| Hat Time |
It was the kind of morning....that you were happy that you brought your jacket.
But you could sense in the air that this was not an ordinary morning. Far from it actually. Although nobody was saying it, we, okay maybe just I, knew that there was unfinished business that
had to be taken care of on this day.
About 10 years prior, a scene had played out before this Captain's eyes that left me scarred. This was in a time when the boat was smaller, as was my belt size, and we all had more hair,
especially the angler in this story. You see, this is the story of my brother Jonathan and Big Daddy. Big Daddy (BD) was a fish, a fish that had morphed into a monkey that rode on his back
wherever he went. Of course no one had actually seen BD and that is what made BD so menacing. Now Jonathan claims that he could n't beat Big Daddy all those years ago for a number of
reasons including but not limited to ..... his feet were hot, it was too close to noon (when the fish don't eat) his head was scorched because something or another sucked, etc, etc, you get the
idea.
In my opinion if he had just shut up and reeled way back when, instead of howling like a little girl whose Barbie doll had just gone missing, BD would have been in the box. That brings us to the
present.
Jimmy caught a spotted pin fish at the dock (more on that later) and then the day started with Henny, Jimmy, Heidi and Jonathan as the Team. Frank hooked us up with 4 dozen. A lap around
the bent range and we saw bait showering on the north side of the inlet in 40 feet. As we got closer we could see kingfish busting the surface everywhere. Out come the spoons, wire line etc
and Jonathan puts 3 kings in the box.....oh yeah. A run to the sea buoy and then we set up the usual spread of one on the bottom, one in mid water with the break away egg sinker and 2 out
of the riggers. We make a couple of drifts and we have a few cut-offs and even raise a sail up on one of the riggers but he's not eating.
So the radio is crackling with sail hook ups south and it looks like a traffic jam of boats and kites down there so we venture north to the diamonds. A couple drifts and things are too quiet.
Jimmy has the idea to check out the secret debris pile. We head over, the pin fish takes a ride to 240 and the rod doubles over. I start to hyperventilate and all I can think of is what I hear
Jonathan screaming....again....Big Daddy ! Big Daddy, ten years bigger, 10 years smarter and more wiley than ever......arghhhhh. Well I am here to tell you we all jumped into action, pushing
the throttles up to clear BD from any rocks or caves, clearing lines, breaking out the gloves, making ready the gaff etc. Big Daddy was gonna have to bring it to survive this encounter. We
could see the rod tip on the 30 lb outfit bouncing as BD dug in for the bottom. It was a see-saw battle of wits and strength pitting BD's pea size brain against everything that Jonathan and the
Hat Time team could throw at him. In the end, Big Daddy had met his match and Jonathan gave him a seat in the cooler next to the 3 king fish he had met earlier. Nice work Jonathan ! But
alas, this ride was not done by a long shot.
We pointed th Hat Time south and ran down to the hotels off Key Biscayne where it looked like the local pros were tangling with some sails. If we could get Jonathan on a sail, that would be a
pretty cool S. Florida adventure. We slid in to 130 feet and put out the usual spread. We were down to the last of the baits so we knew it was not going to be an all day affair. Either we get the
job done or we have to leave it for next time.
The break away egg sinker rig lights up in 160 and a sail starts tail walking left to right 150 yards off the transom. When he finally digs in again, he puts on the afterburners and almost almost
passes the boat on the port side. It was everything I could do to spin the boat and stay tight on the fish! This thing was peeling line like it was just hit by lightening. We get the lines cleared
and Jonathan goes to work with a 20lb spinner that's just singing. We end up backing down on this bad boy and after some nice jumps right near the boat, we got control of the enraged
speedster.
Now I did not have the best vantage point to see who was right or wrong, all I know is I see Jimmy on the platform, and then I see him holding the bill while the sail is undulating wildly. It's at
this time that we can all see this is a big (read legal size ) sail. It's not really clear at this point who has who. The problem is that while Jimmy is dangling, Henny thinks he's only witnessing a
photo op and not life and death in the balance. Okay not life and death but more like...maybe Jimmy's going for a swim with an angry sailfish or maybe the sail is going to break away from his
grip or worse.......we lose the fish before Jonathan has a chance to get a picture with it. Okay so it IS life and death. Henny got into the fray and helped haul the beast in. Phew....Great job on
Jonathan's first sail. Additionally, even thogh this fish could be legally introduced to the inside of the smoker, Jonathan chose to release it to fight another day. Great memories had by all.
But you could sense in the air that this was not an ordinary morning. Far from it actually. Although nobody was saying it, we, okay maybe just I, knew that there was unfinished business that
had to be taken care of on this day.
About 10 years prior, a scene had played out before this Captain's eyes that left me scarred. This was in a time when the boat was smaller, as was my belt size, and we all had more hair,
especially the angler in this story. You see, this is the story of my brother Jonathan and Big Daddy. Big Daddy (BD) was a fish, a fish that had morphed into a monkey that rode on his back
wherever he went. Of course no one had actually seen BD and that is what made BD so menacing. Now Jonathan claims that he could n't beat Big Daddy all those years ago for a number of
reasons including but not limited to ..... his feet were hot, it was too close to noon (when the fish don't eat) his head was scorched because something or another sucked, etc, etc, you get the
idea.
In my opinion if he had just shut up and reeled way back when, instead of howling like a little girl whose Barbie doll had just gone missing, BD would have been in the box. That brings us to the
present.
Jimmy caught a spotted pin fish at the dock (more on that later) and then the day started with Henny, Jimmy, Heidi and Jonathan as the Team. Frank hooked us up with 4 dozen. A lap around
the bent range and we saw bait showering on the north side of the inlet in 40 feet. As we got closer we could see kingfish busting the surface everywhere. Out come the spoons, wire line etc
and Jonathan puts 3 kings in the box.....oh yeah. A run to the sea buoy and then we set up the usual spread of one on the bottom, one in mid water with the break away egg sinker and 2 out
of the riggers. We make a couple of drifts and we have a few cut-offs and even raise a sail up on one of the riggers but he's not eating.
So the radio is crackling with sail hook ups south and it looks like a traffic jam of boats and kites down there so we venture north to the diamonds. A couple drifts and things are too quiet.
Jimmy has the idea to check out the secret debris pile. We head over, the pin fish takes a ride to 240 and the rod doubles over. I start to hyperventilate and all I can think of is what I hear
Jonathan screaming....again....Big Daddy ! Big Daddy, ten years bigger, 10 years smarter and more wiley than ever......arghhhhh. Well I am here to tell you we all jumped into action, pushing
the throttles up to clear BD from any rocks or caves, clearing lines, breaking out the gloves, making ready the gaff etc. Big Daddy was gonna have to bring it to survive this encounter. We
could see the rod tip on the 30 lb outfit bouncing as BD dug in for the bottom. It was a see-saw battle of wits and strength pitting BD's pea size brain against everything that Jonathan and the
Hat Time team could throw at him. In the end, Big Daddy had met his match and Jonathan gave him a seat in the cooler next to the 3 king fish he had met earlier. Nice work Jonathan ! But
alas, this ride was not done by a long shot.
We pointed th Hat Time south and ran down to the hotels off Key Biscayne where it looked like the local pros were tangling with some sails. If we could get Jonathan on a sail, that would be a
pretty cool S. Florida adventure. We slid in to 130 feet and put out the usual spread. We were down to the last of the baits so we knew it was not going to be an all day affair. Either we get the
job done or we have to leave it for next time.
The break away egg sinker rig lights up in 160 and a sail starts tail walking left to right 150 yards off the transom. When he finally digs in again, he puts on the afterburners and almost almost
passes the boat on the port side. It was everything I could do to spin the boat and stay tight on the fish! This thing was peeling line like it was just hit by lightening. We get the lines cleared
and Jonathan goes to work with a 20lb spinner that's just singing. We end up backing down on this bad boy and after some nice jumps right near the boat, we got control of the enraged
speedster.
Now I did not have the best vantage point to see who was right or wrong, all I know is I see Jimmy on the platform, and then I see him holding the bill while the sail is undulating wildly. It's at
this time that we can all see this is a big (read legal size ) sail. It's not really clear at this point who has who. The problem is that while Jimmy is dangling, Henny thinks he's only witnessing a
photo op and not life and death in the balance. Okay not life and death but more like...maybe Jimmy's going for a swim with an angry sailfish or maybe the sail is going to break away from his
grip or worse.......we lose the fish before Jonathan has a chance to get a picture with it. Okay so it IS life and death. Henny got into the fray and helped haul the beast in. Phew....Great job on
Jonathan's first sail. Additionally, even thogh this fish could be legally introduced to the inside of the smoker, Jonathan chose to release it to fight another day. Great memories had by all.
SHOW DOWN: Jonathan vs Big Daddy off Miami Beach
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Big Daddy!
| January 8, 2006 |