1st Place Wahoo-
North West Palm Beach Fishing Tournament 2014
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Izzy reeled in the 1st place fish in the North Palm Beach Fishing Tournament (her first tournament)! Thanks to Mercury Powered Team Another Round and Captain Hub Spooner! After a long slow day of fishing, I was feeling disappointed that Izzy had not caught a fish yet. Captain Hub rigged us up a line with a bait fish that had so much energy, it must have just left Starbucks. I told Izzy "Watch this rod, as we are going to catch a Sailfish!" Being the impatient person I am I just kept letting line out until the large balloon bobber looked like a lost tennis ball coming from Europe. After a few minutes of trying to "will" in the Sailfish, suddenly the line started to pull. As we watch the line pulling a little at a time, the hungry fish finally won the race against the high energized bait. As the bait realized he's had his last espresso, the line on the reel started to scream. We engaged the reel and set the hook, a huge splash of blue erupted from the sea. "Sailfish!" I yelled. As Izzy's first offshore catch, I knew I needed to give her some nice, calm coaching on how to catch this fish. "REEL!! REEL!! REEL!!" I yelled. In the back of my head I could see the fire drill going on in the boat as everyone on board heard me giving fishing lessons. Our faces exploded with excitement and Izzy reeled like crazy! After a few seconds that seemed like minutes Izzy asked in frustration "Why did you let so much line out?" I replied "REEL!! REEL!! REEL!!" As the fish came up to the boat it appeared the "Sailfish" had been eaten by a Wahoo (or most likely it was a Wahoo all along). I yelled "It's a Wahoo!!" Suddenly everyone got antsy as that was what we needed for the tournament. As the tired fish came to the boat, Captain Hub gaffed him to the deck and yelled, "We gotta go!" Before I knew it the 34 foot vessel leaped out of the water like a Great White shark eating a seal on the Discovery Channel! The Wahoo was flopping on the deck as the boat was flying wide open to reach the weigh-in in time to qualify for the tournament. Racing to beat the clock with a choppy sea and driving rain, we held on tight still with smiles that appeared stuck to our faces. With only 5 minutes left to spare, we made it! And, yes, it was the winning fish. Yep..proud dad indeed! |
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