[Fredslist] Ref:a whopper of a tale

Mon May 16 14:25:07 EDT 2022

Hi Tribe,
   I had a most amazing day on the high seas with our mighty Gotham crew, on the first but hopefully not the last Gotham fishing trip last Saturday.
Ok, it was actually more like the calm bay,  not the high seas but hey, let’s not let the truth stand in the way of good story and a good fishing story it was!
Here’s the tale from my perspective.
    For me it started at the crack of dawn.
 I drove to Center Moriches from my South Shore starting location of Hewlett. I took the scenic route on the Loop Parkway, through Point Lookout on the Eastern End of the Long  Beach Barrier Island. I passed the beautiful beaches and over the drawbridge that crosses Reynolds Channel.  One would hardly believe this gorgeous tranquility is only 40 miles from New York City.
 All one sees in this particular area of the Island on Nassau County is the beautiful bay. as It stretches as far as the eye can see, with a view of idyllic scenic marshy islands and wild surrounding grasslands and sea birds.
 It seems that you are somewhere in a sleepy area on the island of Cape Cod.
As I passed early morning desolate Jones Beach and reached the Meadowbrook Parkway, I thought  about this being my first fishing day of the 2022 season. Even though the weather was overcast, it didn’t deter me from landing a big fish. I was so happy and a rush of memories came over me. I grew up on the South Shore of the island and fishing was a ritual. My dad was an old salt of the sea and we always had boats. I would go fishing almost every weekend with him except when I was away at sleep away camp.  I was used to getting up early to catch the tide and follow the birds with my Dad seeking  Fluke and Flounder,  or trolling for Stripe Bass,, Blue Fish or Weakfish. I learned every kind of bait and that fish bite an hour or so  before the tide change, as the movement of water brings in food .
 We’d  count more on the tide to catch fish than the weather report. Fish didn’t care about rain and neither did we as long as there were no small craft warnings.
We would stay out all day, knowing the time by the suns position. The days on the water were pure freedom.
I was hoping for a similar experience on this trip.
  After driving on the  Meadowbrook  Parkway,  I finally reached Sunrise highway which was my 1/2 way point East  but the smooth road was pelting pebbles at my car. Apparently  road work was done but the road  wasn’t cleaned properly. This resulted in  my calm  tranquil trip interrupted by a flat tire.  I was now  stuck out on the highway at 6:30 in the morning. I called roadside assistance but was told I need to tow off the highway first and then it would take them 60-90 minutes to arrive. I would never make the boat at 7:00 to be there  for the 7:30 cast off.  Fortunately a policeman did stop to help get me off the highway following me to a little strip mall with a bagel store. At least I was safe off the highway thinking I could get coffee.
I called Rosie’s Fishing Charter to let them know that I wouldn’t make the boat in time and that they shouldn’t wait for me to arrive.
However Ray Walcott wouldn’t have  any of that. He called me, asked for my location and in true Gotham fashion of always willing to lend a hand, lhightailed out with his brother-in-law law for a 30 minute drive there and 30 minutes back  just to rescue me so I could still make the fishing trip!! I was elated!!!
I knew from that moment on, the day would be special. Our Gotham Fishing Group was understanding I offered my apology for the late arrival and a bagel and cream cheese offering for the delay.
We had a great group of people there. It was nice to finally share a casual day of socializing and bonding with Gotham members, those I knew already, those met for the first time and those I just knew from a zoom meeting.
    The rest of the day was pure fun and r&r. We had lots of fish action. Although many of the fluke had to be released from not meeting the 18.5” size requirement, we did have a thrilling moments netting many keepers as well as two big horseshoe crabs, and a poor Tern was released unharmed.
The big highlight of the day however  was that Steven Somma caught a doormat ( the fisherman’s term for a really big Fluke ). What a natural angler!
Steve said he had never been fishing before! What luck!!  I don’t know if he really understood his feat!
A person can go fishing their entire life and never catch a Fluke this big!!  Now that was thrilling!! What  a fish it was too , weighing in at over 8.65lbs!!! Wow!!!
Let’s just say Steve had an  “Old Man In The Sea” moment that Hemingway would have been proud of. The only difference,
Is he can prove the whole fish below and Steve actually got the chance to devour it!!

Now that’s a good fishing story!!!!

Can’t wait to get on board for the next Gotham Fishing Trip.

👍👍👍👍👍

Susan Schoenberg

[cid:13D27C60-21DC-4415-B032-EACB3E9C02B3]

[cid:9099E77E-6065-4E12-B31A-56F21D5EFBBA]

[cid:1A3254E9-037D-4418-8430-0C626AB1AF35]

[cid:E22E0A9C-6362-4FE9-96B0-98226863DABA]

Sent from my iPhone
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