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Date: No Problem
Title: April 25, 2004
Date: 26 Apr 2004
Time: 19:27:20 -0400
It’s hard to be a happy captain when you’re boat is in the hospital having major surgery done on her for over a week with no return date yet. I’m in the dumps. I love to fish and enjoy sharing that joy with others, so much so, that I made it my livelihood. With the motors down, I can’t do what I love; furthermore, I’m unemployed during a peak in the fishing year. It is depressing; easy to go into a pity party. However, on Wednesday, Richard Carmichael volunteered his boat and services and he and I took Dick Mischiarra, from Live Oak, and his son Tim, from Chicago, on an offshore adventure. We first stopped to pick up three dozen pinfish from a trap. Our next stop put the boat a float of a large school of amberjack. Tim happened to look overboard announcing “Look, you can see the fish!”. The first live bait was taken before the second bait could be set out. From then on, action was as fast as fish could be brought in. Amberjack are a hard fighting fish, it doesn’t take many before fatigue sets in on the angler. I’m good for two, maybe three, before I become ‘a fishing observer’, only. Dick and Tim told me they didn’t need to keep many fish. I love catch and release. Perhaps, the catch and release option draws me to fishing rather than hunting. We planned to harvest two AJ’s but ended up with three because the last one was deeply hooked. Dick had fought at least five amberjacks, back to back, when I looked at him slumped in a deck chair. “Grouper fishing? I asked. “Do they fight like these? he replied. “Not quite” I said, to which he smiled a relief. Tim finished up the final AJ. Tim is tall with an NFL physique. I don’t know how many AJ’s it would take to wear him out, but I knew there were plenty of volunteers below the boat. Anyway, we put away to AJ gear, switching to trolling outfits. After a twenty five minute boat ride, we set out a couple of Stretch 30’s. It wasn’t 5 minutes till a grouper, a little over ten pounds, bucked a rod down. The next hit took a long twenty five minutes. It was a kingfish, sixteen pounds. The amusing thing about this fish was it hit the plug as it was being let out! Richard was playing out the line when it began to run off the reel to the point it was burning his thumb. Richard flipped the reel in gear and announced “Fish On!”. We were in disbelief when he gave the rod to Dick. Dick was reeling but the rod wasn’t bending over. Had Richard been in the sun too long? The answer flashed by the boat a minute later. The kingfish was charging the boat. A brief tussle at boatside and we managed to get a gaff in it. Another mile of trolling (15 minutes) produced good conversation which was interrupted by a double hook up. One fish released itself, the other was a fine gag grouper. I used the tracking page on the GPS, ‘the etch-a-sketch’, to circle back through. Each time we passed we got a hit. I punched mark on the GPS and anchored. Bottom fishing turned out pretty good. We kept some keeper grouper, and tossed back some keeper grouper. It was fun while it lasted. When grouper stop biting, the bite doesn’t trickle off till it slows to a stop, they just stop biting all together at once. It’s as if they’re saying “we’re through with you, now go away”. So we did. Back to trolling. I had a bottom fishing spot 3.8 miles from our current position so we set up and trolled that direction. I didn’t think we’d make it all the way there. We didn’t. We made it 2.9 miles that direction before I picked up three new grouper numbers, Tim1, Dick1 and Dick2. I ‘clover leafed’ a pattern around were we picked up the fish to pin point where to bottom fish. Bottom fishing we used up the remainder of our live baits. It was fun. I enjoy bottom fishing but I don’t learn much while on anchor. Trolling can have periods of boredom but it is exciting when they hit, plus you learn new bottom. Mixing up the two during the day keeps things fresh. We ended up keeping three amberjack, one kingfish, and six grouper (all >24”). A good day on the water with good fellowship. Now the rest of the story...Dick had contacted Kevin Ray. Kevin and Barry Raulerson host the “Weekend Angler” radio program on Saturday mornings at WSKY FM 97.3. Kevin called Gina, my wife, who told them to come down on Wednesday, and we could work out a special deal. Wednesdays we run a special for individuals who can’t get a party together. It’s a pay by the head deal for up to six anglers'. With my boat down we had to cancel the others in the party, but I made arrangements with Richard for Dick and his son. Dick is in his mid-fifties has a diverse background including Special Forces the years prior to Vietnam becoming ‘official’. Now you couldn’t pry me out of an airplane at 35’000’ sucking on an oxygen bottle, at night, to land in the ocean. We’re going to have issues at that request, besides I’m armed and I ain’t jumpn’. Sorry, I breached protocol “I ain’t jumpn’ SIR!” I admire those that can do such things in service to our country. Anyway, I wrote that to briefly illustrate the quality of a man Dick is. Dick has a brain tumor. He told me it was a matter of time. He told me he was good with the Lord. He wanted to go fishing with his son while he was still able. They told me they had a great day together. I’m thankful; for many things. Afterwards, I thought about how I was down because I had a problem with my boat. I have no problem. It’s a temporary situation that can be fixed. Count no day unimportant because there will come a day when you would give all you have just to relive that ordinary day. God bless you Dick. We’ll fish again Capt. B Special thanks to Richard Carmicheal for making this trip possible.