What are the ODDS??

[BassDawg]

here is the edited version,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
it's blowin' pretty HARD out there, anyways.

last Sat nite during the HABS, i get tossed into the drink by a RoughPt rogue. not too bad, as i am back on my perch within minutes, only banged my left backside, and had to let go of my rod&reel to swim/climb to safety. i gather my faculties, catch my breath and decide that this place had had enough of me,,,,,,,,,,,,so i'll just grab my GEAR???

YEP, my fully loaded plug bag AND my surfcasting backpack had decide to join me for a swim!! must've been the rogue's evil twin that sent the rest of my stuff to the sea. that and my sheer stupidity for leaving it so close to the surf,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the AYC i'm okay with being gone at this point, since replacing plugs is easy enough to do and good for the economy. in the backpack though, holds my 3rd digital camera in 2yrs and my second one in 6mths. accompanied by my scale, filet knife, leader material/wallet, 2 ProPLANO boxes loaded with plastique, and a miscellany of insulatory items,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

after 90 mins of not finding anything and sending prayers of thanks for Life and hope for Recovery of anything, i resign myself to resume my search at an hour past dawn or Low Sun am. sooooo i walk to my truck where i know dry clothes and back-up tackle is located, only to have it hit me like a ton of BRICKS that my car keys are IN THE BACKPACK!!! a 2.5 mile, soaked inside, throbbing backside walk later and i'm getting out of my wet underclothes. i would've stayed dry had i closed the neck cuff to my drytop prior to getting dropped in.

it is the next morning and i go back to the "rocks of the crime". and THERE it is!!! my PrecisionPak plugbag is positioned quite nicely at the end of the mini-chasm that i'd fallen into, just beneath the High tide line as if it were placed there by God Himself~~~EVERYTHING is in its place, no missing plugs, and only acoupla new small rips to the outter skin!! i am thanking and praising Him out loud at this wonderful discovery ~~as it is amazing to me to have NOTHING missing and nothing severly damaged having been left to the mercies of tide and rock for the last 10 hours.

so, i begin my search for the backpack, or bp. i'm looking along both sides of the chasm, and as i approach the middle of it inbetween some wedged together rocks i see my rod tip bobbing up when the water surges in and disappearing as the water leaves its channel. i am STOKED now, and sort of getting giddy with my THANKS and PRAISES. as i begin to remove my pole from its spot i notice that there is prolly 10#'s of every vegetation imagineable wrapped around the pole but more highly concentrated around,,,,,,,,,,,,YEP, around my reel as if to pad it or protect it from the rocks and knocks of being wedged into a cranny! oddly, there was not a single additional scratch on my reel and only my rod tip and an insert from the second guide was missing!!??! are you kidding me? less than $25 and i'm back in the Eeeeling for Stripers bidness!!! WOW, God you are GOOOOD!

so i take off the reel and start using my rod for a poke stick thinking that my bp "could" be sunk and lodged anywhere within this chasm that is loaded with depressions, undercuts, and weeds??? stranger things have happened and the Good Lord has already returned me, my pole, and my plugs from the Sea,,,,,,,,it's worth a shot! the camera IS wp/sp and it'd be nice iffin i didn't have to break the bad news to the bride about me losing ANOTHER camera. 2 hrs later, having worked the shore 1/2 mile either side of point zero to no avail, i begin the third 2.5 mile walk in waders(the shoes are in the truck) with the L hip and lower back actually improving mobility-wise but still VERY tender to the touch.

i get to Bellvue Ave and i see a truck cruising my way and stick out tha thumb,,,,,,,,,COOL, brake lights! turns out a fellow surfcaster is looking for birds and heading my direction and has no problem givin' a surfbruthah a ride,,,,,,,,,,,,Amen, again! so i make the call for the keys and the wife says she'll meet me and my Mom 1/2 way ~Sun eve around 5:45. we do, and i get home just in time to watch the PATS implode, NICE!!! still i am most thankful and feeling very blessed up to this point of the story,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and here is where it gets crazy.

i go to the Topsfield Fair with the family on Monday, thinking that i'll give it one more shot on Tues am since Low is around 8:40. i get there and search the coast 1mi either side of where the bp went in. found some GREAT perches along the way, but no bp. and now the sentimental factors begin to creep in. YES! i am thankful for my life, for the stuff that i have found, and for knowing that the camera is JUST a camera, etc, etc; but, my COW rope is in there~~my original filet knife is in there~~and this is the only bag i've taken on every single haunt with me for 4 years. all three of these items have seen every single striper i've ever caught. and that means something to me. i've not given up on finding them, but my efforts for this day were done.

so i get back to Saugus around 4:30 and my brother is calling me from PA within minutes of me picking-up my daughter from a friend of her's house. he starts to ask me how my w/e went,,,,,,,,so i begin to tell him the story and get him up to speed; yet with every turn he is yeah and then WHAT? like when i tell him that my gear took a swim he says, "It DID? what gear?" i proceed to relate the hows and whens and he says "Your backpack went in?" and i say yeah,,,,,,,my car keys and "your camera, your scale, and your,,,,,,,," and i say WHAT? he proceeds to tell me that a woman from Little Compton, RI had called him earlier that day in search of me. I AM LAUGHING OUT LOUD!! GET OUT, i said! the daughter is jumping up and down and my feet are starting to "leave the ground"! Cal and i are both amazed and about ready to fly thru the phone lines at the sheer magnitude of ALL this!!! her husband was fishing the Back Eddys Tourney Sunday morning off of Gull Rock, about a mile around the bend from where i went in and she was calling to let Cal know that he found a backpack ~~~FLOATING~~~ in the water during one of his drifts!!!

so he picks up the bp, sees my car keys and my Stop&Shop key card and realizes that with the S&S Card he can get a name. he checks the contents of the memory card in my STILL WORKING camera to find sum football pix of my nephew Chase from his North Schuykill HS Homecoming and some newsprint in the local paper that showed him that we shared last names. next, his wife steps in since Gary had previous obligations. Raquel sleuths her way to one of two towns that my bro could be in, she opens a myspace acct to send a post to Chase and one to my brother, and leaves my brother a phone meassage 'round Noon and connects with him around 2pm Tuesday!!!

i get off of the phone with Raquel DeCosta at around 6pm Tues and will meet she and Gary in Li'l Compton the next day, or Wednesday the 14th. Gary greets me in his driveway around that time and it is not very long before i realize that his name sounds familiar, but i am not sure why??? construction maybe, my earlier days in NPT, who knows,,,,,,,,,after some exchanged pleasantries and sharing both sides of the story i surmise that my backpack and its beloved contents were saved by none other than Gary DeCosta of Team Linesiders and THE original Striper Cup "Angler of the Year" winner!! and there could NOT be a humbler, more sincere, nor friendlier a striperman that you will ever meet!!! definitely one of tha GOOD Guys and another blessing along this story's path.

these two, whose actions were grace and kindness realized before i ever walked in their door, were very nice and open to be met. and as we shared stories, some cold Sam's, had some dinner, and got to know each other it was becoming abundantly clear that the backpack, the stuff, and the ALL the tackle inbetween were NOT what this series of amazing events and "blessings" was all about.

rather, there was something of a grander scheme and deeper meaning at play here and that BOTH families seem to be the wiser and more well off because of it. for in these darkening times, it was VERRRY refreshing and LIFE affirming to witness the Hands of God in motion, to meet such fine and kindred spirits, and to have one's Faith fulfilled so succinctly ~both from a God and Humanity dynamic. so much so, that somehow the miraculous and odds defying nature of the collection of events pales in comparison to the greater rewards of genuine friendship, undeterred honesty, and goodness simply for the sake of GOODNESS that were exchanged so freely and so willingly.

what are the ODDS? quite right! what ARE the odds, indeed?

[fishbones]

How long is the "unedited" version?

Seriously, congrats on getting your stuff back and even more importantly, on you not getting badly hurt or worse.

[Raven]

and i've read them all....

congrats on getting all your stuff back

hide a spare key on the truck somewhere

and the ODDS are indescribably impossible

the detective work unimaginable

and as you said....
it was divine intervention
of the highest power.

[flyvice11787]

Dude, go out and play the lottery!!! You're on a roll already .
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[numbskull]

That was good for a smile, thanks.

[DZ]

Dawg,
If you went into the drink where I think you were (in my neck of the woods) you're very lucky to have experienced your futher good fortune. If you were a cat you'd be down to 8.

Good story to learn from.

DZ

[JLH]

That is great, you definitely lucked out with getting your stuff back!

[InTheHole]

Great story, congrats on getting your stuff back.
I 2nd the lottery thing, go out and get yourself a couple of tickets before what ever you got on you wears off !!!

[BEETLE]

That is one great story, thanks for sharing. - be careful out there.

[bassballer]

Jess,

Thats the second time now the Newport surf has taken you in for a swim. I thinks it trying to tell you to stay up North

[Slingah]

your a lucky son of a gun....

[piemma]

You had better be in church Sunday!!!!

[Raven]

Originally Posted by piemma

You had better be in church Sunday!!!!

Paul you are such a classic GUY....made me laugh out loud

[tynan19]

Thanks for sharing and congrats on getting your gear back.

[Adam_777]

Cool story.Glad your ok and got your gear back.Ever think about traveling a bit lighter ?

[animal]

Good fer you,dood.Hope your ass feels better.

[MAKAI]

Did you go to secretarial school to type that much ?
Wow.
I'd have carpal tunnel syndrome.

[Finaddict]

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Jess - that is a great story, thanks for sharing. Glad you are okay.

[intrepid24]

guys like gary are one in a million.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by DZ

Dawg,
If you went into the drink where I think you were (in my neck of the woods) you're very lucky to have experienced your futher good fortune. If you were a cat you'd be down to 8.

DZ

What Dennis said.

In fact, I was just a long downwind punt from where you were on Saturday night

If that happened around midnight on the last hour of the incoming with the tide stacking up the swell, you were more than lucky

I was just down the road apiece occasionally taking whitewater in the kisser on a perch 10' up

Jess, even if I'd lost my gear, I'd still be at St Mary's on bended knee if all I got was a bruised arse...

Be careful out there, bud

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by piemma

You had better be in church Sunday!!!!

What Paul said, too

[quick decision]

Geat story with a better ending.

[Kierran]

great story!

[inTHERAPY]

spotburner, did he really say gull rock, lol
Art, linesider bass and brew

[Sea Dangles]

I was chatting with Gary at the Eddy tournament last weekend. Great guy, just as the rest of that small team. I missed the Striper Cup party, but got to hear some good "fish stories" at the Eddy.All of those guys know great techniques for hunting large. With Soares and Cinto they have a wonderful library for resources.

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I was chatting with Gary at the Eddy tournament last weekend. Great guy, just as the rest of that small team. I missed the Striper Cup party, but got to hear some good "fish stories" at the Eddy.All of those guys know great techniques for hunting large. With Soares and Cinto they have a wonderful library for resources.

Chris! Where you been hidin"?

BI this year?

[BassDawg]

just got back from fishing the MS Challenge,,,,,,,,,,,
YEP!! it was brutal again this year and we finished 4th.
not bad for only 4 or 5 fish,,,,,,,,,,,

thanks for your well wishes and kind words~~ Raven, DZ, baller, animal, Finaddict, etal.
funny stuff piemma, Sir Crafty, and MAKAI

i would like to add one or two pieces of the puzzle that i omitted last time. Gary's diligence to rinse my gear as if it were his own, was awesome. and something that made us BOTH laugh out loud was when we were standing outside and i reached into my pocket to grab my newly recovered keys i say, "i have to see,,,,,,,,,," click-click, honk! WOW, yep the remote still works!!!

luck, you say??? i think not!,,,,,,,,luck is good. but, it is never THAT good.

[Raven]

keep up the good karma...............as it's working

[UserRemoved1]

I second that! Wow man give us a cut if you win

Originally Posted by flyvice11787

Dude, go out and play the lottery!!! You're on a roll already .
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[piemma]

Originally Posted by BassDawg

just got back from fishing the MS Challenge,,,,,,,,,,,
YEP!! it was brutal again this year and we finished 4th.
not bad for only 4 or 5 fish,,,,,,,,,,,

thanks for your well wishes and kind words~~ Raven, DZ, baller, animal, Finaddict, etal.
funny stuff piemma, Sir Crafty, and MAKAI

i would like to add one or two pieces of the puzzle that i omitted last time. Gary's diligence to rinse my gear as if it were his own, was awesome. and something that made us BOTH laugh out loud was when we were standing outside and i reached into my pocket to grab my newly recovered keys i say, "i have to see,,,,,,,,,," click-click, honk! WOW, yep the remote still works!!!

luck, you say??? i think not!,,,,,,,,luck is good. but, it is never THAT good.

Well if it wasn't luck Jess, then you must lead a good life because your karma is excellent!!!!