Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
Today is September 3, 2020. I saw that on the check that a client handed me for a survey I performed on his boat. The date flashed across my phone’s home screen from the first time I entered my passcode this morning and every time since. September 3, 2020. Nothing overwhelmingly significant about it best I could tell. Sure it is sign up day for the Ocean City Marlin Club’s 62nd Annual White Marlin Tournament, but that happens every year about this time, only the annual designator changes. No reason for September 3 to mean that much to me. Well at least until I logged in to my Facebook account once work was done for the day that is.
As I was scrolling through my daily news feed it was filled with the standard political rants, pet pictures, restaurant ads, jokes, chain mail type posts and other stuff that makes up any social media page these days. Nothing too special (although I did finally see the dog in the lower left corner of that one picture, so I am not a pervert!). Well nothing too special until I got to the flashback picture on my friend “Big” John Knight’s page. It was a scan of the cover of the Coastal Fisherman, Volume 12 Number 17, from Thursday September 3, 1987. Thirty three years gone by. John’s post talked about how time flies by and how he was 29 years old and care free. The cover shot was from John’s first ever captain job. He was at the helm of the charter boat Carter’s Ark and his mate/co-captain was Mark “The Hammer” Hill. They had a big day that day (well Duh Franky!!! it was the cover shot!!!). Their combined efforts had put their charter on to a catch of two blue marlin and a white marlin, all three of which were hanging from the scales at Harbour Island Marina. There was even a note about the fish having been boated because they were destined for the taxidermist, which was common practice in the eighties. John commented how he wished he could go back to those days….
The baits were trailing in the wake pattern behind the Rehab, a thirty eight foot Hatteras, with captain Glen Mumford at the helm. There were ballyhoo on the long riggers, a Spanish mackerel on one short rigger and a rubber squid on the other. Both flat lines were rigged with chin weighted swimming mullet. The left teaser was a chain of brown shell squids. The right teaser was a green and yellow Mumford teaser (Not named after the captain, but after another captain. The legendary Paul Mumford, who had created the teaser in question.) The mates were talking to each other about the spread and what to do when a marlin appeared. One of the mates was brand new to the business, hoping to be on his way to a new career. The other was not new to the business, but only 13 years old and enjoying one of his last days on the ocean before heading back to New Jersey to begin his freshman year at West Deptford High School. Their conversation was short lived as Captain Glenn called out that there was a white marlin on the left teaser. The younger mate took to the task of attempting to lure the marlin away from the teaser with one of the mullets. While that was happening a second white marlin grabbed the rubber squid on the short rigger. Both were hooked briefly. Both came unglued. Not a good start!
As the day progressed things got a little better. A white marlin was hooked up on the Spanish mackerel and hauled into the boat. The older mate, Neil, was ecstatic. It was the first marlin he would boat in his career. The younger mate was happy to break the ice, and equally ecstatic because the fishing was as good as he had ever seen it in his young career. The baits were reset and almost instantly another white marlin was trailing one of the long rigger ballyhoo. That marlin felt the steel of the hook and the fight was on. Captain Glen called down to the cockpit that “Big” John and “Hammer” were hooked up to a blue one right next to us.
The younger mate was happy for the crew on the boat fighting the blue. He did not know either of the crew members, but he “knew of” them. “Hammer” was making a name for himself as a hotshot mate, and John was really a giant of a man, which was the sort of thing that a 13 year old boy would find impressive right away. The younger mate was also happy for them because he knew they were rebounding from a terrible thing that occurred a week or so prior. John and “Hammer” were running a big Ocean Yacht that day. John was the new captain on the boat, helping “Hammer” make the transition from cockpit to helm. The previous captain had died tragically in an accident during the Mid Atlantic $500,000 tournament a week earlier. His name was Charlie and he was only 26 years old.
“Big” John and “Hammer” would go on to catch another blue marlin and a white marlin on that trip. By the end of the day the crew of the Rehab had caught 3 white marlin out of 7 that they had raised to their baits. They didn’t know it then, but the mates would become lifelong friends. Neil would go on to crew on boats all over the world, ultimately becoming a Captain. He is currently running a big motor yacht up in Block Island and still fishes quite a bit. The younger mate is currently typing this article, inspired by a picture from that day that “Big” John put on Facebook.
Time definitely flies by. That day back in 1987 was the first time I was ever involved with catching more than 2 white marlin in a trip. The caption on the Coastal Fisherman cover stated that John and “Hammer” dedicated their catch to the memory of Captain Charles “Charlie Tuna” Klemkowski. I didn’t know Charlie any better than I knew “Hammer” and “Big” John at the time. I wonder if we would have become friends if things would have happened differently for him back in 1987? I suspect we would have. In light of that I dedicate this article, inspired by an old picture of a great day on the ocean, to the memory of a fine young captain that was definitely taken from us too soon. §
