Friday, April 28, 2006

YEAH-Great Job Team! Number One in Pro Event Two!



You Guys Rock!
more on that later,
cannot believe I missed our big win of the season,
WAIT
I mean our FIRST big win of the season,
but I was there in spirit, and thinking of
y'all every second, sending good fish vibrations!

Could not be HAPPIER!

Great Job,

THANKS!
smiles-
susan

Sunday, April 23, 2006

and now, the rest of the story!


Day Two-Ft Pierce, Florida
Nationals-in 10th place, but need another fish
to match one per day!
Wind was howlin'
made the call to do exactly the same format at day one,
run 30 miles south where majority of big fish were caught,
figured we would get one, maybe even a big one,
and then spend the afternoon trolling the beach for a real big one on the afternoon tide.
Well, we had to go south via the intracoastal waterway,
as the was a 4-6 foot chop right in our face in the ocean,
so we burned it through the canals,
at 63 mph and only had about 8 miles of a hard core boat ride and saltwater shower,
very rough, windy, and cold fishing,
but we managed to hook a king despite the 100 other boats in the same area,
I got it to the boat fairly quickly considering the amount of rough seas and current,
but it held under the water just out of reach as the boat kept getting pulled away in the strong current and seas,
i saw it as did Gary, not huge, but looked decent down in the water,
then it just took off,
blistered back down and out!
I spent 30 minutes getting about half the line back,
and it was like it hit a wall-Damn (ha ha get it, fish hitting a wall, damn)
I spend another 3o minutes muscling this fish,
without any avail,
I could not move it, no matter how much pressure or strength I put on it, so I passed the rod to Mike,
mostly becuase I did not want to be the one to blame when the hooks pulled,
well, he could hardly move it either,
strong current, big waves, stubborn fish,
this went on for more than an hour, we drive in close,
get some line, and then it would take off again,
we finally realized, our kingfish had been eaten by a giant
bull shark, who was now hooked to us, and dragging us around the ocean with no intention of letting go.

Phase Two of the Day Two:
head inshore, and outside of the inlet where we caught day one fish, looked good, calmer seas, big fish, real big, being caught by a few other boats around us,
sit and wait,
and wait,
while we waited the sun was being shadowed by dark clouds,
and followed by crackling thunder, and streaks of lightening
made a solid zig zag from sky to water. I begged for 15 more minutes to fish, I knew we were about to catch the fish we needed, I had my lucky blue bandana with me again, as the rain drops pelted the water, 2 kings skied up in the air, right close to the boat, one of them over 50 lbs, but we could not get a strike, except for the balls of fire from the lightening strikes popping around the boat like popcorn. I still thought we would get a fish, and I started thinking I would be up on the bow of the boat, holding a lightening rod, I mean, a fishing rod high in the air, I thought all this as I 'safely grasped the metal t top' real smart, huh!

Its all over now baby blue:
so we call it a day, but now the big storms were so bad we could hardly see anything in front of us, it was a white out,
the waves white capping and the tops blowing right off in the wind gusts, it was dark as night except for the electrical display getting closer and closer, the windshield was a wall of water, and we all tried to see, but the rain drops were hitting so hard they knocked my contact lense out of my eye.
Of course, I forgot my rain suit, never done that before,
so my clothes were soaked all the way through, we finally found the marina, and soaked, teeth chattering, I was glad to have a dry bag with my fave blue board shorts to change into.

People at the dock said that it was insult to injury,
getting caught in the storm after 'catching' a zero today,
but I still wouldn't trade a minute of it!

If the worst thing in my life is I didn't catch a fish today,
well,
that's pretty okay with me!
ain't life grand!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Hero to Zero



Well, I love to Hate this Place,

ft pierce florida,

since 1998 I have had more 'hero to zero' moments here than any other event ever!
more on that later,
weighed in to 10th place out of the almost 300 boat field yesterday,
to Jack saying on the stage that I am the best lady fisherman in the country,
quickly followed by
maybe in the world,
i was expecting planet next, but we quickly found out today,
my luck was a one day deal.
i was lucky in that I did not get struck by lightening in the one of three storms that railed us all afternoon,
but alas,
tonight I sleep,
again for 4 hours to get up and drive back for work,

tomorrow,

the rest of the story...............................
sk

Friday, April 21, 2006

Day One Ft Pierce Nationals

Well, guess who accidentally deleted last nights post,
AND forgot the power cord for my camera,

okay,
so check back for pictures,
here's the snapshot editorial of the last 24 hours:

hung out with the Smothers Brothers yesterday afternoon at the pool

slept two hours then had to meet the bait guy at 2:30 am,
he actually showed up at 5 am

had the camera crew ESPN on the boat today

caught a 35.54 fish, late in the day,
will have to bleep out more than not on the audio,

in 10th place going into day two,

back with more tomorrow,