SilverHamer
05-13-2007, 02:25 AM
Those of you who have known me for a while know that I usually stay offshore when I'm on my job. One of the benefits I enjoy staying out here is that the fishing is really good. This afternoon the red snapper were really schooling around the base of the platform I stay on and between about 4 of us we realized an enormous catch in a very short period of time. Most of the fish we caught weighed an average of just over 5 pounds each...a few weighed less, and some more.
The great fish story, however, comes from the fishing session we had last night. The catch wasn't really very good last night...only about 5 keepers, but there were several that were too small to keep, and a few triggerfish were brought up as well. However, there was one catch in particular that was extremely interesting.
To give you an idea of what this platform is like, the very highest deck (the heliport) is about 120 feet above the surface of the water. The deck from which we usually fish is about 40 feet above the water, and the water's depth out here is about 80 feet. So to fish the bottom means you will be reeling in about 120 feet of line to bring in your catch. You CAN get as close as 10 feet above the water by going down to the boat landing, but to go below the 40 feet level requires the wearing of these really cumbersome life jackets, so we all stay at the 40 feet level.
Last night, the platform's mechanic, Roy, was fishing next to me. He had been the only one of us to have any measure of success catching any keepers, but his final catch would be the one that would have us talking all day. From the corner of my eye I saw Roy jerking his fishing rod up to set the hook on a strike he just received from 120 feet below. The end of his fishing rod was bent pretty good too...Roy began reeling in pretty fast (you have to or the barracuda will have a morsel from your catch if you aren't quick enough), and he looked at me and said, "This doesn't feel like a red snapper...I don't know what it is...", and he stopped to watch his rod, which was still bending...then resumed reeling it in.
When Roy's catch emerged from the water, we were all looking down at it..."what the hell IS that??"...we could not make it out...it certainly was NOT shaped like any fish we'd ever seen...and since it was a bit difficult to see clearly due to the fact that it was just past dusk and there wasn't much ambient light, my first thoughts were that we were possibly looking at some remains of what was left after the barracuda had eaten the good stuff...but there was no head on it either which ruled out THAT possibility. When Roy finally reeled it up to within a few feet of the handrail we were finally able to discern what it was...a very large pair (14") of channel locks! If you don't know what channel locks are, click the link below to view a picture...
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6903/16inchchannellockstg7.gif
Since Roy is a mechanic, he was quite satisfied with his catch because they were still functional. Whoever had lost them overboard had kept a fair amount of lubrication on them so the two pieces of metal had not fused together from corrosion. We have been laughing about this all day today and I surely wish I would have had my camera...especially my video camera...to document this. So how is THAT for a different kind of fish story??
The great fish story, however, comes from the fishing session we had last night. The catch wasn't really very good last night...only about 5 keepers, but there were several that were too small to keep, and a few triggerfish were brought up as well. However, there was one catch in particular that was extremely interesting.
To give you an idea of what this platform is like, the very highest deck (the heliport) is about 120 feet above the surface of the water. The deck from which we usually fish is about 40 feet above the water, and the water's depth out here is about 80 feet. So to fish the bottom means you will be reeling in about 120 feet of line to bring in your catch. You CAN get as close as 10 feet above the water by going down to the boat landing, but to go below the 40 feet level requires the wearing of these really cumbersome life jackets, so we all stay at the 40 feet level.
Last night, the platform's mechanic, Roy, was fishing next to me. He had been the only one of us to have any measure of success catching any keepers, but his final catch would be the one that would have us talking all day. From the corner of my eye I saw Roy jerking his fishing rod up to set the hook on a strike he just received from 120 feet below. The end of his fishing rod was bent pretty good too...Roy began reeling in pretty fast (you have to or the barracuda will have a morsel from your catch if you aren't quick enough), and he looked at me and said, "This doesn't feel like a red snapper...I don't know what it is...", and he stopped to watch his rod, which was still bending...then resumed reeling it in.
When Roy's catch emerged from the water, we were all looking down at it..."what the hell IS that??"...we could not make it out...it certainly was NOT shaped like any fish we'd ever seen...and since it was a bit difficult to see clearly due to the fact that it was just past dusk and there wasn't much ambient light, my first thoughts were that we were possibly looking at some remains of what was left after the barracuda had eaten the good stuff...but there was no head on it either which ruled out THAT possibility. When Roy finally reeled it up to within a few feet of the handrail we were finally able to discern what it was...a very large pair (14") of channel locks! If you don't know what channel locks are, click the link below to view a picture...
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6903/16inchchannellockstg7.gif
Since Roy is a mechanic, he was quite satisfied with his catch because they were still functional. Whoever had lost them overboard had kept a fair amount of lubrication on them so the two pieces of metal had not fused together from corrosion. We have been laughing about this all day today and I surely wish I would have had my camera...especially my video camera...to document this. So how is THAT for a different kind of fish story??