A much needed update

Fishing -

I have been fishing a grand total of 2 times since my last post. Glad that I got a nice fish out of the way early this season or I would be majorly depressed. Still feel pretty crappy about the small amount of fishing that I have done, but some is better than none. I went fishing out of Bass River with a guy I met online at Stripersonline. We happened to share a lot of the same experiences and similar fishing styles. Funny thing is that he lives year round in Woburn, right near Reading and summers down here on the Cape. We went to Monomoy in search of stripers, but none were to be found other than some finicky fish that were porpoising and sipping krill. I had only read about this and true to what I had read they are impossible to catch when keyed in on such small bait. We spotted a charter boat moving north along Chatham that we both recognized from his local fame at catching large tuna. Sure enough, after a short ride we happened upon busting tuna. I hooked up on the 5th or 6th try and after a 25 minute battle or so we lost him. Unlike the last two that I have fought, this one felt huge and heavy. My arms were sore.

Teaching-

I have received the Curriculum Coordinator position in Falmouth. I am very excited about it and am happy to be in this position. Schools all over the country are really struggling to stay afloat and Falmouth is no different. Not a lot of money to go around. I was happy to be involved in the interview process to find a new music teacher for Falmouth and I could not be happier about the person we found.

Today I started at Boston Conservatory and the students taking the Brass Methods course seem to be kind, motivated and talented people. Should be a good class.

Family-

Gwen's lacrosse team had an undefeated season that lasted all the way to the jamboree which consisted of three games. In the first game we were tied up 4-4 with only a few minutes left and Gwen scored two goals in a row giving her a hat trick for the game. She also guarded the other teams top player and was just outstanding. Unfortunately the team lost the last game of the jamboree against an amazing team from Andover that was an "A" team and not all inclusive like our team. I would have loved to have seen that game if we did not have our weak players playing.

TJ played to spring sports, travel soccer and baseball. I had the pleasure of assistant coaching both teams. I would never have thought that I would have enjoyed coaching a losing team so much as i did the boys soccer team, but they were such an awesome group of kids. most of the kids were playing up a level too. So, the three wins we did have felt awesome. There were multiple 8 year olds playing on the Under 10 team. Baseball was awesome. TJ was one of the starting pitchers on the team and had 25 strikeouts on the season. He ended up hitting .474 for the season and had two home runs. Our coach was a stat Nazi, I never would have paid that much attention. :) Although we did not make it to the championship game as expected it was an awesome season.

Family-

We did out first family camping trip over the July 4th weekend. We had a lot of fun and it was great to really bond as a family in that atmosphere. We bought an 8 person tent that was on sale which was great size for a family of four IMO. The campground we chose was VERY full and the campsites were right on top of each other. For the most part it went well, but there was one late night party that was very loud and some parents that found swearing and hitting their kids their main way of parenting. the last day was the best as we stayed longer than the 4th which gave us an almost private campsite.

" 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.