Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
Hello to all of my loyal readers and happy White Marlin Open Week to you! Those of you that follow my column regularly know that I sometimes miss my deadline. (Editors note: let’s all thank God that Franky doesn’t make watches for a living) And when I miss my deadline I have to pay a severe price.
Sometimes Larry lets me off with a small beating, other times he makes me perform degrading tasks in public. Suffice it to say that any of you that happened to be driving on Coastal Highway this afternoon might have noticed me scampering along the side of the road toting a rickshaw. Yes, that was Larry in the rickshaw with the buggy whip and cotton candy. Yet another lesson learned the hard way. I will figure out how to be more punctual and less procrastinating sooner or later!
As I am typing this, the first day of the Ocean City Marlin Club Heels and Reels Tournament has come to an end. The scales just closed a little while ago. Plenty of marlin were caught and the leading tuna at the moment is a 112 pound Allison (fancy name for a big yellowfin). I was surprised that the current mahi is not monstrous, but a 21.5 pounder is a respectable mark to beat (this category has been won by lesser fish in the past). As impressive as all of the catches were, the one that sticks out to me the most from today is the infamous “one that got away.”
I took a lay-day today and will be fishing with my girls tomorrow. When the fishing reports started streaming in over social media tonight I was anxious to see who caught what, and where they caught it. One of the first posts I saw was a rather long one from my friend Phil. I knew that Phil had his lady Whitney out in search of her first white marlin today so I was hoping to read about a mission accomplished. Unfortunately that was not what I read. But, with that being said, in some ways what I read was better.
Phil talked about how Whitney had hooked a bigeye tuna on a TLD 25. Anyone familiar with bigeyes knows that the last rod you want them on is one of the “dink rods” that are intended more for marlin and mahi. The odds are stacked against you from the beginning. Light leader. Thin wire gauge hook. Thirty pound main line. Big fat tuna. These pieces of the puzzle seldom lead to a pretty picture.
Phil went on to say that Whitney fought the fish for close to three hours. There were photos of her leaning back against a rod bent in a hard curve over the transom. He said that the fish took her to the limits, but she persevered. She was winning the battle. The fish was all but beaten. Then the story took a tragic turn. Instead of being beaten, the tuna ended up being eaten. That’s right. Some darned old shark capitalized on Whitney’s angling prowess and scarfed down the tuna that she had softened up for the kill.
As sad as that outcome was, what Phil said next meant the most to me. He complemented Whitney on the resolve she showed in fighting the fish. Furthermore, he went on to say how impressed he was with the fortitude she showed during the fight. This made me smile. I know both Phil and Whitney pretty well and I would bet that she felt a certain satisfaction in both his pride in her and the fact that she was able to stick it out in a battle that was against the odds. As the saying goes, it is not always the destination, but rather the journey that matters. Whitney went on a heck of a journey with that tuna today. I am sure she is a better angler now than she was this morning.
I should point out, however, that Whitney was a fairly accomplished angler coming in to the day. Her best catch to date is a 400 pound class (the exact size escapes me at the moment) swordfish on conventional tackle while daytime fishing off of Fort Lauderdale. As a matter of fact, she has one of the coolest swordfish mounts I have ever seen. When she first moved back up here from Florida a few years ago she had the mount shipped up so she could display it in her new apartment. Dealing with a mount that size is not a one person job. The crate was over fifteen feet long and probably five feet high and five feet wide. Whitney put in a call to me for aide and I enlisted my sidekick Mr. Evans’ help with the task. After we drank a Natural Light or two a piece to map out our plan for hanging the beast, we commenced to disassembling the crate. That went well and we were able to maneuver the gigantic mount into her living room. Mr. Evans did some geometry and cyphered up some heights and widths. We moved her couch out a little from the wall and proceeded to pound the wall hangers into the dry wall. The three of us then picked the fish up and guided the mounting bracket over the wall hangers. Success!
We then took a few steps back and opened more Natural Lights to admire our handiwork. We were pretty pleased with ourselves and then the fish fell off of the wall! The old dry wall had crumbled. Panic! Horror! But somehow we were spared the shame and embarrassment of having ruined the best looking swordfish mount ever. The fish landed perfectly on the back of the couch and balanced one pectoral fin on either side of the back cushion.
A few minutes later after we all started breathing again we formulated a new and improved plan for hanging the fish. Thankfully, that plan came to fruition and the mount became the focal point of the room. Whitney has since moved in to a house that she shares with Phil and their adorable little girl Charlie. Phil did a better job of hanging the swordfish mount than Mr. Evans and I did I am sure. And I am willing to bet that little Charlie will be regaled with the further angling exploits of her Mom and the big tuna that the shark came and ate today.
Good going on your battle Whitney. Not every fish story ends up with the fish on the deck. Just like every mount hanging doesn’t end up with the fish on the wall. That doesn’t make the story any less great though.
Capt Franky Pettolina is Co-Captain of the charter boat, “Last Call”, owner of Pettolina Marine Surveying, Inc. and multi-term President of the Ocean City Marlin Club. If you would like to book a charter on the “Last Call”, please call 443-783-3699 or 410-251-0575.