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In another life I used to be a deckhand on the
local LA/San Pedro/Long Beach boats and several of the long range
sportfishing boats out of San Diego. Now I can enjoy the fishing and
relaxing part of these trips. Going on trip after trip, you see a lot of
interesting stuff. This is a collection of stories from the
past...and not-so-distant past.
Knots to
Know - Lessons I learned about knots
Shogun 5-Day
Tip “Big Fish Happen” 2010
A Flying Adventure
to Day at the Docks 2010
5 Days on the
American Angler 
A
Grande Good Time!
14-Day
Trip...Day by Day
A Trip
Goes from Bad to Worse...Then Better!
Squid
Invasion!
3-Day
Fishing Frenzy
Slow
Slow Slow...
The First Job
I vividly remember the first job I got on a party boat. It was the summer
of 1984 when I was hired as a deckhand on the boat "Pescador"
(formerly the long-range boat "Red Rooster") out of Queen's
Wharf Sportfishing in Long Beach. I thought it was odd that a boat which
used to runs trips as long as 16-days was now demoted to the local
half-day grind. But the 85-footer could carry as many as 88 passengers
(we did that more than once) and I guess they were able to make money
running three trips per day. The morning and afternoon runs were enough
for me.
On my first day on the job, I showed up at the boat dark and early to
meet up with the "senior deckhand." I don't think he was even
20 years old. "First thing," he told me, "is stand here
and take a ticket from EVERYONE who comes on board. You have to make sure
they all paid to come on the trip."
"Right, Gotcha, Will Do!" I replied with enthusiasm.
After we had around two dozen eager anglers come on board, we were just
about ready to go. But wait, there's one more guy walking down the dock.
Ah, the last passenger we must be waiting for, I thought to myself.
Just as he was about to step on board, I asked him for his ticket, since
he didn't hand me one and it was my job to take a ticket from EVERYONE
who came on the boat.
"I'M THE SKIPPER OF THIS BOAT, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" is how
Allyn Watson responded to my query.
"Uh, I'm your new deckhand. Sorry, but I thought you were..."
"CLOSE THE GATE, UNTIE THE STERN LINE AND LET'S GET THE HELL OUTTA
HERE. BY THE WAY, HAVE YOU EVER DONE THIS BEFORE? "he said.
"Uh, no, but I'm a quick learner."
(After all, I'd just learned who ran the boat!)
"Look What I
Found at the End of my Line!"
Have you ever heard that saying, "10% of the fishermen catch 90% of
the fish?" Well, that is true much of the time. The ones who take
the time to sharpen their hooks, re-spool with fresh line, tie a good
knot, and pick a lively bait are usually the ones who catch the most fish
day in and day out. But every once in a while, a big, really dumb fish
slips through the cracks and ends up at the end of a novice angler's
line. You know, the guy on vacation from Iowa who has never seen the
ocean. He reels in his line with the clicker on, brings along a jar of
salmon eggs for bait and wears a clean all-white shirt and pants (just
waiting for that first shot of squid ink). I've heard of bluefin tuna
caught on rockcod gangions, I've seen a striped marlin hooked on a rent
rod while at anchor at San Clemente Island (That one lasted about 10
seconds) and I recall one passenger on a half-day trip who brought his
own rod (a Charlie Brown and Snoopy spincast setup) along with a stringer
for his fish... and he caught a limit of sand bass!!!??? I also vividly
remember this guy who thought he was stuck on the bottom. He kept yanking
on his line to free it from the rocks. Since we were over a sandy bottom,
I became suspicious. After he handed me the rod to see if I could break
the line, I felt the thump thump of a pulsating fish tail. I told him,
"There's a fish on here and it feels BIG!" After taking the rod
back, and fighting the "bottom" for another 30 minutes, and two
gaffs later, he ended up with a 36-pound halibut! His question: "So,
is that good?"
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