Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
I was half standing, half sitting with one leg up on my helm chair. This is one of my standard positions when I am trying to keep one eye towards the bow watching for other boats and one eye towards the stern so I can help keep watch over the trolling spread. Obviously I don’t have directional eyes like one of those chameleon-type lizard things, but I think you understand what I am trying to convey here.
A captain has to be aware of his surroundings and I was doing my best to be aware of mine. In the background there was some country music being played in my cockpit and some occasional radio chatter on the VHF radios (my boat has three, all monitoring different channels). I had just glanced up at my color fish finder when I heard a high pitched whine unlike I had ever heard on my boat before. My first thought was that some sort of scaly speedster had made a grab at one of my teasers and the reel was ZZZZZing louder than usual. But that wasn’t it. The next thought was that something was wrong with one of my motors, so I took a quick downward glance at the engine gauges and cleared that thought away. Then I heard it. Over the whine.
“One white marlin release for the ‘Fish Bone’ right now.” It was another captain calling in a white marlin release to the tournament committee boat and the “whine” was in fact a group of ladies hooting, hollering and generally squealing in excitement. Day one of the 25th annual Captain Steve Harman’s Poor Girls Open was well under way.
Those of you who read my column regularly know that I am a huge fan of the Poor Girls tournament. Captain Steve was my friend. I was there at the beginning to help Steve and his wife Pam when they came up with the idea for the tournament. I have supported this tournament from day one and I will continue to support it until I can’t climb up to the helm and grab the wheel anymore. I feel that strongly about it. However, there is more to my love of this tournament than just my historical tie to its founder and its origin.
First off, my boat just smells better during the Poor Girls Open. Instead of six burly oafs that slept in their truck in the parking lot the night before the trip, I typically have four or five lovely perfumed ladies in matching outfits scattered throughout my boat. Their clothes are clean. Their drink coolers are better organized (not any less full of libations than the aforementioned burly oafs, although maybe more wine than beer). The snacks are fancier. It is just a better overall presentation to start the day.
The next thing I notice about the ladies in this tournament is that they are generally better anglers than their male counterparts. I don’t necessarily mean that they are more skilled or can whip the fish faster than the guys, although I have been fortunate enough to fish with several ladies who are more skilled and do whip ‘em pretty darn quick. What I am saying is that they are more willing to listen to and follow the instructions from the crew. Ladies use more finesse than brute force. Mind over muscle.
The ladies are also more supportive of their teammates than the guys usually are while on the boat. At times it seams like Joe Fisherman actually wants his buddy to screw up and lose a fish. Jane Fisherwoman and her posse all cheer for one another. The ladies have the best team spirit. From the matching outfits that I mentioned earlier to the celebration once the catch is made. The ladies have it all over the guys.
My Poor Girls group this year consisted of my friends Annette, Becky, Ivy and Rachel (sadly, my Mom and Wife could not join us for the trip this time around). I have known Annette since I was a teenager and if it weren’t for her I would never have met the other three gals. Rachel and Becky have been my partners in all sorts of mischief and Ivy is their pal from work. We set out to catch a good time. If a fish happened to come our way it would be a bonus.
Around 10:30 in the morning we had our first white marlin bite. Mr. Evans was ready and waiting, but somehow the fish got tangled up in the leader and the hook never struck home. Thankfully it was only about twenty minutes later and we had an energetic white stripping line off the reel and going full acrobat on us. It was Ivy’s turn on the rod and even though she had never been big game fishing before she put an aquatic smackdown on Whitey and we had the release in short order.
About 45 minutes after Ivy’s fish was set free another white came up to our left teaser. It looked like it was hooked-up solid, but somehow the hook pulled free after a very brief moment or two. With our tally sitting at 1 for 3 I knew Mr. Evans would be after the next bite with a vengeance, or ol’ sneaky whitey would hang himself on the short rigger “big bait”. Either way we were hung tight on marlin number two and it was Becky’s turn in the fighting chair.
Becky is just a little thing. I would describe her as “fun sized”. Seeing her struggling to hold on to a 50 pound class rod with a hot marlin on the other end brought out my compassionate side and I instructed Mr. Evans to fit her with a shoulder harness to make it easier on her arms (plus I knew her arm strength would be needed for hoisting celebratory cocktails later in the evening). The plan worked and Becky had her first white marlin posing for pics next to the boat just a few minutes later.
That was our last bite for the trip. I can’t complain though. Two of my girls caught their first white marlin. All four of my girls had a blast cranking the tunes and making the drink cooler lighter on the ride home. When we got back to the dock, Becky and Ivy took the customary leap in the creek for catching their first marlin. Their smiles kept me smiling the rest of the night.
The Poor Girls Open is the largest ladies tournament in the world, but to me it is much more than that. It is one of my favorite trips of the year. I have a good time with my friends and honor the memory of my friend Steve Harman. I want to say a big thank you to the Harman Family, Earl Connolly and all of the volunteers and the staff at Bahia Marina. Congratulations to all of the winners, and extra big congrats to Becky and Ivy!
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. To book a trip on the “Last Call”, call 443-783-3699.
