Salty newby story

[Ragnar]

O.k. Here goes.... Oct. 15 2001 a coworker (superviser) and I both caught a terrible case of "Carpe' Diem Syndrome" and headed to Long beach for a 4:00 pm clam tide. The plan was to get down there very early to beat the crowds and also pick up some other tasty marine life while we were there. I had made arrangements with one of the local seafood mearchants to buy some tuna at a decent price, so I threw 5 or 6 coolers in my little Toyota truck. Once we got there, we bought 200lbs. of tuna and my friend bought 60lbs. of coho. In addiyion to that, we also grabbed 15lbs. of tuna carcs for crab bait. Down to the North Jetty we go all loaded down. I had made these cool little crab catcher doo-dads that you can cast with your fishing rod (I'm sure you've all seen this type of thing in sporting good stores), but mine don't cost an arm and a leg. Anyway, Over the rocks we go with a gunny sack and crab guage with our surf rods in tow. We only had like an hour to kill before we needed to head up the beach for clams so we only stayed for 45mins. In that time we kept 13 legal crab between the two of us and probably released twice that many. Off to Oysterville we went to get our limits of clams in 20mins. Loaded down with "The Skipper's Platter" we headed for the barn. What a day. What a haul. Man, with all the tuna activty on this site...What's a brother (without a sufficiant boat) gotta do to get out here and catch his own tuna. That sounds totally awesome! I'm a pretty good deckhand [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img] I promise, I'll be your friend! :grin: I had no idea that there was this much interest in the whole sport tuna thing. Sounds like blood and guts! YEAH BABY! YEAH!
Ragnar

[corrirod]

Welcome aboard Ragnar, and I'm sure you'll be a member of the Tunaholics also soon!

Hang around the board and I'm sure you'll find a seat with someone. I occasionally have a seat open and would be glad to have you aboard.

[puffins crew]

Welcome aboard,

Nice haul, Plenty of fine eats there.

Tuna on a standup pole fights light nothing I have ever hooked befor!! Cant wait for the warm water to come in close.

Peace, Tom



(ps) do Tuna bleed alot?? :grin:

[ 01-30-2003, 01:58 PM: Message edited by: puffins crew ]

[Ragnar]

This is so nice here on this site. Everyone is just really nice. Wow! I used to **** myself out on the public fish cleaning tables in Homer, AK during my vacations there. In addition to that, I would convince a halibut skipper to let me be one of his deckhands for the day during my vacation time so that I could fish for free. Talk about a win-win! The customers really grooved on it because, here I hadn't had to deal with pukers all season long, only for a couple weeks. I got to meet new people everyday and I just gave my tips to the regular deckhand. Hell, I was there on paid vacation and he was trying to go through school. I didn't want to take money from him. I just wanted the halibut and I got it. Within two weeks my Dad and I filled a 14sq ft. chest freezer with fillets. It was great! I'd recommend it to anyone who can bait a hook, gaff a halibut and wash down the barf from some sweet old lady who just lost her teeth (dentures) over the side(poor thing). :depressed: Anyway, I am no stranger to the "Carnage" and I love my tuner-fish. I have some regular pics of the deck covered with "white bellies." Sometimes I felt like stripping down to my skivies and just roll around in them like a dog. Is that wrong? I'm only kidding of course, Those thing have some teeth on'em. A guy could hurt him self! I have an All-star sturgeon rod with a 7000 ambassder-80 tuff. Is that suitable for longfins? Do I need a rod w/ rollers on it? What all shoud I bring along should I get called to the front lines in Tuna-town. Thanks for the cozy welcome.
Ragnar

[Mr. Fisherman]

You crack me up Ragnar, It won't be long now. I've got a boat and I'll know if it's worthy before long. Keep in touch...
"Is that wrong"? [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[PeterMac]

PeterMac

[Ragnar]

Mr. Fisherman, I'll be looking forward to it! It's nice to be amongst fellow "sick-os." A safe and happy place. Where it's "O.K." to be me. You can feel the love my brothers. O.K. group hug everyone. Hey buddy! If your tryin' to shake my hand? That's not it! :shocked:
Ragnar

[Miss B Haven]

Welcome aboard ragnar! good post, LMAO. Make sure you search the salty dogs for "12 step". You'll need to understand the rules for TUNA! :grin:

[corrirod]

Tunaholic 12 Step Program


Tunaholic Serenity Prayer:

”God grant me the serenity to accept the fact I cannot go out for tuna today, the courage to live another day without tuna, and the wisdom to know they will come again.”

12 Steps To Recovery

1) Put the poles down and slowly back away.

2) Stop hiding lures in various places thru out the house.

3) Never mistakenly call your spouse "Tuna" during lovemaking.

4) As hard as it is to believe, not everyone enjoys tuna fishing.

5) Selling your car in order to buy more gas to go tuna fishing is not recommended.

6) There are other fish in the sea, I think .

7) Leaving work daily to get home and accept packages from UPS/FedX is wrong.

8) No more telling your spouse the truck broke down while you were out fishing so you'll have to stay another day, or in extreme cases a week.

9) If extreme withdrawals have set in, for instance random "hook setting" while at work or home, or making the zzzzzzzzzzzz sound constantly, do not let the tunaholic near any fishing articles like magazines, fishing gear, or boats as that will make matters worse.

10) Tuna fishing is not a replacement for eating.

11) Unlike AA, recovery should be made away from other tunaholics. Gathering tunaholics will only create more problems.

12) It is not acceptable to miss your child's birth because you were out tuna fishing. (My wife told me that one)

Please refer to these steps in order to stay on the right path in the future.

[ 04-07-2003, 09:07 PM: Message edited by: corrirod ]

[OceanBlue]

Welcome Ragnar! Watch for details on the next Tunaholics meeting (Monday, Feb 3)...

Join us and meet some fellow "sick-o's" :whazzup: Wait a sec... Isn't crossing miles and miles of open water, hunting for just the right spot, playing with porpoise and other marine life along the way, the thrill of getting into the fish, the hours of steeping in tuna blood followed by the joyous and triumphant return to the docks... normal? :grin:

[Ragnar]

Thanks Pilar's Mate and all you "Salties" for the kind words and formal invite. I am sure many of you can relate, my close connection with the sea. I think mine is in my DNA, past down from my father. He was a Coastie at Blunt's Reef (lightship) in Cal. and at Cape Dissappointment Coastguard Station in Illwaco, WA. Man, he sure had some great stories. I wish he was still around to share them with you all. Unfortunately, He died a year ago to cancer. Anyway, I regret to inform you, I will out of town for the next week. Maybe I can catch the next one. Are there any in the SW WA area? Or Portland Metro? I live in Vancouver,WA. Are these meetings a formal deal where you have a "Grand Poo-Baw" and make motions to speak, and then second that motion to take action? Or is it a pot-luck or restaurant shin-dig where people get together and just hang out. Either way, "I'm down with that" (as the kids say). If the meetings are all out of town for me, I may have to take a day or two off and just go do it. Maybe take in some of the local scene while in whatever town I land. Any secret handshakes I should know about?
Ragnar

[OceanBlue]

Ragnar:

We call them "meetings". But really, there's nothing formal. We sometimes have name-tags so's everyone can see who everyone else is... but that's about as stuffy as it gets. We just get together at an establishment (that thinks they can handle us) and shoot the breeze, swap stories, share pictures, experience. Sometimes guys will bring gear to show off or demonstrate. We had a home video and a 'historical' video at the last one. Monday's meeting will hopefully feature an instructional bar-crossing vid.

We ALWAYS have a great time!

Hope to see you there!

[Ragnar]

Pilar's Mate. unfortunately,I will be in Maryland all next week. I see there's a meeting coming up in March (looks like the 15th), that sounds awesome! A trip like that, I'd pobably be coming alone. If it was closer for me, I might be able to take a couple of fishing friends along. These guys just spent X-mas in Mexico chasing yellowfin and darado. Yep, sounds pretty rough huh? They (father and son) have expressed alot of interest in going on one of those lonf range tuna boats out of San Diego. $$$$$$$$ Holy Hot Pockets Batman! That's a little rich for my blood. I'd be just as happy with some longfin. I think that may be a good local alternative for them. I think it will be my primary choice. I would certainly like to make it to the Newport TA meeting, that sounds like a real hoot! I have no suitable watercraft, no canopy on my truck (sleeping shelter), and not much to offer having not been tuna fishing plus I have Narcolepsy. Yes indeed I'm real fun at parties! Hey! let's put weird things in his mouth and all take pictures of him while he's asleep! Tee-Hee-Hee! However, i am an alumnum/stainless welder and may be able to come up with some cool door prizes. Any ideas? Fishy cut-outs (siloettes), Lead trays, gaffs?
Ragnar

[Mr. Fisherman]

Dude, you just made more crew rosters than you can shake a pen at.
Lets see, lead trays and gaffs and cut outs OH MY!

[Slow Roll]

Ragnar,
Welcome to the fun!!
I am in the same boat (or lack there of) as you are. Never Tuna fished but it sounds like a real blast to me. You gotta watch these people, when reading their words you can picture that fanatical glazed look come over them and then they start to drool a little, then the pointing and the arm waving and phantom hookseting techinques start to appear (see pictures of Miss B Haven at the last tuna meeting), then they start in on how to cark a tuna, who can do it faster, etc.; after that starts (usually within about 10 minutes) it all just goes downhill from there.
Don't know about you but it sounds like a great group to be part of to me. :grin:

Be careful on what you offer, you will have orders coming out your ears. Probably for custom rod holders to be built and installed. Do a search on yellow poles and their amazing ability to disappearat whim sometime. Its really quite astounding.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Its nothin' but fun.

Paul B.

[Ragnar]

Mr.Fisherman, don't make me whip-out the custom made fish totes, fuel tanks or dare I say "smokers." (feel free to insert Dr, Evil finger to the corner of your mouth here). Ah yes, I think I just might have something to offer after all.... I made a custom (somewhat portable) smokehouse for my buddy's father (his B-day). This thing was "The **** Daddy" of'em all and surely the envy of Ft. Canby (where they camp for 2 wks during the summer). The cost was somewhere around $1500.00. No expense was spared. What a dandy though. And just for the record, my welds don't look like bird poop. I used to work at Pro-tech Ind. You know, the really expensive alum. toolboxes? It was there, I refined my trade. They did not except any poop welding there. You HAD to be good. I think I may tooting my horn a little too much and I appologize. I just didn't want to give the impression that I didn't take pride in my work. I have seen it in others. Woah Baby!
Ragnar

[corrirod]

If you can make me a new radar arch cheaply I may make you a permanent first mate on my boat! :grin: Heck with that, I'll make you captain.................. so I can catch all the fish! :tongue:

[Ragnar]

Corrirod, let's talk. It just so happens, I now work for a place that makes alumniun research boats. I made one a few years back at Pro-tech. It was for a rigid hull inflatable patrol boat. It looked really neeto, it kinda angled back. Made out of 2" almu. tube. Real sharp! E-mail me (see my profile).
Just so you all know.... I have a job already. One-z two-zies are fine but I'm not looking to quit my current job just yet. Afterall, one of the great perks is the use of the shop and all the goodies in it! I only charge time ($25.00/hr.) and materials. It's pretty fair. Now trades (whole or partial) are a other ballgame. I have to go and pack for Maryland. Talk to you all in about a week.
Ragnar

[Mr. Fisherman]

Now hold on there ol' Rod, he ain't even started on my list yet...
My radome is sitting right here on the floor....

[Re:Play]

Ragnar, if you get too swamped with aluminum boat owners who need things for their boat, just remember some of us do have fiberglass boats and would take you along even if we do not need anything welded or built! Hope to see you at the meeting

[corrirod]

Relay,

no aluminum boat owners here, at least not me or Mr. Fisherman. It's the aluminum toys we're after! :grin: As my wife would say,

"It's all about accessorizing!"

[ 01-31-2003, 09:08 PM: Message edited by: corrirod ]

[Mr. Fisherman]

As my wife would say,

"It all about accessorizing!"

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[Re:Play]

Mr. Fisherman, Corrirod, I think all our wives are saying the same thing!

[Mr. Fisherman]

I'm not so sure... Mine is gettin' kind of bent out of joint by all the new "Boat Jewlery" :shocked: