Rottncapt & Benny brought the Deuces Wild to CMNJ for the week in anticipation of our 1st tourney under the new ASA regime. Got her situated at Hinch Marina where she sat under the watchful eye of Chuck & Mary, 2 of the nicest people you'll ever meet.
Hopes that were high early in the week given the favorable tides & promising forecast were quickly extinguished with the blow that began Thursday night. Despite the change for the worse, we still were pumped for the start of our striper season.
On Friday, Ron & Benny loaded up the boat with some nice fresh bunker that were hand picked by Chuck himself & stacked in the cooler like tin soldiers by Benny. Some kosher salt mixed in & there were brined overnight.
5 am Saturday morning, we (Ron, Benny, Ron's friend John & me) show up at the boat only to be greeted by a stiff breeze & the Rodfather & CousinRichie. I think Joe found a home away from home at Off the Hook B&T. Due to other commitments, Joe was unable to join us for this one. So he & Richie went toggin for a few hours.
We load up the boat & start out to see what awaits us for Day 1. Through the CM Harbor towards the Canyon Club we see the boats making their way past the ASA check in station and shortly thereafter tearing through the canal.
After we do our formalities, Capt Ron opens up the 600+ ponies in the back of the Deuces Wild and before you know it, she is up to a cruising speed of 55 mph. Get to the CM Ferry station only to see what awaits us on the pond as we peek out to the west. Not a pretty sight as the lower end of the bay hands us some nice stack & steep 3-4s.
Without batting an eye, we turn north & head up to an area way, way, way up the bay in the hopes of finding clean calm water. Fortunately, Reggie Fountain knows how to design a hull & despite the conditions, we were able to run at about 40 mph. That boat just gets on top of those waves & goes, with that sharp entry slicing through the Bay's worse.
Once past the flatop area, the bay flattened out like a lake and the water was nice & green. We began snooping around looking for any signs of life. After 20 minutes or so, the Cappy says "Drop anchor" & our fishing day begun.
Still had incoming water in an area with 15' of water, so we started the chunking with some nice small bits to get the water scented. 10 minutes later, our first run off. After a decent fight, we land a decent chopper blue, then another, then another. Finally after about 45 minutes, we land a striper about 16#.
The blues were in there pretty thick, but so were the intended target, so we trudged through the blues who held about a 3-1 advantage, but fortunately, the striper gods were smiling upon us & each successive fish was a little bigger that the previous, and we finished with 7 stripers capped off with mine being the biggest of the day @ 27.55#.
After we lost the tide, we headed south to try to find moving water, which we were successful doing, however we were also successful in finding the doggies, so after lunch & a quick nap we decided to make our way to port.
During that time, the breeze changed direction & was blowing hard right up the bay. We fought 4-5' head seas all the way back to CM which wouldn't be bad, however we had a miss in one engine and couldn't get the boat up to cruising speed, so it made for a long wet ride back to port.
We get to the weigh-in station at SJ marine with about 40 minutes to spare. It was neat coming in to the docks, there was a camera crew taking stills & film of us coming into the weigh area, filmed us unloading the boat with fish & right up through weigh-in. We put the big one on the scale & moved into 1st place by 10+ pounds.
Our joy was short lived as we watched the World Cat make its way in. We had seen their fish out on the bay earlier, so we knew we were about to be bumped down to 2nd. They weighed in a 37+# fish to blow the rest of us away. To really rub it in & assure themselves of a nice payday, they capped off Day 2 with a 35# fish.
At the close of Day 1, we had been knocked down to 4th place, but held high hopes for Day 2, since we had found the fish.
As for Team Deuces Wild, Day 2 wasn't to be, as the motor problem resurfaced after check out but before the CM Ferry, so the boat was turned around & Day 2 was a shot, along with our hopes of a strong finish.
Despite the let down, we had a ball and I fished with a great group of guys who I would do it with again, any day of the week, any where, tourney or not.
There's always next time for us & we'll be back strong as ever.
Team Deuces Wild on the side.
[ 05-01-2006, 12:19 PM: Message edited by: mako6950 ]
Hopes that were high early in the week given the favorable tides & promising forecast were quickly extinguished with the blow that began Thursday night. Despite the change for the worse, we still were pumped for the start of our striper season.
On Friday, Ron & Benny loaded up the boat with some nice fresh bunker that were hand picked by Chuck himself & stacked in the cooler like tin soldiers by Benny. Some kosher salt mixed in & there were brined overnight.
5 am Saturday morning, we (Ron, Benny, Ron's friend John & me) show up at the boat only to be greeted by a stiff breeze & the Rodfather & CousinRichie. I think Joe found a home away from home at Off the Hook B&T. Due to other commitments, Joe was unable to join us for this one. So he & Richie went toggin for a few hours.
We load up the boat & start out to see what awaits us for Day 1. Through the CM Harbor towards the Canyon Club we see the boats making their way past the ASA check in station and shortly thereafter tearing through the canal.
After we do our formalities, Capt Ron opens up the 600+ ponies in the back of the Deuces Wild and before you know it, she is up to a cruising speed of 55 mph. Get to the CM Ferry station only to see what awaits us on the pond as we peek out to the west. Not a pretty sight as the lower end of the bay hands us some nice stack & steep 3-4s.
Without batting an eye, we turn north & head up to an area way, way, way up the bay in the hopes of finding clean calm water. Fortunately, Reggie Fountain knows how to design a hull & despite the conditions, we were able to run at about 40 mph. That boat just gets on top of those waves & goes, with that sharp entry slicing through the Bay's worse.
Once past the flatop area, the bay flattened out like a lake and the water was nice & green. We began snooping around looking for any signs of life. After 20 minutes or so, the Cappy says "Drop anchor" & our fishing day begun.
Still had incoming water in an area with 15' of water, so we started the chunking with some nice small bits to get the water scented. 10 minutes later, our first run off. After a decent fight, we land a decent chopper blue, then another, then another. Finally after about 45 minutes, we land a striper about 16#.
The blues were in there pretty thick, but so were the intended target, so we trudged through the blues who held about a 3-1 advantage, but fortunately, the striper gods were smiling upon us & each successive fish was a little bigger that the previous, and we finished with 7 stripers capped off with mine being the biggest of the day @ 27.55#.
After we lost the tide, we headed south to try to find moving water, which we were successful doing, however we were also successful in finding the doggies, so after lunch & a quick nap we decided to make our way to port.
During that time, the breeze changed direction & was blowing hard right up the bay. We fought 4-5' head seas all the way back to CM which wouldn't be bad, however we had a miss in one engine and couldn't get the boat up to cruising speed, so it made for a long wet ride back to port.
We get to the weigh-in station at SJ marine with about 40 minutes to spare. It was neat coming in to the docks, there was a camera crew taking stills & film of us coming into the weigh area, filmed us unloading the boat with fish & right up through weigh-in. We put the big one on the scale & moved into 1st place by 10+ pounds.
Our joy was short lived as we watched the World Cat make its way in. We had seen their fish out on the bay earlier, so we knew we were about to be bumped down to 2nd. They weighed in a 37+# fish to blow the rest of us away. To really rub it in & assure themselves of a nice payday, they capped off Day 2 with a 35# fish.
At the close of Day 1, we had been knocked down to 4th place, but held high hopes for Day 2, since we had found the fish.
As for Team Deuces Wild, Day 2 wasn't to be, as the motor problem resurfaced after check out but before the CM Ferry, so the boat was turned around & Day 2 was a shot, along with our hopes of a strong finish.
Despite the let down, we had a ball and I fished with a great group of guys who I would do it with again, any day of the week, any where, tourney or not.
There's always next time for us & we'll be back strong as ever.
Team Deuces Wild on the side.
[ 05-01-2006, 12:19 PM: Message edited by: mako6950 ]
