I am Insane!!

Can't believe I just did this. I just registered to run a half marathon. Crazy!! I must be losing it. It will be on February 28 in my old stomping grounds of Hyannis. I am rooting for an early spring I guess. As long as it is above freezing I will be fine, or maybe just no wind and I will live. I want to have a goal so I do not get fat this winter and maintain the weight loss that I started last January. But, a half marathon? The training alone is going to be a nightmare. I am feeling really comfortable with my 3 miles right now and could do 5 miles if I had to, or if I had the time or daylight to do so. 13 miles!! I am so stupid and possibly just pissed away $50. The $50 is a great motivation for me to get my act together and get ready for this thing though. As a direct descendant of "Mr. Cheapo" I cannot see myself not going to a race that I paid that much to enter. "Tom's Fishing Blog" will most likely turn into "Tom's Training Blog" over the next few months, but that works too. Not like I am going fishing anytime soon.

" I Got You Mother F#$%^& "

Tuesday I called in sick to work in order to get one more shot at the tuna. Word has it that they were still around in Cape Cod Bay and up to Race Point at P-town. Went through the canal and ran into a bird and fish frenzy at the East End of the canal. Most of the action was outside of the range of a boat and by the jetty fishermen. I managed to get a few hits on the bone Double Wide Hogy, but I think the fish were really on the small side. I left the frenzy and headed NE towards the P-town monument. I did not see much in terms of fish, but i did see a lot of cool looking birds that only looked familiar from when I went out on the boat a few Thanksgivings ago. I also saw what I believe are Gannets. As I turned the corner around the tip of P-town I saw a couple of whales and was surprised that they were only about a quarter mile off the beach. I saw some bird action ahead and checked it out. A few different kinds of birds were in the mix, but I did not see fish underneath. However, I knew that when the birds started going crazy it was because something was scaring the bait up to the surface. So, I kept following the birds and bait and sure enough I spotted a few tuna backs surfacing among the birds. It can be frustrating trying to run around and anticipate the action, but I managed a handful of decent shots at the fish. It was sometimes hard to keep my lure away from the birds which would literally walk on water to chase after it. Ended up getting my line wrapped around one of the birds, but it was easily untangled and the bird flew off fine. I came upon a school and this one was immediately different. A lot more fish were in the mix and it stayed up on top for a long time in comparison to the others. I managed 6 or 7 casts into the craziness and on my final cast I hooked up. When I set the hook and felt the fish start to peel line off of my reel I shouted, " I got you mother fucker!!!" I have no idea why that came out and I have chuckled at myself a few times since when thinking about it. After fighting the fish for 10 minutes or so I decided to try and gain a little of my line back that I had lost and put the boat in gear. Not 2 seconds after I did this the fish turned and swam right at me. I reeled as fast as I could and took the boat out of gear with my elbow, but by the time I got the slack out of the line there was no fish. Bummer! Amazing time, simply incredible to be honest. I will land one of these fish someday and it will feel so amazing I am sure that I will be brought nearly to tears. The Double Wide Hogy was awesome. Strong and durable and with the glue that I put on it, it stayed tight to the hook through repeated hard casts.

Fall is Here

There is always a few things in every season that marks the true beginning of it. A couple weeks ago Christine made her chili and the Patriots began their season. If that wasn't enough I went to Parker's and the big bluefish have invaded. Coincidentally, the big blues also mark the beginning of spring. Anyway, only about a month of spotty fishing left. I am sure that the canal will be hot, but I still just can't get into fishing that place on a regular basis. The guys that have success there are borderline psycho. More power to them, I just can't bring myself to rig up a bike and deal with theft and muggings etc. I will stick to Parker's, my bluefish and the occasional bass that show up this fall. If mother nature is so kind as to give me one more nice day I will be pumped to take advantage of it and get out a couple more times to the Elizabeths.

Striper Cup

Went to the Striper Cup again this year and had a fun time. Didn't win the boat, shucks! On the Water did a fabulous job as always. It was nice to have it so close to home and the food and drink were very good. Black Dog made some pretty nice lobster rolls which I got two for one towards the end of the event. I have to admit, Narragansett is a fine beer and is really trying to reinvent themselves. Should be tough, but their beer is a lot better than what I hear from the old timers. Tastes a lot like Budweiser to me.

Angler of the year had a 40lb. average from the shore and from the boat a 50lb. average. Crazy!! This is from their top 5 fish weighed in throughout the tourney.

Wind.... Go Away!!

I am getting really tired of all this wind. The wind speeds have looked more like residential speed limits over the past few days and forecasted for the next few. Might have to venture out in a strong SE which, in theory will not have Buzzards Bay too wavy. If that doesn't work then I may just have to head to the shore. Mashnee Island or some Falmouth outflows. Going to try the canal here and there maybe too, but i generally hate that crazy place. Plus, people are always having thieves try and break into their car. Not fun!!

I'm a Famous Fisherman..........Not Really, but.......

This week marks the second time from this fishing season that I made the Falmouth Enterprise for my fishing exploits. The first time was actually because of the fish that I caught earlier this year when I got the 35#, 31# and 26# fish. Gene passed along this information to Dave Peros who writes for multiple fishing publications. The latest entry in the Enterprise was more about Gene's fish that he caught last weekend. Fishing has been slow and Capt. Peros wanted to point out that it still was possible to get some good fish. So, obviously I am not famous, but it is still really cool to get into the fishing section for some good reasons.

So Much Fun I Forgot to Catch

Yesterday morning I went out with Gene with a very specific plan. First, start out by fishing for bass and then after the sun came up, head to the Heights where the Albies have been lurking. The plan was well executed, mostly. Got to the hot spot from this season around the Elizabeth Islands and even though there were a couple boats already there Gene pulled in a nice 24 lb. bass on a 14" bone Hogy. Fished a little more and I missed one fish, but the sun came up and we headed to the Heights.

As soon as we got to Falmouth Harbor we started seeing the Albies crashing peanut bunker. We both had multiple shots at these fish and I did manage to hook up for about a half second before being bitten off. I went with the no leader approach. Argh!!! The only one we saw hook up was a kayaker. I was happy for him. Pretty cool.

Made the journey at full throttle from Falmouth Heights to Fiddler's Cove in a little over a half an hour. Awesome time. Got home took a shower and took the kids to church. It wasn't until a few hours after church that I realized I did not even catch a fish. I am not quite sure why, but I had an absolute blast chasing those fish around and it is an interesting feeling that when you are captaining a boat you feel at least a little responsible for other peoples' fish.

Here is a picture of Gene's fish which does not do it justice.