Sorry for the delay boys and girls, was a crazy busy weekend and start of the work week!
Well there were some last minute openings on an open boat fluking trip on Reel Class out of Point Pleasant...and despite the Edison Pirate's BBQ scheduled for the PM, I just couldn't resist jumping aboard to get my dose of bucktailing!
This was my first trip aboard the newly upgraded Reel Class with Captain Allen...in fact this was the maiden fluke voyage for his new ride, so naturally the plan was to seek out those elusive early season flatties in hopes of laying down a fluke carpet on the deck by day's end!
We all met up at Clark's marina for a 7:00AM departure. I was actually there around 6:30AM, but having never been there I had no idea where the boat was...so I hung around the marina tackle shop until I saw a familiar face, Captain Allen! We headed to the slip where several of the other guys were waiting. From a distance I could see two mountains standing in the stern, otherwise known as Tom "(still for now" lefteye" Kriebel and Mike "MS22, doubles as a camel with how much water he consumes per hour" Striffler. I immediately get the watch check look as if I'm late for the show...it hasn't been 30 seconds and they're already busting my chops!
I jump on board, offload my fishing gear...enough to supply a commercial fishing fleet, only to notice that the back of my leg and shorts are soaking wet. WTH! I immediately realize it's not water but rather Gulp Alive juice and A LOT of it...that leaked all over my tackle bag, through it, and all over me on the walk down the dock. So now I smell...like Gulp. Awesome!!!
Three others are on board for the trip so far: Larry, Doug, and mate Mike.
We wait for the final fisherman, Bill "The 5th", who arrives almost right at 7:00AM and receives a 10 second countdown to departure as he's walking down the dock. lol
Alright, so all aboard and pumped to hit the seas!
I take the opportunity to snap a few pics
The new Reel Class!
The crew, ready to go!
Larry, Allen and Doug
Mike thumbs up!
Tom's all smiles
Bill, almost missing the 10 second countdown, but now he's ready!
Mike the mate
And our fearless captain Allen, giving us the safety breakdown
And we're off!
Well we trek up north to fish some sticky bottom.
Allen lays down the gauntlet offering a free trip to whomever catches the first keeper fluke on the new Reel Class!
We're all fishing hard for about 10 minutes or so when I get a light sniff and whiff on the hookset.
Mike standing right next to me gets hit at the same time and comes up with the goods!
First keeper, worth a free trip!
Nice job Mike!
Phew, now the pressure is off...Mike needs to take a breather and replenish before he dehydrates and starts cramping up!
Mike "The Camel" Striffler!
Well at least we know if we ever get stranded on a deserted island, Mike will bring enough water for the whole crew, all the animals on the island, and any indigenous people that live there!
Alright, back to the fishing! Tom lands a quality keeper a short while later!
Then a sundial comes up...good bait!
Larry lands a nice knucklehead
Then I hook up with a nice keeper later in the day, weighing in at 6lbs and change!
We even see a four spotted flounder come up! Cool!
And Larry with a quality flattie!
OK, so at this point...we're probably 3/4 of the way into the trip.
I'm on the fence about giving Tom a new nickname...I mean he's been "lefteye" since I've known him so it's going to take some serious chain of events to acquire a newly associated nickname!
We've witnessed some pretty good tangles taking place throughout the day, but then as we move inshore to try some new terrain...this just seals the deal on the new nickname for Tom!
Yes, that's right...Tom is known now as Tom "The Tangle" Kriebel, aka Triple T or 3T for short!
Even the nets don't stand a chance, and they're not even in the water!!! lol
Oh boy, Triple T...what's goin on over there? "{Grumble, grumble}...shut up" haha
Braid spaghetti...Allen is honing his competitive knitting skills
Mike landed a keeper in the new area. Doug followed suit shortly after with this nice flattie!
Well we spent some time inshore picking away at some fish but couldn't produce any more keepers.
It was time to call it a day...so we packed up and head on back to the barn!
We hit the dock just in time to catch some of the weigh ins for Mako Mania which is taking place both weekend days.
This nice mako weighed in at 259lbs!
After that, we headed back to Allen's boat to organize our stuff and pack out the fish to the fillet tables!
Here's our final catch on the day, 18 keeper fluke and 11 keeper sea bass.
And a group shot right before filleting!
Overall it was a great time with an awesome crew! Fishing was a bit slow, but we managed to pick out some real quality fish with several in the 4lb+ range and some nice big sea bass mixed in!
I took our private pool with my 6lb+ flattie, but Mike had a real big one on that he lost just beneath the boat earlier in the day...definitely bigger than my 6lb+ as it started pounding drag out right when it got sight of the boat and then just came unbuckled! Tough break, but I know Mike will redeem himself sometime this season on one of our future trips! ;)
Great fishing, and thanks again to Captain Allen and his mate Mike for a job well done!
And for those that haven't had the experience yet, the new Reel Class is just a beautiful boat...truly a comfortable fishing machine!
Can't wait to get out on there again!
Until next time...
