The
The Capt.'s Archives
Section 1

AHOY MATES!!!

     This is the final report you've all been waiting for!  This report will give you all the figures for the 1998 season. Then, I'm sad to say, this will be the last KOKOMO REPORT for the year. I was hoping to write another fictional story like I did last year, solely for your amusement; but alas, time is short and OPEN DOOR is keeping me quite busy.  We are in the process of opening an office in Florida (the Land of Year 'Round Fishing) and I'll be commuting between the Reading office and the Florida (Orlando) office most of the winter and spring.
     Bear in mind, mates, that I travel with a laptop computer and you can always reach me by e-mail at:  PapaPablo@AOL.COM     Feel free to drop me a line anytime, regardless what state I'm in...even when I'm in the state of Confusion. I don't know if I'll have any time to fish in Florida, but if I do I'll send out a SPECIAL REPORT to help keep you in the fishing mood through the winter.
     Several people showed interest in buying KOKOMO but no one came up with the money.  One or two of them are probably hoping to buy her in the spring after I've paid for winter storage, etc.  Right now, she's simply waiting out the winter on blocks at Chestnut Neck Boat Yard.  I will start advertising her again in February.  My hope is to buy a new boat in April of 1999, but if Kokomo isn't sold I'll simply use her until a buyer comes along; then buy the new boat.  Kokomo is a great boat and she runs great, too.  I don't really mind using her again next year if a buyer doesn't come along.
     Before I get into the actual numbers for the year, let me preface it by saying that I know the figures are not totally accurate.  I am getting these figures from the KOKOMO REPORTS from the whole season and I am missing two or three reports.  I know Neil had a third trip but I only have a record of two. I also know I'm missing some of Armando's numbers.  So, if any of you out there think you caught more fish than these figures show; maybe you did. These figures are the minimum.  I know each person caught at least this many. Also, sometimes we didn't bother writing down fish that were too short. So, if you remember catching a dozen fluke that were only 8 inches long or so, they may not have made it on record.  This way, I figure everyone can read this report and say to themselves, "Oh, I KNOW I caught more than that!"
Then you can make up whatever number you want.  To save embarrassment for those of you who didn't catch many, I'm giving out only the first names.  I'll start with those who caught the least.  The number to the left of their name is the total number of fish they caught this year.

1998 FISHING RECORD

1 Diane D. - 1 sea bass
1 Ryan D. - 1 sea bass
1 Mike D. - 1 fluke
1 Mark K. - 1 bluefish
1 Dan S. - 1 bluefish
2 Nick K. - 1 fluke, 1 dogfish shark
2 Casey - 1 fluke, 1 skate
3 Neil W. - 3 bluefish
3 Christopher D. - 2 sand sharks, 1 sea robin
4 Bob J. - 2 bluefish, 1 sea robin, 1 sea bass
4 Armando M. - 3 fluke, 1 weakfish
5 Francisco - 3 sea bass, 1 sea robin, 1 weakfish
5 Josue H. - 2 fluke, 1 sand shark, 2 croakers
5 Jose M. - 1 fluke, 1 bluefish, 1 weakfish, 2 croakers
8 Danilo - 5 sea robins, 3 croakers
12 Dave D. - 5 fluke, 1 bluefish, 1 skate, 2 sea bass, 3 croakers
16 Lee D. - 8 fluke, 3 weakfish, 5 sea robins
22 Eric S. - 11 fluke, 5 sea robins, 5 skates, 1 sea bass
112 Captain -  44 fluke, 12 blues, 7 weakfish, 16 sand sharks, 3 sea robins, 12 skates, 7 sea bass, 1 brown shark, 1 kingfish, 8 croakers, 1 oyster cracker

TOTAL FISH CAUGHT ABOARD KOKOMO IN 1998:  208

     Let's look at the numbers just a minute.  I think there's good news. That is, we caught a better ratio of good fish to junk fish this year.  More edible fish and less annoying sea robins and skates.  Here's how the numbers break down according to species.  This is combining everyone's fish for the season.

A really nice day with my longtime friend Dan Daily, whose son is trying to
get Dad to buy a powerboat (keep working on him Christopher).

One evening I caught 2 sand sharks back to back that were each 48" long
(near the 139 buoy)

I caught several species for the first time in my life...croaker, brown
shark, and kingfish.

I saw my first dogfish shark of my life.

Not once did the seas get frightening while we were out there...maximum 6
foot swells (with Eric on Columbus Day)

Two hurricanes brushed by; and thanks to God they didn't come close enough
to do damage.

For the first time at our official Tontine bluefish contest, we caught only
bluefish!

I won the trophy at the Tontine!

Kokomo ran aground (soft grounding) on 5/16/98 due to a buoy being in the
wrong place.  The Coast Guard later re-set the buoy.  When the damage was
repaired, Kokomo runs better than ever!

I met some really nice new friends in the next slip.  I enjoy Bob, Terry,
Tommy, and Sarah's company.  We plan the same slips next year.  I'm looking
forward to it.

MOST FISH CAUGHT IN ONE DAY (BEFORE NOON) - 33

FASTEST RATE OF CATCHING FISH:  ONE EVERY 6.06 MINUTES

MOST PEOPLE SEASICK AT ONE TIME:  FOUR!!!

BIGGEST FISH CAUGHT EVER ON KOKOMO:  48" SAND SHARK (2)
 

     I also have to take a minute to point out some personal awards.  To preface it, I should say we make quite a thing about catching bluefish. Not because they're edible (yecch!) but because they're so much fun to fight. Now, bluefish have lots of names depending on their size.  I simplify things a little.  I forget the 'racers' which are the young early spring fingerlings with no meat on them.  And since there's no official designation for the others; I made one up.
     If a bluefish is edible size but less than 20" long I simply call it a 'snapper.'  If it is between 20" and 30" long I call it a 'chopper.'  If  it's over 30" long I call it a 'slammer.'  Biggest I ever caught is 36" but they get bigger.
     Anyway, we kind of sell the idea that you're not really a seasoned, veteran fisherman until you've caught your first "slammer" bluefish.  With this in mind we have to say 'sorry' to those of you whose blues were under 30".  Two guys caught their first bluefish ever, but they were too small to be called slammers.  Sorry Dan S. and Dave D.  Try again next year.  Actually,
there were 7 of us who caught blues this year but five of them only caught snappers and choppers.  To them we say, try again next year also.  I don't count since I've been catching slammers for 20 years.  But we do owe a warm welcome to Neil Wagner for catching his first 'slammer' bluefish ever!!!! Congratulations Neil!

NEIL CATCHES FIRST SLAMMER BLUE IN 1998!!!
 

     Well, I guess it's time to wrap this up.  There's only one more way to measure the success of a boating and fishing season.  It's not the number or the type of fish you caught.  It's how much fun you had.  Did you have fun fishing on Kokomo this year?  I hope you had as much fun as I did.  If we really think about the fun factor...it was a really great year!
     And just a note of special thanks to those of you who help clean the boat after a fishing trip.  This fat, old body with bad legs appreciates it.
     If all goes well in Florida, I'll see you next April when we start all over again.  Keep in touch through the winter.
     Until your feet hit the deck next year....may your joys be as deep as the ocean and your troubles as light as its foam.

AHOY MATES!!!

     Well, I think we've had the last fishing trip of the season I'm sad to say.  When both of my little ceramic heaters don't keep the boat warm enough to sleep on, it's time to quit.
     I had to work on Saturday for our annual foster parent training seminar, so I didn't arrive at the shore until about 6:30 Saturday evening.  I went straight to Scott's Bait & Tackle (a good place to buy a gift certificate for Christmas for any of your fishing friends...hint, hint) to get some bait.
More importantly, Scott shares information with his customers about the best fishing spots.  Since I live in Pennsylvania and don't hear the local gossip about where they're biting this week; checking with Scott is a must each weekend.  He is probably responsible for 90% of the fish we catch; but
don't tell him....if he knew the percentage was that high he might start charging a fish fee for the information.  You know, I'll tell you where the fish are Paul, if you agree to bring back two keeper fluke for me!  Besides the info, he's a heck of a nice guy and I enjoy shopping there.  I don't know his wife as well, but I wish I knew half as much about computers as she does. (Thanks, Paul :) MizMo)
     Anyway, I knew things have been a little slow in the river and bays, and I'm not a real striper fisherman (in fact, I've never caught one).  I had a man coming down with his three sons and a friend and I wanted the kids to catch fish.  So, I asked Scott.  He told me to go outside the inlet and
head south toward Wreck Inlet and look for sea gulls feeding on the minnows in the ocean.  I knew what he was getting at; there would be bluefish underneath, feeding on the same minnows.  I bought some mackeral for bait and went back to the boat.
     Well, forgive my lack of faith, Scott.  I sat there in the boat all evening watching a video (Murder at 1600...Wesley Snipes...I give it 3 1/2 stars) and kept thinking to myself....how does Scott know there will be birds feeding in that area tomorrow?  I mean, just because they were there yesterday doesn't mean they'll be there tomorrow!  Birds do fly around; they don't just sit in one spot for a week.  Besides that, the minnows move around....and bluefish can swim!  If any one of these three mobile animals decide to leave the area, tomorrow will be a bust!  You know me, the last thing I want to do is disappoint a child.
     So I thought I'd hedge my bet.  I decided to buy some minnows so we could bottom fish if there were no birds or blues around.  Naturally, not wanting to let Scott know about my unbelief, I went to Clarke's Marine Supply on Sunday morning to buy the minnows.  They were out of them!  They don't carry them at this time of the season!!!!  Horrors!  I have to go back to Scott's and
gravel for some minnows just in case...which I did.
     That created the next problem.  I bought the last pint of minnows they had.  While I was there, with the bag of minnows still in my hand, a boy about 14 came in and asked for minnows.  My heart wrenched.  How could I walk out with these minnows in my hand knowing this boy would have no minnows to fish with?  I quickly weighed in my mind whether I should give him the minnows I
just bought, or save them for the four boys coming to Kokomo in about an hour. I picked up the bag of minnows to hand to the boy just as Scott asked one of his workers to go out and check the traps to gather more minnows for the boy. Whew!  That was close!  I walked out of the store with full confidence that Scott's traps would be loaded with minnows for the boy to buy.  My faith is
getting stronger.
      My friends arrived before noon.  Noon isn't the best time to set out on a fishing trip.  I prefer 6:00 a.m....but noon was better for their schedule and I never turn down a chance to fish at any time of the day. I had already prepared the boat and rigged all the rods with new bluefish hooks...faith still growing.  Mark and his sons Mark Jr., Nick, and T.J. got aboard with their friend Casey.
     It was a beautiful crisp, clear day as we set out down the Bass River. It took the boys a little time to learn what sea legs are and it was kind of novel, in an evil sort of way, to watch them try to stand up as the boat rocked or started and stopped.  When we reached Great Bay I let 12 year old
Nick drive a couple of miles across the bay.  He did well.  I, of course, make sure there aren't any other boats in the area, then I go down into the cabin just to see the look on the others' faces when they all yell out, "Who's driving!"
     I took the helm again before we reached the 139 buoy and snaked Kokomo through Grassy Channel.  We only passed two boats on the way out that afternoon.  I thought that was odd.  Then I found them.  There were about, give or take a few, six million boats in the inlet looking for stripers.
Other than the slight pathway they left around the mid-channel markers, you could easily walk from Long Beach Island to Little Beach by going from boat to boat without getting your feet wet!  Like I said, I'm not a striper fisherman and I don't understand the thrill.  Being that packed together to maybe (and I mean just maybe) catch one striper is a little like being stuck in a traffic jam and fighting over a roadkill.
     We weaved our way through the traffic and followed the mid-channels out to the "B" buoy where I turned the helm toward the south and headed to Wreck Inlet like Scott had advised.  I told the two boys on the flybridge to help me look for birds feeding.  They pointed out a few here and one or two over there; not exactly a feeding frenzy.
     What happened next was incredible.  One of the boys yelled and pointed to some gulls feeding.  But I didn't believe what I saw.  Now, I've fished in flocks of feeding gulls before; maybe a thousand of them one time last year in the inlet.  But in the past I've always seen them feeding in the same
general area maybe covering a hundred yards square.  But these gulls...at least 10,000 of them were all competing to feed in an area maybe 50 feet square!  The minnow school must have been small because all the birds couldn't feed from the school at the same time, so many of them wait in line above until it was their turn to dive.
     It literally looked like a tornado made of birds had touched down on the surface of the ocean!  Add to that the fact that the minnows were jumping out of the water to escape the blues and the fact that the blues jumped out of the water to catch the minnows, and the surface of the ocean was so turbulent at the bottom of the bird tornado...it really looked like a twister touched down.
     Even truer to the twister appearance, the minnows shortly regrouped and dashed to another place, maybe a hundred yards away, and the whole frenzy started again...making it look like the twister was bouncing off the water and touching down at other unpredictable places.  We watched that happen maybe ten or twelve times over the course of the next hour.  It was so remarkable to
watch that I almost didn't feel like fishing!
     I hurried, before too many other boats got close, to get as close to the school as I could and quickly threw in the lines with mackeral.  But the school moved so fast to chase the minnows that I no sooner killed the engines and the tornado touched down somewhere else, maybe 200 yards away.  We pulled up the lines and ran down the next touch down.
     After doing that 4 or 5 times I gave up.  I simply couldn't move Kokomo as fast as minnows, blues, and birds could move.  I was more concerned with making sure the boys caught some fish....any fish.  I thought we'd better switch to bottom fishing before we ran out of time.
     Only Mark Jr. hadn't switched to a bottom rig when he hooked the first fish...a straggler from the school, and brought in a 25" bluefish!  Good, I thought, the boys are beginning to catch fish.
     I pulled in a humongous (is that really a word?) sea robin next.  Then Nick brought up an absolutely beautiful 17" fluke!  I thought the fluke were pretty much out of the area and was glad to see what Nick caught.  I forget the order of the rest of the fish, but I eventually picked up two snapper blues about 18" and Casey brought in a 20" fluke, and Nick added a 30" dogfish shark.  So the box scores look like this:
  Mark Jr. - 25" bluefish
  Nick - 17" fluke, 30" dogfish shark
  Casey - 20" fluke, small skate
  Captain - 1 sea robin, 2 snappers

     Mark (the Dad) didn't fish but seemed to have a good time watching his boys and helping out.  The youngest, T.J., isn't crazy about fishing but chose to watch a video in the cabin.  He seemed to enjoy it when I let him take a turn at the helm and he did it well.  He was also our chief bird spotter
and was quick to let us know where they touched down next.
     We quit about 4:45 p.m. and headed back because the boys have to get up for school tomorrow.  It was a quiet ride back to the marina after we passed the six million striper fisherman again.  Nick rode up on the flybridge with me, as T.J. sat in the other flybridge seat half asleep.  Dad, Mark Jr. and Casey relaxed in the cabin for the almost hour ride back.
     Me?  I enjoyed the quiet ride back.  It's so nice in the fall when there's not many boats clogging the route back.  But that one question kept nagging me.
     The Atlantic Ocean is about 4,000 miles wide and 12,000 miles long. How does Scott know precisely where the birds are going to eat today?  I mean the first touch down was exactly halfway between Little Egg Inlet and Wreck Inlet...exactly where he'd said they'd be!!!  How does he know that?  Is there like a captain of the sea gulls who reports to Scott each morning?  Or do all
10,000 of them land behind his shop and plan the day as a group?  Maybe Scott was Jonathan Livingston Seagull in another life?  Maybe Mizmo developed a computer program that predicts their future eating habits...or maybe even put a tracking device on a few of them that relay information right back to her monitor.  I haven't figured out how he does it yet; and I think its one of
those things you're better off just believing without trying to figure out how it works.
     The only problem is that this is the first time the boys had done this kind of fishing.  They don't know what an extraordinary sight it was!  I can picture young Nick some twenty years from now taking his own son out in the ocean to fish for the first time.  His son looks up with those trusting
eyes and asks, "Dad, the ocean's so big, how do you know where to fish?"  And Nick
answers without hesitation, "It's easy, son; you just look for the bird tornadoes!"
     The only thing I know for sure is that four young, landlubber, city boys had a day they'll never forget.  Thanks the help, Scott.  (And tell the captain of the sea gulls I said thanks).
     It was such a great day it almost made it bearable to get back to Bass River Marina and find out there was no water!  I couldn't clean the boat...and I couldn't even shower the next morning.  Turns out they're having trouble with a circuit breaker on their pump.  Looks like I'll be cleaning a lot
next weekend before taking Kokomo to Chestnut Neck Boat Yard for the winter.
     I'm going to Florida on Monday to work on opening our foster care office in Orlando.  When I get back, I'll send out the last Kokomo Report of the season with all the totals and awards for the whole season.
    Until your feet hit the deck next spring....may your joys be as deep as
the ocean and you troubles as light as its foam.

     I know its not quite fishing season back home; but I kind of miss it, and
I miss writing the KOKOMO REPORTS, so I took a day to go fishing!
     As you may know, I've been spending a lot of time in Florida lately to
open a new office for our foster child agency; I know, its tough, but somebody has to do it.  So the weather has been a balmy 77 degrees most days and I decided to take advantage of it.  Besides, I had
worked twelve days straight and needed the break.
     My Administrative Specialist and good friend Eric is with me for this
trip, and fishing is always better when you do it with a friend.
     But how?  That was the big question.  KOKOMO is still up on blocks at
Chestnut Neck Boat Yard in New Jersey.  Since I'll probably be here a lot in the foreseeable future; maybe I should buy a boat down here so I can fish whenever I want.  But then I'd have to buy all the charts and learn the good fishing spots and even how to catch the kinds of fish they have here.  They're certainly different from what I'm used to.  Maybe I should rent a small boat for just the two of us.  Or maybe I should charter a boat with captain for the two of us.  It's expensive, but you usually have a
good trip.
     I finally decided to simply go out on a party boat.  It's about fifteen
years since I've been on a party boat; its not my favorite way to fish, but
why not?  I hardly even remember what its like to fish on a party boat, its
been so long.  I'm staying in Orlando and took a ride a few weeks ago to get brochures from party boats in Port Canaveral, about 45 minutes to the  east.  I read over the brochures and picked one called the
OCEAN OBSESSION II.
     I called the office to make a reservation on Thursday and the woman told me they canceled Thursday's trip due to seven-foot swells in the ocean.  She was quick to add that they caught a lot of blackfin tuna on Wednesday, as a selling point.  As for Friday, the day we wanted to
go, she just didn't know. The captain was watching the weather closely and they hoped the ocean would lay down soon, but there was no way of knowing for sure.  One thing nagged at me.  If they have seven foot swells today, the ocean will be churned up and the fishing won't be that good tomorrow.  But then again, when will I have time to try it again?  Let's go for it!
     I woke up at 5:15 a.m. (haven't done that in months) and called the
marina right away, hoping to find out if the ocean laid down or if the trip
was canceled.  I got their recording but no information about the trip.  We
decided to drive the 45 minutes to Port Canaveral and find out for sure.
     We left my apartment in Orlando about 6:30 a.m. while it was still dark.
We headed east on the Beeline Expressway and started to see the sun rise by the time we reached the Econlockhatchee River.  It was easy sailing with the 70 m.p.h. speed limit and very little traffic.  We crossed the Indian River causeway and then the Banana River before making a
left into the port area. There were a few large cruise ships at dock like the
Disney cruise ship with Mickey painted on the stacks; and the cruise ship
called the Big Red Boat which is basically a big red boat!
     The Ocean Obsession II was dwarfed by the cruise ships.  Our boat was a mere 65-feet long, designed to be a party boat.  It was very clean, with a nice cabin with tables and padded benches, complete with a cook and free drinks.  It held a total of 60 fishermen with about 50 on board last Friday. I was hoping for a smaller crowd and a little more
elbow room, but oh well.
     Eric and I paid our $60 each (including breakfast and lunch and rod
rental) and got on board.  We stood on the starboard side and looked out over a marina full of pilings, with a lazy pelican resting atop each one.
Occasionally, a pelican would spread his (her?) wings to take in some of the morning warmth from the sun.
     I was a little nervous when I heard a guy down in the engine room call
down some of the mates.  He was unhappy about something in the engine room but I never found out what.  It was a twin diesel boat that had a lot of pep even with 50 men on board.  I only know that they had the
starboard engine running for a good 20 minutes before they got the port side engine to start; and when it did it spewed out a fair amount of smoke for a minute or so.
      We left only about ten minutes behind schedule and it felt good to be
moving on the water again!  My gosh I miss KOKOMO in the winter.  But there were signs all over that this wasn't KOKOMO and it certainly wasn't New Jersey.  First of all, there's no booze aboard KOKOMO, and there's no CAUTION: MANATEE ZONE signs in New Jersey; at least none that
I've ever seen.
     We were in the ocean in ten minutes flat, but it took another 75 minutes
or so to reach our first fishing spot; the spot where they caught the blackfin tuna on Wednesday.
     We dropped in our lines and I was the first man to pull up a fish, in
only about 30 seconds!  Unfortunately, it wasn't a tuna, in fact, it wasn't
even edible.  Let's pause here for a minute.
    I don't have to tell you fishermen that we have strange names for fish.
I mean, I understand why we don't go around calling fish by their latin genre names like TUNNUS DI FISHUS or FISHUS GOODUS TO
EATUS; but you'd think we could at least agree on calling a fish by the same name worldwide.  For example, one fish is called a dolphin fish in
Florida, and the same fish is called a mahi-mahi in Hawaii, and the same fish is called a dorado in Mexico and Central America.  We even do the same thing locally.  Is it a weakfish or a sea trout?  Is it summer flounder or fluke?  It sure confuses things.
     Anyway, the first fish of the day that I brought up was called a 'lizard
fish' by the mates.  I had never seen one before. It was about 15 inches
long, light green in color, very small almost unnoticeable fins, and a
triangle shaped mouth.  Remember in the old days when you would open your beer can or soda can with that metal can opener we used
to call a 'church key?' Well, this fish's mouth looked like it would make
the same size and shape triangle hole if he decided to take a bite out of
something.  I didn't let him have the chance and threw him overboard.
     The other unfortunate thing about catching the lizard fish is that it was
the last fish I caught all day!!!  Blamed it on the churned up waters; no one
caught much.  In fact, all 50 men combined caught a total of only ten keepers and about ten throwbacks.  That's only a total of 20 fish all day for 50 men. Not a good day at all!
     The other fish caught weren't that exciting except I had never seen any
of them in New Jersey.  There were blackfin tuna which looked basically like a yellowfin except the fins were black!  Hey, there's a fish's name that makes sense!  Then there were some groupers which is a popular fish on menus down here.  I don't know how they get their name.  Maybe you can't catch them when you fish alone; only when you're in a group.  Or
maybe they swim in groups, being too dumb to travel in schools.  I don't know.
     One guy caught two small red fish about a foot long each and the mate
called them "beeliners."  I don't know why, and the mate didn't either; but
we're sure it doesn't have anything to do with the Beeline Expressway.  They weren't edible and were released.
     The guy that won the pool caught a huge, 25-pound red snapper!  It was
beautiful in color and size.  There were also some smaller red snappers caught that looked like they would fit better on a dinner plate.
     I saw another fish that was a mystery but there was no mate around at the time and the guy that caught it didn't know what it was either.  I can only describe it as being the size and almost as ugly as an oyster cracker except it had a lot of spine-like fins.
     One guy caught a 3-foot nursing shark which they put back after cutting
the line and letting him keep the hook as a souvenir.  And one 'trigger fish'
was brought aboard.  I don't know if they're edible or not, but the guy kept
it.
    So the box scores for the day look like:  4 blackfin tuna, 4 groupers, 1
huge red snapper, and 1 trigger fish.  They were the keepers.  The ones that went back included three small red snappers (20" minimum size to keep them), 3 small groupers, the nursing shark, 2 bonito, and
another lizard fish.
     A pretty stinky day for fishing, but a gorgeous day to be out on the
water!  The woman at the booth selling the tickets when we arrived said,
"We've got 3-13's out there now but its going to get rough later."  She was
wrong, they were more like 2-8's and it never did get rougher.  For those of
you who don't fish, the first number is the height of the swells and the
second number is the period (number of seconds from the peak of one wave to the peak of the next).  So, a 3-13 tells you the waves are 3 feet high and they're coming 13 seconds apart.  Generally, an 'average' swell should be 1.75 times the height.  So for example, a 4-7 is
'average' whatever 'average' means; because 4 (feet high) times 1.75 = 7 (seconds in between).  No charge for the math lesson.
     I guess the best thing that came out of the day was that, after fifteen
years, I remembered why I started buying my own boats.  I don't like fishing on party boats!  The line tangles were a mess, especially when someone hooked a tuna.  And we tripped over extra gear the regular
customers brought; as if they were going out on a two-month swordfish trip. One guy (a really annoying guy) actually brought his own homemade livewell and live bait, complete with a car battery to power the circulating pump.  And there were the guys who had too many beers and stumbled into me blaming it on a wave saying, "Wow, that was a big one!  Believe me, it wasn't any more than 2-feet high just like all there others.  The only thing higher than two feet was the guy with the twelfth beer in his hand.  And, of course, the fun thing about fishing with obsessive beer drinking strangers is that one (or more) of them always treats us to a
show of what he had for breakfast and blames it on seasickness.  On Friday it was a man about 110 years old who barfed over the starboard side right after lunch.
     Yeah, it's all coming back to me now.  I remember fishing on party boats
in the old days.  I like owning my own boat.  KOKOMO may be 21 years old and imperfect, but she's mine.
     So if you own a boat, stop whining about the payments, the gas expense, the insurance, and the slip rent.  Just enjoy her! There's no better way to go!  The next time I get down to Chestnut Neck, I'm
going to walk up to that 31-foot hunk of fiberglas and give her a big hug on
the bow.
     I have to spend a lot of time in Florida yet; but I'm going to do my best
to be home on weekends for boating season come late April.  I'll start sending the KOKOMO REPORTS every week about the first of May
for those who want them. Let me know if you want to be on my e-mailing list.
     Until your feet hit the deck next time, pray for calm seas and gentle
breezes.

CAPTAIN PAUL

     I know what you're thinking.  "Is it boating season already?  It was 38
degrees last Monday!"
     Yes.  It's boating season.  In fact, its boating season all year round
if you've got the grit, time, and money for stuff like bubblers, indoor
storage, and battery-operated heated long johns.  Or better yet, spend the
winter in a warmer climate where boating is a year round thing.  That too, of
course, takes money and time...but a little less grit.
     I had the good fortune to do just that this winter.  Unfortunately, I
didn't have as much time to fish as I had hoped, but you can read about the
one time in February that I was able to get out on a charter boat from Port
Canaveral, Florida by looking for the KOKOMO REPORT dated 2/21/99 on the
website for Scott's Bait &Tackle at http://www.scottsbt.com .   Hopefully, I
can get a sportfishing trip from Key West in this fall.
     Speaking of sportfishing trips, a colleague of mine was telling me about
his recent trip to Costa Rico.  Sounds like a great place to go if you like
big game.  He got caught out in a storm and the captain had to keep them out
a few extra hours because the swells were too big to approach land.  Tough
luck, huh?  He and his two sons hooked 21 sailfish along with a variety of
smaller fish like Dorado (Spanish name for dolphin fish), barracuda, pez cafe
(Spanish for "brown fish" and is sleek like a barracuda, only brown), and the
like.
     Well, I've been following Scott's (and Mizmo's) reports on the 'Net and
not too long ago there was nary a sign of the mackeral, so I arranged with my
winter marina for a launch date of 4/30/99.  That gave me about two weekends
to get KOKOMO ready.  Then, almost all of a sudden, the mackeral started
popping up in Cape May, and now are all the way up to the Little Egg
Inlet...which makes me feel like I'm launching the boat a week or two late.
     As you know, the blues follow that school of mackeral north and wind up
in the bays not long after the mackeral appear.  Quite literally, the first
blue could be caught any day now in Great Bay.  I just have to hope they hang
around long enough till I can pull of my first fishing trip on Mother's Day
weekend.  It's a lot easier to find them in the bay (and a lot less gas,
too!).
     I usually make one trip down to Chestnut Neck Boat Yard during the
winter just to check on KOKOMO.  But this year I didn't have time for even
one trip.  I spent most of the winter in Florida getting a brand new foster
child agency off the ground.  I'm pleased to report that OPEN DOOR SOCIAL
SERVICES OF FLORIDA is now operating from our new office in Orlando.  It was
a tough winter (never saw a single flake of snow!) but someone had to do it.
The plan is to open the next one in Puerto Rico in the fall; then back to
Florida for two more; possibly in the Keys and St. Petersburg.
     So, not having seen Kokomo since November 2 of last year, I wasn't sure
what to expect.  What kind of shape would she be in?  How much cleaning or
repairs will I have to do?  Are two weekends going to be enough time?
     I hate the long drive (3 hours) to the boat, especially the part through
Philly.  Today was no different than any other trip to the shore.  The
traffic on the Schuykill Expressway was slow.  No reason mind you, just slow.
 No accident, no construction.  I think the people who live in Philly just
drive slowly on the Schuylkill as kind of like a time-honored tradition.  If
you wind down your window, you can generally hear a nervous wife yell at her
husband something like, "Hold it Ralph, we're on the Schuykill....SLOW DOWN!"
 Or maybe its just the city's way of getting even with suburbanites who are
too smart to live there.  I don't know.  There just wasn't any reason today.
Sometimes when the traffic slows down in the country its because someone got
out of their pick-up truck to grab a roadkill for dinner, but what kind of
roadkills do they have in the city?  Two-foot rats?  Come on people, if
you're going to slow down on the Schuykill you can at least have a reason!
Even rubbernecking is better than nothing!
     Finally I got the City of Slow Expressways behind me and crossed the Ben
Franklin bridge into the Garden State.  No offense Garden State, but Camden
isn't exactly a flowering bed of roses; but at least the traffic moves!
Every mile after that gets easier.  I look for the sand alongside the road
which becomes more and more apparent the closer I get to the shore.
Incidentally, did you know New Jersey was deposited there by the Ice Age and
wasn't likely an original part of the U.S.?  We're glad its there now,
though; otherwise all of our boats would be parked out at sea about 60 miles
off the coast of Philadelphia!
     Finally, the coveted turn from route 72 onto route 563!  Now I feel like
I'm at the shore!  Scrub pines a plenty...and the cranberry bogs are full!
     The first order of business was to pay Bass River the balance of my 1999
slip rent of $1,790 (not to mention the $250 deposit last November).  Wow!
That takes a bite out of a week's pay!
     I really felt like I was getting a late start when I saw all the hustle
and bustle at Bass River.  My gosh, there was work being done all over the
place.  Sanding here, painting there, waxing everywhere!  And I would venture
to say that some of it was being done by the actual boat owner!
     I paid my money and got out of there as fast as I could; before anyone
could see the tears it brought to my eyes to part with that kind of dough.  I
made a quick trip up to Sheltered Cove Marina to say hello to my friend Frank
who was working on his charter boat, the Trailbuster.  He always catches more
fish than me and seems to know right where they are.  I figure if I hang out
at his boat once in a while he'll let something slip that'll give me a
clue...but he never does.
     From there I drove down route 9 and over the Mullica River bridge (I
always enjoy that view) to Chestnut Neck.  When I rounded the exit ramp I
couldn't be sure which boat was Kokomo since many of them still have the
shrink-wrapping on.  I went straight to the office and was greeted by the
ever-lovely Marianne and Violet.  They arranged to have the shrink wrapping
removed from the boat so I could get started.
     I really wanted mostly to assess what needs to be done.  I plan on
spending the weekend there next weekend.  And as I pulled up behind her I was
reminded of an old feeling.  Remember when you were dating and the girl
always looked so nice every time you went out?  Then one day, on the spur of
the moment, you decided to stop by her house unexpectedly.  There she was,
the same girl, but wearing old clothes to work around the house, no make-up,
her hair isn't done, and her socks don't match.  Maybe she has a smudge of
dirt on her left cheek that she was unaware of; and she's embarrassed that
you just popped in.  That's when you decide if you're really in love.  You
either see through all of that and still hear the music; or you turn and run
and go screaming into the night and are found days later sitting on your bed
holding your favorite blanket and mumbling incoherently, something about life
being unfair.
     That's the feeling I got when I pulled in front of Kokomo after a
five-month absence.  She's disheveled, dirty, and needs a shine....but she's
still my baby!
     I started by loosening the railing on the flybridge.  I filled in some
screw holes with fiberglas putty which I'll drill next week after the putty
hardens.  I'm the worst person with fiberglas putty.  I get more on me than
the boat; but at least I can rob a bank now because all my fingerprints are
filled in!
     After that I used some stainless steel cleaner on the railings and helm,
and decided to take the helm seat home to rebuild it.  Underneath all that
foam rubber is a piece of marine plywood, which I found out cracks if you
lean too far back in the seat while watching your friends fish (especially if
you weigh in at 243 pounds).  I installed the bimini and flybridge cover and
did a few odds and ends inside.
     I checked out the hull and was pleased to find there's not one single
barnacle on her belly.  That's one of the advantages of being at Bass River
where the water is pretty low in salt.  It only needs some scraping and
bottom paint, and new zincs of course.  Also, I decided she needed a good
shine but I don't have the time to do it myself.  Marianne graciously offered
to get some estimates for me so she'll have a shine like never before.
     I quit working about 6:00 p.m. and took a leisurely stroll down to the
water where Chestnut Neck is having some new pilings and docks put in and
just enjoyed the view for a few minutes.  I'm as anxious as you are to get
out there again.  It's not good enough to simply enjoy the view.  I want to
hear the rev of the engines and feel both throttles in my hand!  I want to
look back and find that one of the lines has popped out of the outrigger!  I
want to renew my summertime friendships.  I want to see the smiles on the
faces of my friends when they hook a big one (or a small one on a slow day).
I want to catch the first fish of the day and have my friends think I know
some secret that they don't know.  I want to sleep on board during a windy
night when Mother Nature rocks me to sleep.  I want to sneak down to the boat
on Thursday night and let my secretary e-mail some work to me on Friday
morning (which I'll ignore till Monday).  I want to stick my hand into a
fresh bucket of minnows.  I want to get up at 5:00 in the morning and pay
lots of money for gas....well, let's not go too far.  But I'm ready!
     I'll remind you of a few things that I always do with the first issue of
the KOKOMO REPORT.  First, I hate getting junk e-mail; so there's no hard
feelings if you send me a message to request your name be removed from my
e-mail list!  Also, I'd be glad to add anyone's name to the list if you have
a friend who likes fishing. Secondly, I hate bugging my friends to go fishing
with me every week.  Nobody needs a pesty friend who bugs you to go fishing
when you'd rather stay home and mow the lawn, paint the garage, or practice
saying, "Yes, dear...yes, dear" as you clean the house.  So if you want to go
fishing this season, YOU have to contact me to arrange a date!  That way I
won't feel like I'm imposing on you.  The best way is to e-mail me.
     Generally, I fish every Saturday starting May 8th except for the first
Saturday in June when I'll be in Cancun.  For those of you who don't like to
fish (booo...hiss!) I sometimes do little cruises on Sunday mornings.
     I know these reports are a lot more fun to read after the fishing has
started, but I wanted you to know we're close.  So, get excited...and start
thinking of all the excuses you'll need for the little woman so she'll let
you come!  (They always know something is up when you mow the lawn on
Thursday night!)
     So, until your feet hit the deck next time...pray for calm seas.

Captain

Finally.... the moment we've all been waiting for! Old Man Winter has laid down to rest and spring moves in with abandon. For a boater or fisherman that means a few weekends of work on the boat to get her ready... and then... spring launch!!!
For those of you who read these reports who don't own boats, it must be difficult to understand the significance of spring launch. Don't make the mistake of thinking its simply putting a boat in the water. Its so much more. It's a re-birth of a fisherman's spirit! It's a rejuvenation of a body of bones that has grown tired with the complacency of winter. Its the unabashed indulgence of a deeply rooted passion...no...obssession.
An interesting lesson. A man on my staff was telling me today about the birth of his two children. For the first one, he was really excited about the notion of becoming a father for the first time. You can imagine all the enthusiasm. He went to birthing classes with his wife, read all the books and pamphlets he could find. Even read a book called What to Expect When You're Expecting and called it the Bible. He said his wife practiced breathing at home. Being childless, I didn't know anyone had to practice breathing. He practiced "coaching" methods...I guess that means he stood there with a catcher's mitt, punching his fist in the pouch and repeating, "Put in here, baby." But that was the first child.
His second child was nothing new. He had gone through it once before. So the enthusiasm wasn't the same. He didn't coach; he waited outside the room. Now, he's thinking about his third child and figures he'll just work that day and stop by the hospital when he's done at the office at 5:00 p.m. Who knows? By the time his fourth child comes along he'll probably just send his wife a postcard.
But spring launch is different. After suffering the grief last fall of putting the boat to rest, we nurture the embryo of next spring's launch for an interminable six months. Sorry ladies, we couldn't last for nine! Then early March always surprises us with just a teaser of two or three warm days and we suddenly lurch into birthing position, just to realize its only false labor pains. Finally, after April seems like the longest month in the year, our due date arrives!
So spring launch is more like giving birth to your firstborn every single spring! Well, I guess that's a happier thought for men than it is for women. But the genders do share that same emotion after birth. Climbing into the helm seat for the first time at spring launch is very similar to the feeling a mother has when she holds that tiny, smelly, pink, newborn in her arms for the first time and offers a sigh of relief that the ordeal is finally over.
Kokomo was reborn...I mean launched, two weekends ago, so last Saturday was my first chance to do some actual fishing. I was alone for the weekend and anxious to renew my old skills that had laid dormant all winter. Yes, I had put on a few pounds over the winter (does 22 count as 'few'?), and my medical problem with my legs is getting gradually worse, but I had more than enough enthusiasm to make up for any shortcomings.
I bought my bait on Friday night at Scott's Bait & Tackle. I figured two mackerel would bring in enough blues to give me one heck of a good time for one day. Besides, I have a tackle box full of lures and spoons and hairy things in case I run out of mackerel.
I woke up at 6:00 a.m. I had pictured this to be a perfect day. I mean, I had imagined all winter that the first trip would be absolutely magnificent. But when I went outside the cabin for the first time in the morning there was this heavy layer of fog. Not the kind of mist that sometimes rises off the cool water. This was weather related heavy duty outright fog!
I made a quick run up to Wawa for ice and something to eat and was disappointed the whole way to Tuckerton. The thought kept going through my mind...will it be safe to go out on the bay in a fog like this? Use your head, Paul...don't let your enthusiasm override common sense.
When I finished in Wawa I took a ride down Green Street to the end. There's a county park there right at the bay. I got out of the car for a minute to look out over the bay and assess the fog situation better. After all, I rationalized, I can't make a good decision based on 'road fog' when maybe the 'bay fog' wasn't as bad!
It was just as bad. I couldn't see more than a hundred feet out into the bay. There were no silhouettes of other boats out there. Common sense began creeping in. I stood there staring out over the water and my heart began to sink...oh no....another false labor pain! I really shouldn't go out. Not one other boat was in view; I wouldn't be able to see anything out there!
And then, like a dove descending from Heaven, I heard the distinct sound of a boat motor coming closer! Or was it like only a mirage, except in my ears instead of my eyes? No! It was a boat!! Hooray!! There's someone else out there who doesn't have any more common sense than I do!
Then gradually he came into view. It was one of those crab guys who goes around every morning checking his crab pots. Well, heck, that didn't quite count as a vote of confidence. I mean, those guys do this every day. They could drive their boats from float to float in their sleep; fog is nothing to them. They live here. I live in central Pennsylvania; we don't even have a bay!
At that point I decided to head back to the marina and hope the fog miraculously lifts in the next five minutes. Well, it could happen! But it didn't. I decided to drive Kokomo slowly down the Bass River and take a peek into the Mullica. If it was bad I could always turn back.
To make a long story short, it wasn't that bad. I used my radar most of the day to be sure, and wrote down some key compass readings, and just took my time. The fog came and went well into the afternoon, but it was bearable.
I drifted off of Pebble Beach first. No luck; not even a nibble. I listened to channel 9 on the radio and no one seemed to be doing great in the morning except one guy in Grassy Channel who caught 6 blues. I still had most of the day ahead of me and kept wondering what kind of fish would be the first one brought aboard Kokomo this season. Hopefully, a nice 33 inch bluefish.
I moved to the 139 buoy and had no luck there either. Maybe I was doing something wrong. I mean, it had been three hours now; certainly I should have caught something by now. Maybe I forgot something over the winter. Maybe my skills melted away with the snow. Maybe I'm overlooking something really basic. No, I double-checked. There was bait on each hook.
I heard my friend Frank on the radio talking to a friend of his. Frank is a charter boat captain who was out on his first trip of the season, too. From what I gathered, he was trolling in the inlet and catching a few blues here and there but not really killing them. Why not, I thought. Catching a few is better than nothing. And the fog situation was getting better.
So I headed out to the inlet. Have you ever trolled a 31 foot boat alone? It's not easy. I put the outriggers down and had to run back to the bridge before the lines went under the boat. I was dragging a green tube with a strip of mackerel on one line, and spoon with a strip of mackerel on the other.
I drove circle around the inlet for an hour and a half without a hit. I spoke to Frank on the radio and he would tell me when he was hitting them, but when I got to that same spot a few minutes later they were gone. Then Frank would hit them again. No surprise. I always figured professional charter boat captains have some kind of fish intuition. They always seem to do better than us amateurs. They must have some kind of deal with the fish.
I eventually got frustrated and put the outriggers back up and went back into Grassy Channel. There was a bunch (herd? group? flock?) of small boats at the east end of Grassy Channel and I didn't want to get too close to them. Kokomo catches a lot of breeze broadside and tends to drift faster than a small boat so it messes up everyone. Its better when the whole fleet (fleet isn't right) drifts at the same speed.
Finally, after five hours, a rod began that happy dance! A fish! I knew from the rod action that it wasn't a bluefish. I was hoping it wasn't a fluke because it would break my heart to throw it back in. And it didn't take long to pull up a sea robin. Not exactly what I had hoped for as my first fish of the season...but after five hours, I was glad to see it.
I no sooner through the sea robin back in the water (at 1:30) when the fog rolled back in along with some ominous looking clouds. The 139 buoy had been in view, but now I couldn't see any buoy, or any boats for that matter. Back to the radar!
I decided to work my way back toward the marina little by little. A prospective buyer for Kokomo was supposed to meet me at the dock at 5:00 and I wanted to get back early to clean her up a little. (They never showed up!)
So I headed back to Great bay and did a little drifting on the other side of 139 with no luck. Then I headed to the mouth of the Mullica River and the fog lifted once again. It got a little breezy and I had a good drift going up the river.
On my first drift up, being disappointed at catching so little, I finally got another hit!
You know how a bluefish almost always tries to run with the bait? They usually try to go in the opposite direction from you but can't because of the tension on your line; so they end up going to your left and right, back and forth trying to break free and run. Well, this little fellow (guessing 20 inches) must not have read the bluefish manual for fighting fishermen. As soon as he took the bait he jumped out of the water and was heading straight at me! I was frantic to take up the slack in the line so he couldn't spit the hook...but I can't wind the crank as fast as he can jump...and he did it a second time! Finally, when he was only about ten feet from the boat he started going left and right and I got him right next to the port side. I reached for the net with my right hand and he spit the hook and disappeared! Darn! I meant to sharpen those points on my hooks!
I s