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One Named Fishin'
Posts: 59 Deckhand
YC 8-19-18 Dudley’s Reunion Charter
One Named Fishin'
Posts: 59 Deckhand
Part one
The banter over this trip began months ago. For over 10 years, a group of fishing forum buddies from all over Florida has grown into a few tight friendships and some new acquaintances with one man in common, Dudley “The Hurricane” AKA Snaphappy. Together, we’ve fished all over Florida and a couple of us enjoy a trip to Venice now and then to fish with Todd, the legendary Captain Same Outfit. Though Todd has no use for the internet or any other modern conveniences, he and David AKA Killula AKA The Great Wall were catalysts for getting many in the crew to fish together for the first time. The other major catalyst was none other than Greg and the Yankee Capts....
The banter over this trip began months ago. For over 10 years, a group of fishing forum buddies from all over Florida has grown into a few tight friendships and some new acquaintances with one man in common, Dudley “The Hurricane” AKA Snaphappy. Together, we’ve fished all over Florida and a couple of us enjoy a trip to Venice now and then to fish with Todd, the legendary Captain Same Outfit. Though Todd has no use for the internet or any other modern conveniences, he and David AKA Killula AKA The Great Wall were catalysts for getting many in the crew to fish together for the first time. The other major catalyst was none other than Greg and the Yankee Capts....
I’m the guy that lives closest to the boat, just a few miles to be exact, but I used to live in the north Tampa Bay area and met a handful of guys on the old FS forum back around 2005 that I keep in contact with today. I haven’t seen Jay AKA Jayzilla, Rich AKA Long Island and Tommy, AKA Knot Tommy in years, so they headed down a day early to hang out. They’re fantastic gag grouper fishermen. After a long evening of catching up and bbq, we retired, only to be wakened by violent snoring, the noise of which would surely have pets and small children running for protection.
At 8ish, Rich woke us with bacon and eggs. He’s a fantastic chef, so I happily turned my modest kitchen over to his care. I live here, so the game plan was their’s. Sightseeing? Lunch on the water? Nah. “Let’s get bait!” Fresh bait was not to be found by our fellow anglers (Dudley/Timmy, David/Todd, and Allen) that were anxiously on their was down the east coast. After a quick snack with Greg, we ran around and caught a handful of pins. I cleaned out my bait freezer to get us a good start with frozens. By the way, bait is provided by the boat, but we are psycho. We loaded the trucks , showered, and took the 10 minute ride to the dock.
Dudley put together an awesome group of guys. There were only three of the 15 that I hadn’t met before. After getting sweaty again loading our gear, Dudley gave a speech about expectations and a few tips as we prepared for the steam to Pulley Ridge. Though we wanted to deep drop, Greg let us know that the conditions for that were not good. Off we went directly to the “top.”
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Part two
We left a little early, and expected to start fishing by five am. No trolling this time. Sunset City arrived later than expected, about 6. Alex AKA Alex G and I gave jigs a shot without results. Muttons bit right away, mostly on bait, but a few on Jake’s jig, then slowed. There were quite a few sand tiles caught too. Though the drift was perfect, we made a move to greener pastures by 9.
Nick AKA Heavy Hitters and Allen scored a couple of nice scamps on the second drift. David and Alex each got a big fire truck and I got a couple decent muttons, a BFT, bonito and Almaco, breaking in a rod I started building 10 years ago and finally finished on Friday . It was a slow pick for everyone. Allen got a nice kingfish that he “graciously” gave to everybody else for bait. We ate some of Chad’s amazing cheeseburgers and moved at about two. It was HOT, but there was a decent breeze.
Another slow pick at the next stop, but Allen got his first African pompano. Darrel brought in a beautiful scamp and a big porgy. Nick and David put in their time and got some grouper. We moved agin to Sunset City. Chads dinner consisted of a salad with fresh melon, dragon fruit on arugula, glazed pork chops, homemade mashed potato and fresh green beans. It was awesome!
The bite kicked off shortly after dark. I caught a dog snapper, just under 20#. Jake got a whopper of a scamp. Todd finally came out of hibernation and, using my other mutton rod, woke the fish up too. Since he drove 17 hours, we were happy that he was catching. He’s a hoot. Dudley, who steadily picked away, lost two big mystery fish. He also broke in his new slow pitch rod. I managed a decent tuna, but they really weren’t schooled up. It was a steady slow pick through the morning.
Sunrise was a little busier. Tommy got his first black grouper. Rich got his first mutton. I put an African pompano in the ice via jig. Rich got in a groove and loaded up with a scamp, red grouper and a few mutton. Randy and Bob picked away. Timmy plugged along silently, taking his quota. Dudley got a nice scamp on his ultra light slow pitch contraption. Nick and David were steady. We moved at 12:30, as Chad prepared buffalo chicken wraps.
The final drop was a slow pick too, but at least three guys (Dudley, David and Nick) caught more fish than they had tags. Put in your time, pay attention and you’ll catch fish. Tommy, Nick and Allen each snapped up a mahi. I ended up with 10 species of the 17 (approx) that were caught. How I ended up with no red grouper is still a mystery. Maybe not enough time at the rail. I took on the roll of photographer, so I’m going with that as my excuse.
As Chad prepared the last supper, I started cleaning up and showered for another nap. How’s this for chow on a headboat....Kung Pau fried dumpling, NY strips stuffed with Maine lobster, white truffle risotto coconut bok choy?Everyone got the meal plan. I think we had 10 zillion rods, but because we all got the meal plan, and brought a common drink cooler, we only needed a couple hundred thousand coolers LOL.
Dudley prepared everyone for proper tipping, so the mates (Mike, Garrett and Jeff) had a great trip too. All the guys were experienced and kept the boat very clean. We ended up with 18 totes of quality fish. Though it seemed slow, rail time and experience made a huge difference as always. I probably missed someone or something, but I’m ready to do it again!
Did a grouper's (red) regurgitate that lionfish? That's nice to see if so....
I must have missed my invite somewhere.
Another president put a man in the Lady's bathroom.
Bob- You’re definitely one of the original FS crew! We’ll get Dudley on that invite for next time. Thanks for the gizmos!
Thanks for posting up
I haven't fished since 2011. Ask around.
Greg
That rail picture fooled me too Capt Greg.
Greg"
Somebody must be pretty good with Photoshop! Picture's of you with a rod in your hand keep popping up from time to time.
You gotta get used to Greg tho. Wake up in the morning and Greg is like "Hey Dave."
What's up Greg?
"Get the F off my boat."
😅
Great seeing you as always! I’m on the next Venice trip!
Greg
More thanks to Dudley for setting this whole adventure up. A really fun group and a whole lot of talent at the rail.
Although it's already been said you can't overstate the extreme quality of service by the mates who are among the best. And of course Chef Chad blew us away with his cuisine. You guys all rock!
The entire trip can be summed up by paraphrasing Dave's morning exchange with Greg:
"You all caught dinner. Now get the F off my boat!"
Greg and crew knocked it out of the park. The effort of deckhands Mike and Garrett was incredible. Big thanks to Chef Chad for the incredible menu he put together for us and the top notch service he provided.
Can’t wait to do it again!
Hell, I should be writing copy for your next brochure.
I was wondering if Jay, Rich and Tommy were still alive. Is it just me, or does Jay look a lot like Mr. Miyagi now?