines in or lines out, but you had to be in your slip by 6:00 PM or be disqualified.
The Bella Maria, a 52 Viking Flybridge, was captained by Wayne and crewed by Maria, Zeke Frye, the usual deck hand, George Hendricks of the Bisbee Bunch, and Rusty Maulden, formerly mate on the Legendary and currently captain of the Traveller.
The Mitchells selected the Blue Heaven, a 45 Cabo Express, from their family fleet (the 45 Cabo Express and a 54 Hatteras Flybridge) as their fishing platform. The crew was composed of Drew, working the cockpit in Bart’s absence, Mama Melanie Mitchell, George Alford, who has appeared previously in the Gaffes Gone Wild episode of The Fishing Reports, Jeff Cook, a new face for me, and Mark Yanora, the full time captain of the Mitchell fleet. Papa Pete Mitchell remained on the dock, agreeing to serve as the Tournament Director.
And last and least, the Hammerhead, a 35 Cabo Express, was captained by moi and crewed Eric Songer, my son-in-law, Bobby Cresap, an itinerant architect, and Freeman Songer, my 8 year old grandson.
I knew Wayne would target billfish, because he cannot help himself, meaning he would fish at least as far west as the blended blue water reported near the Nipple and perhaps as far as the Elbow, where blue water was reported to the south. My intention was to do something similar, but shorter. The Mitchells, who are crafty and first rate fishermen to boot, had an alternate strategy. Friday afternoon, Drew and Mark were rigging wire leaders, apparently targeting wahoo and dolphin, and I heard Drew on the phone with Ed Gobel, talking about the Knuckle, which meant they probably were going to hang close to the Edge, foregoing the best opportunities for billfish, but optimizing their chances for meat fish.
I decided that if the little, undermanned David that was the Hammerhead was to have any chance at all against the two Goliaths and their crews liberally salted with pros we would need plenty of time, which required an early departure, as David is also slower than the Goliaths. So, we again left the slip in the dark, but this time with a working spotlight, which was a plus as the moon had set, and we cleared the sea buoy and were up and running by 0525.
Our run out was well timed. The day was dawning just as we reached 350 feet of water beyond the SW edge, where I intended to begin fishing toward the Nipple. After all the uncertainty of the forecasts, the sea was flat, an
d the sunrise was glorious. As the sun climbed out of the sea to the east and fought its way through a slate blue and lavender cloud bank hanging low on the horizon, the water was translucent aqua (actually, more cyan than aqua, but I don’t want to be pretentious) suffused with deep pink highlights. Freeman was transfixed.
Perhaps the beauty of the sunrise beguiled us all, because we promptly boogered up our lines, wrapping the long right around the long center, and deploying a helicoptering ballyhoo on the short center. By the time we were squared away and all six lines and both teasers were out, it was 0710 and our time advantage was lost, as the Bella Maria passed us running west and the Blue Heaven called on the radio to say they had lines in the water.
The Second East Pass Marina Billfish Invitational was on.
Now, everyone loves the story of David versus Goliath, for the same reasons they love the ’69 Mets or almost any underdog overcomes the odds story. The attraction is not just the delicious humbling of hubris. It is also the element of pleasant surprise, the outcome being so at variance with that usually dictated by the unforgiving physics of superior size, speed, and talent; The point being that David's victory is the exception, not the rule. Which is to say we got our asses kicked.
It was a relatively slow day for all three boats, with small fish all around, but less so for the Goliaths than for David. At 1030, the Bella Maria caught and released a white marlin about 15 nautical miles south of the Nipple, which is where we were fishing by then. This fish hit a ballyhoo skirted with a pink and white Ilander on the left long line which was a 30. George Hendricks was the angler.
Earlier, the Blue Heaven had reported a decent wahoo in the box, but the Bella Maria could not hear them, although I could, which meant they were fishing well to the east, as I suspected they would. They subsequently caught a second wahoo and a dolphin. They lost their biggest wahoo at the boat, released a barracuda, had a number of cut offs just behind the hook, which were undoubtedly the work of the wily wahoo, and saw a blue marlin in the distance, but could not attract his attention.
At 1330, we finally saw some action: a suicidal bull dolphin with a little man complex ravaged the right side of the Hammerhead’s spread, and finally impaled himself on a 10/0 hook in a skirted horse ballyhoo on the center long line. Eric went to the rod first, which was a 50, but my main man, eight year old Freeman McKager Songer, insisted he could handle it, and did. It was a small fish, 13 pounds, but it was a big rod and a small boy. Papa was pleased.
The Bella Maria had two trash bites, a shark on the long center line and a barracuda on the long right, both skirted ballyhoo, and caught and released them both. Maria was the angler on both of these fish, and retired from the rod for the duration of the Tournament, being clearly snake bit. Late in the afternoon, just before lines in, a wahoo slammed a Mini 1656 Angle lure on the right short, and went into the box. George was again the angler, he not being snake bit like Maria.
At about 1430, Freeman noticed there was a fish on our short center line, a skirted ballyhoo being fished off the tip of a 50. Obviously, it was a small fish that did not pull any drag, which is why the captain and the eagle eyed adults in the crew did not even notice he was on. Eric reeled in a skipjack weighing about 10 pounds, and it went into the box, because, after all, it was a tuna, and none had been reported by the other boats.
The Blue Heaven picked up first, but we were not far behind. The Bella Maria , which cruises a t 30 plus knots, was last to pull its lines in, as usual.
Back at the dock, the Mitchells’ dolphin weighed in at 16 pounds, besting Freeman’s 13 pounder and winning that calcutta. Their larger wahoo weighed 22 ½ pounds.
We settled in with rum, beer, and other comforts, waiting to see if the Bella Maria would make it in on time or be disqualified. Wayne backed her into the slip with 10 minutes to spare.
The Bella Maria’s wahoo weighed 21 ½ pounds, which triggered a lot of re-weighing, with various old men squinting at the tiny numbers on the hand scale hanging from a hook through, over, and under their glasses. Maria was quite vocal in this debate, but was too short to read the scale, and had to defer to her taller elders. Wayne, who isn’t short and is painfully honest, finally called the ball, and the Blue Heaven’s one pound margin stood up, winning them a second $150.
The Bella Maria having won the $300 billfish calcutta with the sole billfish released, only the tuna money was left after the wahoo controversy was settled. The problem was that when folks think of tournament tuna, they are thinking of bluefins, yellowfins, or at least blackfins, but that is not what the e-mails setting forth the tournament rules said. The reference was to just plain old tuna, and skipjacks are definitely tuna. As Casey Stengel said, you can look it up in the book. Appeal was made to the only lawyer present, which fortunately for me was me, and I ruled in my favor, thus carrying off the last $150, to which no one really objected, because the Tao of T-Ball (everyone is a winner) had set in as the rum took hold.
Later, after the fish were cleaned and the more fastidious among us had showered, Papa Pete Mitchell treated us all to barbecue and all the fixings on the dock, where we were joined by my Mary, who tore herself away from the Gators romp over Kentucky, and by Betty Carner and Roy Rogers of the Bisbee Bunch, who just smelled the food and joined the crowd, to our delight.
I gave Freeman $50 for fighting the dolphin and spotting the skipjack. This was his second tournament and the second time he has won money, having won $20 by thrashing Drew’s teenage son and some of his buddies in a pin fishing contest when they foolishly allowed each fish Freeman caught to count as two because he was just six years old.
I love fishing.
That being the case, it was decided (by Maria and Drew, I think) that Saturday would be the Second (not Annual, because not consecutive) East Pass Marina Billfish Invitational. There were four paying fish categories - billfish, dolphin, wahoo, and tuna. Billfish were catch and release (250 points for a blue marlin, 150 for a white marlin, and 100 for a sailfish) with $300 in the billfish calcutta. The dolphin, wahoo, and tuna calcuttas were $150 each, heaviest fish on the dock being the winner. With three boats, this meant we each had to pay $250 to play. (This is pretty serious money for those of us who are not regional restaurateurs like Wayne or advertising and t-shirt manufacturing magnates like the Mitchells, and I was apprehensive about the risk I was taking.) There were no time limitations on lines in or lines out, but you had to be in your slip by 6:00 PM or be disqualified.
The Bella Maria, a 52 Viking Flybridge, was captained by Wayne and crewed by Maria, Zeke Frye, the usual deck hand, George Hendricks of the Bisbee Bunch, and Rusty Maulden, formerly mate on the Legendary and currently captain of the Traveller.
The Mitchells selected the Blue Heaven, a 45 Cabo Express, from their family fleet (the 45 Cabo Express and a 54 Hatteras Flybridge) as their fishing platform. The crew was composed of Drew, working the cockpit in Bart’s absence, Mama Melanie Mitchell, George Alford, who has appeared previously in the Gaffes Gone Wild episode of The Fishing Reports, Jeff Cook, a new face for me, and Mark Yanora, the full time captain of the Mitchell fleet. Papa Pete Mitchell remained on the dock, agreeing to serve as the Tournament Director.
And last and least, the Hammerhead, a 35 Cabo Express, was captained by moi and crewed Eric Songer, my son-in-law, Bobby Cresap, an itinerant architect, and Freeman Songer, my 8 year old grandson.I knew Wayne would target billfish, because he cannot help himself, meaning he would fish at least as far west as the blended blue water reported near the Nipple and perhaps as far as the Elbow, where blue water was reported to the south. My intention was to do something similar, but shorter. The Mitchells, who are crafty and first rate fishermen to boot, had an alternate strategy. Friday afternoon, Drew and Mark were rigging wire leaders, apparently targeting wahoo and dolphin, and I heard Drew on the phone with Ed Gobel, talking about the Knuckle, which meant they probably were going to hang close to the Edge, foregoing the best opportunities for billfish, but optimizing their chances for meat fish.
I decided that if the little, undermanned David that was the Hammerhead was to have any chance at all against the two Goliaths and their crews liberally salted with pros we would need plenty of time, which required an early departure, as David is also slower than the Goliaths. So, we again left the slip in the dark, but this time with a working spotlight, which was a plus as the moon had set, and we cleared the sea buoy and were up and running by 0525.
Our run out was well timed. The day was dawning just as we reached 350 feet of water beyond the SW edge, where I intended to begin fishing toward the Nipple. After all the uncertainty of the forecasts, the sea was flat, an
d the sunrise was glorious. As the sun climbed out of the sea to the east and fought its way through a slate blue and lavender cloud bank hanging low on the horizon, the water was translucent aqua (actually, more cyan than aqua, but I don’t want to be pretentious) suffused with deep pink highlights. Freeman was transfixed.Perhaps the beauty of the sunrise beguiled us all, because we promptly boogered up our lines, wrapping the long right around the long center, and deploying a helicoptering ballyhoo on the short center. By the time we were squared away and all six lines and both teasers were out, it was 0710 and our time advantage was lost, as the Bella Maria passed us running west and the Blue Heaven called on the radio to say they had lines in the water.
The Second East Pass Marina Billfish Invitational was on.
Now, everyone loves the story of David versus Goliath, for the same reasons they love the ’69 Mets or almost any underdog overcomes the odds story. The attraction is not just the delicious humbling of hubris. It is also the element of pleasant surprise, the outcome being so at variance with that usually dictated by the unforgiving physics of superior size, speed, and talent; The point being that David's victory is the exception, not the rule. Which is to say we got our asses kicked.
It was a relatively slow day for all three boats, with small fish all around, but less so for the Goliaths than for David. At 1030, the Bella Maria caught and released a white marlin about 15 nautical miles south of the Nipple, which is where we were fishing by then. This fish hit a ballyhoo skirted with a pink and white Ilander on the left long line which was a 30. George Hendricks was the angler.
Earlier, the Blue Heaven had reported a decent wahoo in the box, but the Bella Maria could not hear them, although I could, which meant they were fishing well to the east, as I suspected they would. They subsequently caught a second wahoo and a dolphin. They lost their biggest wahoo at the boat, released a barracuda, had a number of cut offs just behind the hook, which were undoubtedly the work of the wily wahoo, and saw a blue marlin in the distance, but could not attract his attention.
At 1330, we finally saw some action: a suicidal bull dolphin with a little man complex ravaged the right side of the Hammerhead’s spread, and finally impaled himself on a 10/0 hook in a skirted horse ballyhoo on the center long line. Eric went to the rod first, which was a 50, but my main man, eight year old Freeman McKager Songer, insisted he could handle it, and did. It was a small fish, 13 pounds, but it was a big rod and a small boy. Papa was pleased.
The Bella Maria had two trash bites, a shark on the long center line and a barracuda on the long right, both skirted ballyhoo, and caught and released them both. Maria was the angler on both of these fish, and retired from the rod for the duration of the Tournament, being clearly snake bit. Late in the afternoon, just before lines in, a wahoo slammed a Mini 1656 Angle lure on the right short, and went into the box. George was again the angler, he not being snake bit like Maria.
At about 1430, Freeman noticed there was a fish on our short center line, a skirted ballyhoo being fished off the tip of a 50. Obviously, it was a small fish that did not pull any drag, which is why the captain and the eagle eyed adults in the crew did not even notice he was on. Eric reeled in a skipjack weighing about 10 pounds, and it went into the box, because, after all, it was a tuna, and none had been reported by the other boats.
The Blue Heaven picked up first, but we were not far behind. The Bella Maria , which cruises a t 30 plus knots, was last to pull its lines in, as usual.
Back at the dock, the Mitchells’ dolphin weighed in at 16 pounds, besting Freeman’s 13 pounder and winning that calcutta. Their larger wahoo weighed 22 ½ pounds.
We settled in with rum, beer, and other comforts, waiting to see if the Bella Maria would make it in on time or be disqualified. Wayne backed her into the slip with 10 minutes to spare.
The Bella Maria’s wahoo weighed 21 ½ pounds, which triggered a lot of re-weighing, with various old men squinting at the tiny numbers on the hand scale hanging from a hook through, over, and under their glasses. Maria was quite vocal in this debate, but was too short to read the scale, and had to defer to her taller elders. Wayne, who isn’t short and is painfully honest, finally called the ball, and the Blue Heaven’s one pound margin stood up, winning them a second $150.
The Bella Maria having won the $300 billfish calcutta with the sole billfish released, only the tuna money was left after the wahoo controversy was settled. The problem was that when folks think of tournament tuna, they are thinking of bluefins, yellowfins, or at least blackfins, but that is not what the e-mails setting forth the tournament rules said. The reference was to just plain old tuna, and skipjacks are definitely tuna. As Casey Stengel said, you can look it up in the book. Appeal was made to the only lawyer present, which fortunately for me was me, and I ruled in my favor, thus carrying off the last $150, to which no one really objected, because the Tao of T-Ball (everyone is a winner) had set in as the rum took hold.
Later, after the fish were cleaned and the more fastidious among us had showered, Papa Pete Mitchell treated us all to barbecue and all the fixings on the dock, where we were joined by my Mary, who tore herself away from the Gators romp over Kentucky, and by Betty Carner and Roy Rogers of the Bisbee Bunch, who just smelled the food and joined the crowd, to our delight.
I gave Freeman $50 for fighting the dolphin and spotting the skipjack. This was his second tournament and the second time he has won money, having won $20 by thrashing Drew’s teenage son and some of his buddies in a pin fishing contest when they foolishly allowed each fish Freeman caught to count as two because he was just six years old.
I love fishing.
No comments:
Post a Comment