"As The Propeller Turns"

Big TULE · 06-22-2003, 09:38 AM

Have you ever started singing on your way back to fishcamp about your day on the big blue, to the tune of Gilligans Island? We came up with some great things @ 0100 in the morning trapped in a little white car on our way back to fish camp...

Well i would like to say thank you very much to PILAR, who is awesome... Great boat and great fishing. Can't wait to do it again.Thank you Very much shipmate...

It all started Friday night at fish camp with some raw TUNA and Barley POP, Tuna fever was in the air... And i will let PILAR finish the story if he wishes... But i can tell you it was very close to an "As the Impellor Turns Stories".

Oh yeah we had 3 FB's 3 nice COHO, and a nice ling cod in the PILAR. FB were 36, 42,& 46. COHO were all in the 4-8 LB range.

[ 06-22-2003, 10:44 AM: Message edited by: Big TULE ]

OceanBlue · 06-22-2003, 10:50 AM

Great lead-in Big TULE. I just got off the phone with Pilar. What a wild adventure!

I'll give you the headlines and John can fill in the story...

Pilar Limits on Halibut and Coho - in by 9PM!
Truck Troubles Leave 3 Stranded in Newport
Skein in Hospital - Labor Begins :grin: (Okay,it's reported to be kidney stones, but what's the diff really?)
Blubeast Makes First Solo Voyage - LIMITS at Ranch!
And finally -
Puffin Bags a Big One!

Anyone believe that old wive's tale about harming a sunfish bringing bad luck?

Sure was a mixed bag this week!

Pilar is still in Newport helping out with Skein and DipSeaDiver's 5th wheel. Janis has to get the thing home on her own while Jim is laid up. He'll be back sometime tonight and hopefully get some time to fill in the details on this very eventful trip. :shocked:

06-22-2003, 10:56 AM

Bummer on the kidney stones :depressed: They're the most pain I have ever had. Every one should drink 8-12 cups of water a day to prevent them.
Jim,
Hope you pass them quick.

BB,
[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]
Thanks again for the place to stay.

[ 06-22-2003, 11:57 AM: Message edited by: Keta ]

Fishplay · 06-22-2003, 12:17 PM

OUCH! The worst pain I ever experienced was from kidney stones; and I've been run over by a highlead turn of logs before. :shocked:

Bring on the Tordal! Quick! [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

PeterMac · 06-22-2003, 01:29 PM

But wait there's more!

In tonights episode:

Bigfoot spotted walk/running along hyway 101, no wait it was Pilar :shocked: . Potential jumper seen on Newport bridge [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] . Fast cars, and even faster talking women [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] . Cars that don't go so fast, er, or don't go at all :depressed: . Salty dogs pose as sardines in a can, well, maybe in a subaru

. Carnage slathered dogs enter unsuspecting Thriftway, way after hours..... [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

Should be a dandy :smile:

PeterMac

Ragnar · 06-22-2003, 01:47 PM

I'll look forward to it with "baited" breath (pun intended). Uh, yeah there Peter Mac. That's a big ten-four on the the funny stuff.... :grin: It's nice to have people around that enjoy that particular brand of humor.... :shocked: Unfourtunately, it's an acquired taste. Your lucky I didn't whip-out the Tom Jones Impersonation on ya'. That's always a real crowd pleaser! I do wish I could've stuck around for another day just for grins and maybe more of that cobbler. Giddy-up! If it's any consolation.... I'm still wearing the same clothes. Geez! Am I ripe! I got a little sidetracked in the town of Chinook last night on the way back home last night (I didn't exactly make it home last night). That's all I'm gonna/can say about that.
Any-who,
I am out for a while Amigos. Take care and be safe out there. Best of luck to you all.
Ragnar

PeterMac · 06-22-2003, 02:34 PM

I'm your huckleberry ragnar.... Darn, you didn't get to do the Sean Connery impersination!

PeterMac

Big TULE · 06-22-2003, 03:38 PM

Hey PETER you were great out there, and a trooper all day. I am glad we met and fished together we will have to get together for some river fishing. Man was that an adventure or what. Look out for carnage on the bridge because of a dead cell phone...

I have had the song Mustang Sally in my head all day.

DipSeaDiver · 06-22-2003, 05:51 PM

Although we've heard first hand most of the details of "As the propeller turns", I look forward to reading about it in print. I'm sure there are those who will make it very interesting reading. :grin:

Just wanted to let you know that Skein is alive and well back in Sweet Home and feeling much better. His "butt's" a little kicked, but I think the labor is over. Thanks so... much for the offers of help and to Bluebeast and his lady as well as Pilar for helping me to finish loading the trailer. [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img] I got us safely home. Jim was on some good stuff, so he wasn't even frightened.

We'll be watching for more episodes and reports and more good fishing adventures.

OceanBlue · 06-22-2003, 07:22 PM

Funny... Mustang Sally has been ringing through my head all night.

Ride, Sally, Ride.... Or should I say, "Drive, Sally, Drive!?

I'm so glad that Skein is feeling better! Or at least resting comfortably. My dad is one of the toughest men I know. Cut his finger almost clean off with an ice skate (okay

) Cut another finger off except for a flap of skin with a chainsaw (okay, again

) and any number of other injuries that would make the toughest of men cry, faint or otherwise turn to mush, but the one thing that brought him literally to his knees was a kidney stone. Crawling across the floor screaming and wretching like he was dying. Lemme tell ya, I've got a great deal of respect for what Jim's gone/going through! :shocked:

[ 06-22-2003, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: OceanBlue ]

skein · 06-22-2003, 07:37 PM

Hey, let's go fishing! I'm all better now. They say kidney stones are like childbirth, but I'm not about to steal that thunder from our womenfolk, and besides, when the stone is gone so is the pain. Almost that quickly. Big-time KUDO's to the gang at the emergency room in Newport. Wow! They were all over me.

That's two of those stones I've passed in Newport. Something about being hammered on the waves. I'm thinking all my fishing buddies should buy air-ride seats for ALL their passengers!

All in all, though, a great weekend. It was DipSeaDiver's birthday on Saturday, and she landed a great chinook - 39 inches and maybe 20 lbs. Nice fish. Good time. Thanks Gregotis for taking us out for her birthday trip.

And thanks to Taylor's Viewpoint for the halibut trip the day before. Fun times with great people.

Uh...same time next weekend?

Skein

OceanBlue · 06-22-2003, 08:02 PM

Wow! Glad you're feeling better! And Happy B-day to Janis! Dang. She had to endure another number AND your falling ill? Big hugs for both of you!

06-23-2003, 08:17 AM

Skein,
DRINK YOUR WATER
Glad it passed quickly. I did two 4 hours apart and the second one took 5 days :depressed:

blubeast · 06-23-2003, 11:18 PM

Jen, you neglected to include the broken boat motor starter Pilar had had the Ranch... especially his 'guote for the day'..."Gentlemen, we have TWO problems... an empty fish box and a broken starter... and we're not fixing the second till the first is fixed!"

We filled the box and John used his 'engine-uity' to jump start the second. Great day... great fishing.

Skein... GREAT to see your post... and that you're raring to go again. Maybe you need to change your handle to TIMEX... 'takes a licken and keeps on fishn'

[ 06-23-2003, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: blubeast ]

Pilar · 06-27-2003, 11:40 PM

Well, I'm back for a few days. Getting the blue boat ready for forward deployment closer to the front.

You guys crack me up with all the weather and SST second guessing.

Here's what I can remember about the last 3 halibut days.

Thursday ...

I fished with Coldsteel and Hoggemin. We had a little delay at the start but who has not left the fishing license in the truck? I've only done it a hundred times myself. We went out to the ranch and enjoyed a pretty nice ride. The 3 of us bagged a limit of nice halibut. Another perfect day on the water and the perfect antidote to an over dose of work. Nathan and Mike you have to help me fill in the details here. I remember having a great time and you guys were good crew.

Friday ..

The Tuna jones almost got me into running out for the bullets. Blubeast was inclined to get back in time for some last minute fussing over his boat. So we decided to run to the ranch for a little halibut action. This second day was pretty nice and the ride to the ranch was smooth. We got there to the ranch and no drift and a smooth calm sea. Ragnar and Blubeast dropped down and I soon followed. I had allowed for a drift in the initial position but we never moved. So I had the crew reel up and cranked the boat to start up and go. Tried to start and got a muffled groan out of the starter. 'Click, groan, click' Not good.

Thought about the batteries, both new and fully charged .. Hmmm try 'both' on the switch. 'Click, groan'. Dangit!

Part of being the guy in charge is always having the answer.

Or at least not letting your crew think anything different. To be honest the whole boat won't start thing was a total surprise and was unsettling to say the least. I thought about the other 2 guys in the boat with me and used humor to work the problem.

"Alright, we have 2 problems ... the fish box is empty and the boat won't start. Let's get on our drift and fix the first problem." After all the CG would not delay rescue operations and allow us to get a limit .... No worries, nice flat day and no wind. Fire up the kicker and move 300 yds for the drift. After a little run and gun on the 15 horse we bagged 3 nice fish and quite a few smaller ones.

Now back to the starter. I figured out the problem was not dead battery but ground wire or starter battery cable corrosion. Sure enough the wiring on the starter was green. I took it apart and scraped the parts to get a good connection.

The motor would almost crank but not quite. An improvement anyway. I went into the strap between solenoid and starter field and brush leads for some more cleanup. The field lead came off in my hand when I unbolted the strap. Looking down into the hole I could see the spot where the lead snapped off. So the fix was to make the connection with both screwdrivers from the field pole and the solenoid.

Dale turned the key and it fired right up. There was a great sense of relief and we headed in at a gallop with our tails up and our heads high. They did not know that I did not have the answer. But they believed in me and we got it done. Thanks guys you both were alot of fun in the boat. I managed to get the starter changed out and totally enjoyed the antics and voice impressions of Ragnar. That guy can make you laugh!!! Ask him to do Sean Connery in 'Highlander', it's priceless. We also got a bucket of herring in just a few hours while testing the repairs.

Saturday...

On Friday night, Tuna madness fanned by raw product and recent kill stories provided by Threemuch at fish camp went into the full blown planning and instigation phase. We stood in Dales front yard munching on raw albacore and howling at the moon. My crew and Ragnar helped me cram all the stuff into the boat that we would need to run from Depoe in the morning. We decided to run from Depoe and return to Newport. The idea was to run west and TUNA! for 3 or 4 hours and then come in and attempt the grand salami. TUNA!, Buts and Salmon in the same day. The ocean was so nice before we came back to camp ... I just knew it would still be that way in the morning.

Wrong!!!! we got about 5 miles out and it just got worse and worse. Short confused chop and a little wind. I could not keep up with Rod and soon Gregotis was bailing and turning into a Coho fisherman. Rod charged ahead and I called him up and told him I was out too. Big Tule and Petermac were understanding and we revised our float plan. Salmon for a while and then head south for the Rockpile and some Flatties.

Salmon was kind of rough because I was totally unprepared for it. We managed to borrow a down rigger ball from Corrirod and a net from Andy Coho but could not land a fish. I got a nice little king on but he blew us off right at the boat. I was bummed and muttering under my breath about harpooning the next salmon that cam to the boat.

Soon we heard from the 'Puffin' and a monster fish he had caught. This motivated us to move south. We arrived after about a 40 minute, 20 mile ride through a not so nice ocean. It got better as the day went on but it was a not nice day. No fish to be had at the north end of the pile. Corrirod came in too and he was not geting any results either. We fished and we fished and we fished and we fished ... Nada!!!

Soon 'Puffin' was taunting us on the radio again about an 8' long halibut that did a driveby on his boat. It was as long as the Ed wing was wide. We 'chatted' with Jon for a while and the fish just kept getting bigger with every call. Corrirod slipped away and soon was calling us from his new location on the south end of the rockpile. He was saying 'fishon' on the radio. We hauled for like the 10th time and jammed on down to join him. I have a problem with leaving biting fish to chase radio fish but we were leaving nothing behind in my estimation.

Soon we were getting the bent rod in a big way. In about an hour we caught 5 or 6 halibut and 3 for the box. That hour was probably some of the best halibut fishing I have ever seen and well worth waiting all day for. Stoygen Princess soon joined us and then 'Puffin'. We caught about 15 fish in the hour and a half for 4 boats.

Last hurrah was salmon on the way in. Silvers and whatever. It was late like 7 or so but what the hell it was on the way in. We trolled around and got 3 silvers and learned all over again about catching these flashy little devils. That net really came in handy, thanks, AndyCoho. 'Puffin' said he would give us a shuttle up to Depoe so we could recover our rigs. Stoygen princess offered too. My crew was big grins all around. What a killer day so far.

We went in about 8:30 and found no one we knew in the boat basin. I walked around and tried to bum a ride from other fishermen but to no avail. At about 2130 I started walking north on 101. I tried to call Petermac bu the phone went dead and it started to rain. I stopped at Kjeldsens and got the number for a cab. $47 for a ride to Depoe and $22 to Otter rock. Looking back now I should have beelined it to fish camp, if only to let the rest of the bunch know we were feet dry and happy.

I went on down 101 kicking rocks and talking to myself about a total lack of any planning regarding rides, cell phone batteried, rain and a bunch of other stuff. I was walking with my thumb out.

A car swerved into the restaurant parking lot just ahead and the driver waved me on. I got to the car a 5.0 1993 Mustang and after a little hesitation got in. It had been 10 years or better since I hitched a ride. The driver might have weighed 95 pounds dripping wet and her name was Tracy. She told me to put on my seat belt and that she was going just to the other end of Newport. She also said she needed to get some gas. We roared off through Newport at 55 or better and then swerved into a gas station. I bought 'Tracy' a tank full and away we went. I told her about the whole fishing ordeal and she agreed to take me back to Depoe.

Man that girl could talk fast. I got maybe 3 or 4 words in during the whole trip to Depoe. From Newport chevron we made the trip to Depoe in just under 15 minutes. I don't really want to know how fast that is. I also know just about everything there is to know about 'Mustang Sally' she told me her lifes story in just 15 minutes.

She waved goodbye and thanked me for the gas and roared out of the Depoe Bay parking lot with both tires smoking for at least a hundred feet. I could hear her burning em again on the 101 going south. I hopped in the truck and cranked it. No dice. I pumped the pedal and cranked some more. It then flooded and would not go.

Now what do I do?

I charged the battery on the phone from the cigarette lighter and called Petermac. Jimmy Carl Black had a key stashed under his car bumper and I drove his Subaru back to Newport. 5 big fishing dudes, a cooler full of fish and some other stuff all fit in a legacy wagon.

We got back to camp well after midnight. I found a note about 'Puffin's' 117 pound fish on the door of my room. What a day. Thanks for the memories you guys, I will remember it for a long time to come.

Pilar · 07-01-2003, 03:37 PM

Chris, waiting far some action.

Big Tule on! It's FB coming to the boat. We waited all day for this moment.

Pete + Salmon = mess

A halibut on deck.

A perfect sunset. About 5 miles west of newport Oregon.

BUGLEMAN · 07-01-2003, 05:12 PM

Dude!

corrirod · 07-01-2003, 06:53 PM

I'm glad you brought up the sunset John, man what a beautiful sight. Here are a couple of pics that we took of it. The high res shots are poster quality.

PeterMac · 07-01-2003, 07:59 PM

John, thank YOU for the great day. Wouldn't change a thing! :grin: Those pics are awesome!

PeterMac

Big TULE · 07-01-2003, 10:01 PM

Hey John And Peter thanks for making my day on the blue so great. I enjoyed the company and the fish. I wish i would have brought more water but oh well lesons learned...
And man with all this talk about TUNA, i need to get out there and catch a few.