If you read my other report, I didn't include the name of the vessel because I didn't want to tarnish a family business because of the actions of one individual douche bag.
The Black Hawk did Email me a voucher for a free trip. Yesterday was forecasted to be beautiful, but I knew we were going to be at slack tide right in the middle of the trip. I figured, what the heck, this is what they do for a living. So I packed my stuff and went.
I wanted to be 45 minutes early, but ran into traffic and got there around 20, to 25 minutes before they sailed. I was really worried they were not going to take me as there were a LOT of people already there, but Heather was very pleasant and acted as if she had no idea about the crowd or that I was there to redeem my free trip.
Ended up seated right smack in the middle of the port side. Was worried about potential tangles but sitting next to me was one of the prettiest "fisher chicks" I've ever seen and was with her very nice family. Have no clue where we started fishing, just know it was on the way to plum gut but not that far. The girl next to me was asking me some questions about finding bottom and reeling up and dropping back down. So her and I are slamming for a while but no one else on the boat is...and the "mood" on the boat was starting to change. I've never felt such a strong feeling of palpable disappointment from a group of people. It was kinda bringin me down.
The mates were awesome, they were right on you as soon as you had a fish and guiding people around each other with ease. They weren't yanking the hooks like last week and were pulling them out of the water by the leader. Whew!!!
The captain was really working for the people and kept moving to different drift areas. I hooked onto one and the mate was right behind me, he was like, "You got bottom?" I was like "No, this is a large fish." He took the pole from me and said "Yep, that's a large Striper, keep reelin." I was thrilled because I have not caught one since I was 20. Got the fish to under the surface of the water and the mate was like, "Aww its a big blue, wow he was fighting like a Striper." Tagged and bagged that one.
A lot of people were still not catching...Captain announced he was moving to another location. The mates said it was going to be about a half hour and it would be a good time for lunch. I was really happy they made it a point to tell us that because otherwise I would have starved the entire day, afraid to miss out "on the big one."
Arrived at next location and did some drifts we were in slack tide and not much happening...continued moving around and drifting, finding bottom easier without scoping out and started slamming again...
Many people on the boat still got skunked. Captain announced last drift...that one was a wiff for everyone...He said he was going to try and make some other drifts on the way home...and he did, MANY he was really trying his best for the people...at one point he said he saw A HUGE school of blues and stopped the boat...every person was catching and the mates had the fish off the jigs and back in the water reassuring everyone, get another!!! The deck was full of flopping blues and blood and all the people were having a blast...finally there was a good feeling in the air.....
We even made another drift and caught more. The mates said "Is there anyone that has not caught a fish yet?" They wanted to make sure everyone got something...there were some nice sea bass keepers too.
Went back into port, the day was just too perfect weather wise to absorb. Chatted with the family next to me for a while and before I knew it we were back. Captain came down to talk to me as he recognized me from the last trip. Of course I told him it was a great trip and really appreciated everyone's effort. He seemed pretty happy.
I waited for everyone to get off the boat so I could tell the mates how great they were and tipped them well.
The Black Hawk did Email me a voucher for a free trip. Yesterday was forecasted to be beautiful, but I knew we were going to be at slack tide right in the middle of the trip. I figured, what the heck, this is what they do for a living. So I packed my stuff and went.
I wanted to be 45 minutes early, but ran into traffic and got there around 20, to 25 minutes before they sailed. I was really worried they were not going to take me as there were a LOT of people already there, but Heather was very pleasant and acted as if she had no idea about the crowd or that I was there to redeem my free trip.
Ended up seated right smack in the middle of the port side. Was worried about potential tangles but sitting next to me was one of the prettiest "fisher chicks" I've ever seen and was with her very nice family. Have no clue where we started fishing, just know it was on the way to plum gut but not that far. The girl next to me was asking me some questions about finding bottom and reeling up and dropping back down. So her and I are slamming for a while but no one else on the boat is...and the "mood" on the boat was starting to change. I've never felt such a strong feeling of palpable disappointment from a group of people. It was kinda bringin me down.
The mates were awesome, they were right on you as soon as you had a fish and guiding people around each other with ease. They weren't yanking the hooks like last week and were pulling them out of the water by the leader. Whew!!!
The captain was really working for the people and kept moving to different drift areas. I hooked onto one and the mate was right behind me, he was like, "You got bottom?" I was like "No, this is a large fish." He took the pole from me and said "Yep, that's a large Striper, keep reelin." I was thrilled because I have not caught one since I was 20. Got the fish to under the surface of the water and the mate was like, "Aww its a big blue, wow he was fighting like a Striper." Tagged and bagged that one.
A lot of people were still not catching...Captain announced he was moving to another location. The mates said it was going to be about a half hour and it would be a good time for lunch. I was really happy they made it a point to tell us that because otherwise I would have starved the entire day, afraid to miss out "on the big one."
Arrived at next location and did some drifts we were in slack tide and not much happening...continued moving around and drifting, finding bottom easier without scoping out and started slamming again...
Many people on the boat still got skunked. Captain announced last drift...that one was a wiff for everyone...He said he was going to try and make some other drifts on the way home...and he did, MANY he was really trying his best for the people...at one point he said he saw A HUGE school of blues and stopped the boat...every person was catching and the mates had the fish off the jigs and back in the water reassuring everyone, get another!!! The deck was full of flopping blues and blood and all the people were having a blast...finally there was a good feeling in the air.....
We even made another drift and caught more. The mates said "Is there anyone that has not caught a fish yet?" They wanted to make sure everyone got something...there were some nice sea bass keepers too.
Went back into port, the day was just too perfect weather wise to absorb. Chatted with the family next to me for a while and before I knew it we were back. Captain came down to talk to me as he recognized me from the last trip. Of course I told him it was a great trip and really appreciated everyone's effort. He seemed pretty happy.
I waited for everyone to get off the boat so I could tell the mates how great they were and tipped them well.
Oh and 70lbs off since last summer. All those meds for chronic Lyme disease was killin me.....fishing is a lot easier with that extra weight off...damn...It still takes me about 4 days to recover from one day of fishing, but worth it...and each month seem to be getting a little better.
Glad you had a good trip! Capt. Matt again? Both he and Greg will work their butts off to put you on fish. The happy hour trips are often a good summer bet as well, since you usually get a bunch of blues before the sun drops, and then hopefully some stripers. The best part about the night trips, aside from big stripers, is that they are scheduled around the tides, so there is no slack tide in the middle of a trip.
Glad you had a good trip! Capt. Matt again? Both he and Greg will work their butts off to put you on fish. The happy hour trips are often a good summer bet as well, since you usually get a bunch of blues before the sun drops, and then hopefully some stripers. The best part about the night trips, aside from big stripers, is that they are scheduled around the tides, so there is no slack tide in the middle of a trip.
Yes captain Matt Captain again... and Greg (a mate on board) was a fantastic young man too. He was having a great time making sure everyone was catching and checking to see if everyone was having problems....he gave three lessons to some of the new people and didn't mind at all...
I'm going to look into those "After work" trips now that you mention it.