Hi Mike - I well remember that day. We had Codfish Kenny along on that trip. Complaining the whole day, if I recall correctly. Some things never change.
Now I'll test YOUR memory.
Do you recall the trip to 17, maybe 15-16 seasons ago, during which we "rescued" Billy/NoTack's anchor and line? Now that was a "trip," in more ways than one!
For those that weren't there, the back story was that I had found a little "lump" on the SE side of 17 that was always loaded with big-ass tog. And I do mean always, as in every freakin' trip for about 8 seasons it was the only place I needed to fish down there. Never have I had a drop, for any species, that was as consistent as that tiny piece.
So my dear, now-departed buddy, Billy/NoTacks used to dock his own 26' Shamrock (a slightly mangy sister to my boat) right alongside me, behind a mutual friend's house in Seaford.
Billy was a great friend, but his fishing skills did need some assistance, as he would drool at the sight of the multi-tub catches that me and the boys would regularly bring back to the dock, from our forays to 17 and the near-by environs. He never came close to that kind of catching, despite my best efforts to bring him up to speed, verbally.
Billy needed more direct help, and after what seemed like endless asks for further info, I finally relented and gave him the numbers to my "secret" drop, along with some intel on how best to fish it.
As I said, Billy was a great and very helpful dock-mate, and so I felt somewhat obligated to help him out, after he had assisted me with some nasty boat-related repair or other. Who could possibly recall what that particular job was? Back in the day we were always tinkering around with our boats, and sometimes we actually managed to fix what was wrong, without screwing up two other things. Hey, think "learning curve." Everybody has to start somewhere, right? Anyway, he was super thankful for the info and promptly sailed down there on the very next decent day.
He called me that night to tell me he did go there, but had encountered a "slight" problem fishing it. Turns out that he had put a fresh 300' anchor line thru his trusty Good windlass the day before and thought he was all set to hit the big-time drop I had given him.
He did find it and marked it, (those were the days of the yellow Prestone bottle "markers"), ran up tide a good bit and put his anchor in the water. He backed down and backed down some more, and right as he got over the spot, he hit the "Up" button on his windlass control - and nothing happened. The boat didn't stop. So he looked forward - and there was no anchor line in sight.
He had forgotten to tie off the distal end of the line inside his anchor locker, and so the line payed out nicely, as intended, and apparently the very end payed out - right thru the windlass and pulpit and right the hell overboard. Can you say "GOOOOGAN move?" Wowza! So not having a spare anchoring setup on board, that was the end of that trip for the No Tacks.
He did sail back there later that week and attempted to grapple back his ground gear, but never did get it. So $300+ of line and chain, plus the 22lb Danforth, swivel and shackles, he was out a good penny.
Now flash forward three seasons. I was still fishing that drop, and had Capt. Mike aboard, for a two-man trip down there. I do recall we did quite well that particular trip, never having to lift the anchor a single time to make our catch. When it was time to go, I hauled back the anchor with my trusty Good windlass and when I got the anchor up in the pulpit, I noticed there was a line wrapped around it.
Further background - in those days there were a couple of lobstermen left that were still fishing 17, though that would pretty much end in a few more seasons. They would put their strings right next to and sometimes over my drop - and so it wasn't an unusual event to hang my anchor in their warps, which is why to this day I paint my anchor with white Rustoleum every Spring, so to be able to see the black poly warp lines wrapped in my anchor while it was still 10-20 feet deep, under the boat.
My windlass was strong enough to pull the warp that far, but many times it couldn't generate enough upward "umph" to bring the snagged anchor all the way to the pulpit. So it was always a big dance party dropping another line down and getting it under the wrapped warp, releasing my anchor and having it drop free, for final retrieval.
But this particular trip, the line was not black poly, it was dingy-looking white nylon. I worked with the windlass and throttle for a bit and got the anchor up to the pulpit. Mike went up thru the deck hatch, untangled the line from my anchor, and together we hauled in the formerly-snagged anchor line, with Billy's anchor still well attached. Dirty AF, but still perfectly serviceable, three seasons after Billy lost it.
That evening I gave Billy a call and told him to go down to our dock to see the "gift" I had left for him - nicely coiled and all. Billy was pretty shocked that his "old" new anchor and line were there, dirty, but otherwise fine. He had pretty much forgotten about that event, for which "memory loss" I could certainly understand. No one likes to be reminded of their screw-ups, right? He did pressure wash his gear the next day and stowed it aboard as a second anchoring system.
So between Capt. Mike and "Capt." Billy I am two-for-two on lost gear retrievals - and certainly hope that is the last time I have to come through like that for my fishing buddies. I'm good, but not THAT good! Hey, even Jake DeGrom is gonna be hard-pressed to go 3-for-3 on Cy Youngs. And he has waaay more skills than I do. For sure!
As for my king-pin drop? Now pounded flat as a pancake by the damnable Roller-trawlers, to the point that it is unidentifiable today, even with my Lowrance HDS - which is far more resolute than the old Sitex CRT I used, back in the day. What a big loss to our collective efforts that was. And many wonder why I've grown tired of the ocean-fishing game, here off the mid-South Shore. Humph.
So anyway, you remember that day, Mike?
