Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
I was watching the seconds tick down on the microwave. Three. Two. One. Beeeeeepppp. Then I hit the minute button again so that the Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits would be properly heated. Two packs of the 2-pack mini biscuits cook best at two minutes. And in the microwave on the “Last Call” that means two separate minute intervals because the “1 min” button and the door opener are the only buttons that still work. That being said, this microwave has been the best one we have ever had, so I will continue to deal with its idiosyncrasies. (Boy I hope I didn’t jinx anything here).
At the start of fishing every morning I prepare breakfast for any of my anglers that want it. On this particular day the only takers were my trusty mate and co-captain Mr. Evans and my Mom. Brooke, our other angler, passed on the offer. We had already caught a gaffer mahi as Mr. Evans and I were setting the baits out, so I was optimistic that it was going to be a good trip. Even when the bites are off to a quick start we never let fishing get in the way of the most important meal of the day, so I was trying to get my chefly duties out of the way most expeditiously. As I was handing the perfectly heated sandwiches to my crew I couldn’t help but notice that the smell of the sausage had attracted another guest that was looking for a morning munching.
“Blue marlin! Right teaser!” I called out while tossing the biscuits to the side and grabbing the 50 lb. outfit with the large ballyhoo rigged on it. Breakfast is really important on the “Last Call”, but blue marlins are more importanter. Much more importanter! As I was getting the ballyhoo in position in the clean water to the side of the teaser, my buddy Blue had his head and shoulders out of the water trying to swallow the entire Squidnation teaser chain. Truly an awesome sight. All within about 20 feet of the transom of the “Last Call”. It was a perfect bait and switch. Dad yanked the teaser away from the marlin. The marlin instantaneously switched its attention to my ballyhoo and did its best Hungry Hungry Hippo impersonation. Or maybe it was Pac-Man. Gulp! Right down its yap.
And I missed it. El Sancochero Magnifico. For those of you that aren’t versed in colloquial Marlinspeak, a San Cocho is when the marlin does its job eating and the guy attempting to hook it does not do his part successfully. Usually the only remnants are the head of the bait hanging off the back of the hook. A totally terrible thing to have happen. Especially when the marlin in question could have been the first one of the Ocean City season. Did I not mention that part earlier? I guess I was trying to forget it. Our main goal for the day was to try and catch the first white marlin of the year for Ocean City. While not as glorious as the first white of the season, the first blue marlin of the season is the next best thing. Literally. And I blew it.
The fish gave me another chance and I was not any more successful the second time. It just wasn’t my day I guess. After circling the area where the bite happened for close to a half hour, we gave up and trolled on to what we hoped were better grounds for us. I also finished preparing the rest of breakfast. Like I said earlier, never let fishing get in the way of the most important meal of the day.
Once our fast had been broken, and we had a few more mahi in the kill box, I went up to the helm to give Dad a break. After I was comfortably settled in behind the wheel, I decided to make some radio calls to the other captains and see how their days were going. Also, over the years I have learned that it is better to admit your screwups right away and get the ridicule over with. Fortunately for me, Dad had already let the boys know of my earlier misfortune, so the wittiest wisecracks had all been used up and I could quickly turn the topic to what everyone else had been catching or not catching. There had been several white marlin seen and san cocho-ed and a few mahis caught. The fact that others had suffered a similar fate as my own didn’t make the situation any better, but at least I was not the only one. The darn fish were just eating wrong. Yeah that’s it. No other explanation for it.
After talking to everyone I knew, I concentrated on watching the baits and wishing for a bite. Right about then someone else got on the radio and said the boat next to them was catching a white marlin. A little red outboard boat with candy cane striped outriggers. They went on to say that they thought the boat was out of Wachapreague. Since I pretty much know every boat in Ocean City I figured the guy on the radio was correct. That boat must be from somewhere else.
WRONG!
Fast forward several hours and I was cleaning up the “Last Call” for the day. My cell phone started ringing and it was the Grand Poobah of Piscatorial Publications himself. Our beloved editor, Larry Jock. He asked me if I had heard of any white marlin being caught during the day because he had a guy call in a white marlin release right around three o’clock. At that point, to the best of my knowledge that had to be the first one of the year. It was a real Cinderella story. Two guys in a 22-foot center console trolling for home at the end of the day in order to conserve fuel. Whammo! A mystery bite that they were hoping was a tuna and it turns out to be a white marlin. Larry and I both proclaimed it to be the first of the season.
WRONG!
About an hour after the call from Larry, I started getting calls and texts from other local fish gossipers and they are all talking about some guy named Dave Nolan catching a white marlin, actually a couple of white marlins before lunch time. At first, I dismissed these rumors because I figured that I would have had to have heard about it out on the rip.
WRONG!
Well sort of… After I had a chance to get home and get cleaned up, I decided to do a little sleuthing myself. The first step was to find the origin of the rumors. Turns out it was this dude Ryan that I kind of knew, and he was friends with this other dude Dave, that might have caught the marlin. Through the magic of social media I contacted Ryan and asked him to get Dave in touch with me. Come to find out, that Dave was still out fishing and was going to stay for the night, but Ryan was going to try and use his Garmin Inreach device to reach Dave’s Garmin Inreach device, and subsequently get Dave to Inreach me. On my cell phone.
While having a few frosty beverages at the Ocean City Marlin Club, I put my sleuthing hat back on. Since I had not heard from this fella Dave yet I was going to seek him out. Through social media. Facebook to be exact. My quest for Dave Nolan found me no less than three Dave Nolan’s that I had mutual fishing friends in common with. As luck would have it, the last one I looked up on Facebook had a very interesting picture with follow-up video on his page. A red outboard boat with, you guessed it, red and white candy cane striped outriggers.
Wachapreague my butt! This guy was launching at the West Ocean City ramp. Here I had known the truth all along. But I didn’t know it was true. Fast forward again to Sunday morning and I had received the confirmation from Dave on his Inreach and later on his cell phone, both to my cell phone. His crew had the first, and second white marlins for the year.
Unfortunately for the guy on the 22 footer, the third white marlin was not lucky or the charm. Luckily for me, Larry had to break the news to him first.
I have since talked to that gentleman for quite a while on the phone. Even though he was disappointed that his fish was not the first of the year, he handled it like a true sportsman and still walks away with one heck of a fish story from the day. Much better than mine. He at least hooked his.
Capt Franky Pettolina is Co-Captain of the charter boat, “Last Call” which is docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center, 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.
