January fishing was hot and cold. As the month and the new year arrived sailfishing was as good as ever and then suddenly tailed off. The ides of the month came and the action again picked up. Then as January wore down fishing was great during the week but the weekends produced very few results. Proving providence hates the working man,
Bob Poller Miami Advertising executive got up from his Lazy Boy, turned off his television and embarked on a rare nocturnal fishing adventure. Poller went trolling in the dark and caught a swordfish off Haulover Beach. Poller’s son "Woody" AKA Mike stared in the film classic Miami Blues and is also in advertising.
Captain Jim Scardina and his partner Steve Barreto broke in Jim’s new 31 foot SeaVee the "Bet" this month. The new state of the art fishing machine performed well in the rough weather and the inaugural journey was not in vain as the crew captured a 34 inch black grouper and another large fish. Danny Ynclan and Javier Gottardi were along for the ride.
Captain Glen Clyatt hooked a marlin on a spin reel from his charter boat "Mr. Nice" at the Ocean Reef Club. In the course of the battle the line run out and the alert crew tied it to a Penn 20 International reel and the fish was boated. Paul Looney of Cape Cod was the angler.
Mega yacht captain Rick Rahm fished on Billy Martin’s forty foot Tiara "Special K." and had instant success. Rick and Martin put the lines out and immediately hooked up with a large wahoo which they boated and soon it was deja vu all over as another fish struck the bait. The second bite proved to be a clone of the first fish. Satisfied with their early success they decided to call it an early day. Captain Rick runs the "Delicious" and has a son Josh following in the footsteps of Don Shula playing football for John Carroll University Martin is a popular boater and golfer.
Brittany spears a swordfish - Proud papa Captain Ray Rosher took his teenage daughter Brittany sword fishing the other night off Miami and guided the young lady to an outstanding first catch. The thirteen year old lass from the Lone Star State snared a one hundred and fifty pound fish which she battled without help [it’s in the genes] .. The engaging and attractive Miss Rosher a student at the Grandbury Middle School in Grandbury, Texas captured the beast from her father’s charter boat "Miss Britt". Jason Cartwright was the mate.
Captain Ray Rosher then went north and piloted Kit Toomey’s "Get Lit" to a winning first place finish in the Silver Sailfish Derby in Palm Beach with a total of 45 fish. The Miami based tournament vessel caught nine fish the first day, twenty five the second a wound down with eleven on the final day. The victory was achieved through the sterling performance of male model and sportsman Peter Miller [he has appeared in Lexus, Carnival Cruise Lines ads and Bud Lite billboards]. Miller captured 26 of the "Get Lit’s' "entire catch. He dedicated his outstanding effort to his wife super model Ulrika who remained home heavy with child. The crew was the mate Frog Cooper, the attractive and talented angler Charmain Williams and of course owner Kit. Chip Sheehan on the "Cookie finished second with 31 releases. Third place went to Rob Ruwitch’s "Hot Rod" with sportsman and gentleman rod builder Albert Castro and Jeff Archer on board. This World class crew accounted for 28 fish.
Terry Claus stung by the charges that he and his son Trey were mediocre competitors, comparing them to the Pittsburgh Steelers, on the Miami tournament scene answered their critics [or critic] with a vengeance. The duo called Crook and Crook twice on the Sunday before the Mayor’s Cup to report catching 10 for 16 sailfish and a large dolphin in a less than full day of fishing. Even though the action was red hot Terry had to turn his 45 Bertram "Qualifier" toward home to take talented young Trey to baseball practice.
The two day Cheeca Lodge Presidential billfish event was won by the 31 foot Contender "Natural" with 15 sailfish caught and released. John Louis Dudas took second place fishing on Walter Vasquez "Freedom" with the usual cast of characters aboard. Third place went to Florida Key’s Veteran Captain Alex Adler Key Biscayne charter boat Captain Frank Godwin‘s "Sonny Boy" took fourth place with Keith Hudgins a Virginia Stock Broker at the rod.
Jason Smith and Matt Davis of the Water Management Board investigated the salt water conditions the other night in Government Cut. Fishing from Smith’s 17 foot Stricker [sic] they caught six tarpon. The highlight of the evening was Matt’s 85 pound fish which he captured on his fly rod.
The first annual Mayor’s Cup Billfish Tournament out of Bayside Marina at the end of the month was a huge success. A decade from now when Tony Albello is holding his tenth annual event a trivia question will be who caught the first sailfish in the inaugural tournament. The answer Captain Frank Godwin from his charter boat "Sonny Boy". This year seventy six boats competed and there were some interesting developments. Veteran Captain Bouncer Smith won the event from his "Bouncer’s Dusky" cementing his reputation as one of the great competitive fisherman. The ubiquitous Warren Sands a fixture on John Louie Dudas and Walter Vasquez" "Freedom" fishing crew jumped ship [or maybe was pushed] and went off on his own. Sands chartered Ray Rosher’s "Miss Britt" with young Captain Alex Castellanos at the helm. Warren finished second in the top angler division with four fish losing on time. The "Miss Britt" finished in the money in all the right categories and Warren and Alex had the thrill of vanquishing their mentors. The "Miss Britt" posted four catches to three for John Louie and the "Freedom" and the impossible happened when Captain Ray Rosher, who probably spread himself too thin fishing back to back tournaments, went fishless. An unofficial competition between teams representing independent Marine stores was won by Crook and Crook’s super fisherman Jack Agramonte who captured the largest dolphin a 10 pound nine ounce beast. Agramonte fished from Captain David Smyth’s [who captured a giant swordfish last summer in excess of two hundred pounds] "Enemy Lines"
The castoff team from the "Money Shot" fished the Reef cup and made a great comeback. Captain Mat Tambor, Aron Nusbaum and Mike Green fished from the "Top Hat" and guided young Sam Blount to the junior angler trophy.
That’s it for this month fans. I close with the quote of the month..
When Bob Poller finally captured his swordfish after an epic battle he screamed, "I’m too old for this ".
