The next day we hit the local ponds. I think Dennis noted in his book that
there are 365 of these ponds. We hit three.
I had a leech hitch-hike on my waders....I safely released the bugger in the
next pond.
Frank Capone had come in on Wednesday and whipped up some power food
for the group. Pizzas, breads, pancakes, and a delicious seafood dish
with striped bass and clams over linguine. It was awesome! Thank you Frank!
On Thursday, John Hanecak and Toby Lapinski took me out into the surf.
On the previous nights Pete Lajoie and Matt had found a pocket of fish,
that we planned to target.
Toby guided me out to some of the distant rocks. He got on a nice
casting rock and kindly dragged me on. I was floundering quite a bit as a
result of both my poor timing and the surge of waves running over the
rock. He had to drag me like a wet rag. If that was not enough...he left
me on that nice table top and went to an adjacent rock ....from the looks
of it, it was more of a pyramid than a rock suitable for standing on.
His good karma payed off, as within a few minutes he hooked up with a
nice 30# fish on a darter. While he and John measured, took photos and
released the fish, I managed one strike on a swim shad. Eventually Toby
came back out, but climbed up on a nice rock to the other side of me.
Within a few more minutes, he was hooked up again with the twin of the
previous fish.....pretty sick, back to back 30# fish. This time it was on a needle.
We stuck around a bit until the tide dropped. Then we hit the other side of
the island where I had a fish on for a short ride before it popped off. We called it a night.
The next day the surf kicked up a bit as a tropical storm came into play.
Gary Soldati came out and met with us at the cottage before he headed
out to do some scouting on the island. I crashed out for a couple of hours
to try to recharge the battery. After feeding on one of Frank’s
masterpiece dinners, we got geared up to head out for a nights fishing. I
packed my tackle bag with lures for big surf, including two of Gary’s pikes.
John, Gary, and I hit some nice white water, which was surprisingly clean.
We fished this one spot for about and hour and a half.
I had never fished pikes before, and was amazed how well these lures
hold in some of the nastiest white water. Pretty amazing....even in the
wash, I felt clear contact with the lures.
We headed to the quite side of the island and fished there a bit. The wind
picked up and there was a considerable amount of weed in the water.
Then my heart sank a bit as the unthinkable happened. In the wind my
line twisted around my tip and I sent one of my newly acquired pikes off
into the dark with a crack. We were hoping that it might wash in, and both
Gary and John helped me search for it ...but it was gone.
John decided to pack it in, while Gary and I headed to a new location.
Upon arrival we found unfavorable conditions with lightning on the
horizon. So we too decided to call it a night. While we were talking about
our options at the truck, Gary handed me a new pike from his bag to
replace the one I lost. Gary’s generosity was the perfect way to end the
trip. The whole of the trip was founded on the generosity of a bunch of
great guys sharing their time, experience, and passion for surfcasting.
The trip was really humbling.
Thank you Gary Soldati, John Hanecak, Toby Lapinski, Dennis Zambrotta,
Frank Capone, Chuck Duval, Pat Abate, Pete Lajoie, Tom White, Julio Pereira, and
Matt....for letting me share a spot in the surf with you. It was awesome
and I appreciate it. I cannot wait to get out there again to practice all the things I have learned.
Hybrid Mode
