12/31/03

In the US Virgin Islands, we like to wish people a Happy Old Year, rather than a new one. When I first moved to St. John in 1989 I asked why this tradition was different than the one used in most of the world. The answer was very simple: "we like to celebrate the year which is ending, rather than the year to come, because we know what has already happened but have no idea what the future holds."

Since we're now based in Venezuela, enmired in a political quagmire which has pretty much paralyzed the country, we're not too happy with the year just passed. In the hope for better year to come, please take a minute to read "Ideas for overcoming the crisis facing Venezuela" (in English) from today's electronic edition of El Universal, Venezuela's largest circulation daily newspaper. It offers some pretty sensible suggestions for the future of this country. If you prefer, email me and I will send you a .pdf file (as soon as I can get their permission to do so.)

In any event, Happy Old Year, and a safe and prosperous New Year as well.

Jeff West

12/21/03

We'd like to wish all of you a safe and happy holiday season, and a healthy and release-filled New Year.

We hope you will come back to visit us again next year.

11/10/03

My Three Sons tops the list of yesterday's results with a Super Grand Slam (comprised of 2 blue marlin, 1 white marlin, 1 sailfish and 1 spearfish.) Capt. Warren told me they tried for the "fantasy slam" but were unable to coax a swordfish into eating one of their tempting baits. Pretty work, gentlemen!

Aut-Top-Sea and Post Haste II each released a white marlin yesterday. Capt. Dave Knapp was no luckier at the Casino last night than he has been on previous attempts.

10/25/03

Aut-Top-Sea released 1 white and 1 sailfish; Post Haste II released 1 blue marlin and 2 sailfish.

10/24/03

BudMan slammed out with 1 blue, 2 whites and 2 spearfish. Nice going, Mr. P!

10/19/03

Aut-Top-Sea emerged as the winner of the El Ribazón tournament, releasing 6 whites and a sailfish today for a three day total of 3,600 points.

Post Haste II finished in second place, with 3,100 points, releasing 4 white marlin today.

Southern Comfort released 2 whites today to finish 3rd with 2,600 points. Bob deGabrielle was the top angler.

Big Y ended up 4th with 2,300 points, releasing 1 blue and 1 white today.

My Three Sons released a blue and a white to finish 5th with 1,700 points.

Calienté ended up in 6th place (1,600 points) with 2 whites today.

Just Us released a blue today to finish 7th with a total of 1,400 points.

Vintage did not fish today, and thus finished in 8th place with a 1,000 point total.

The 8 boat fleet released a total of 10 blue marlin, 49 white marlin and 8 sailfish during the three day event. Although most everyone has been complaining that the bite has been slow, this works out to an average of 2.8 billfish releases per boat per day. Only in Venezuela would this be considered "slow."

Thanks to Gabe and Dave for organizing this tournament. Everyone who participated (except the two pigs we're having for dinner) had a good time.

10/18/03

Post Haste II hooked up a nice blue one for Cody (their 11 year old angler) at 4:20 this afternoon, and both he and his dad "did battle' for almost 3 hours before releasing the fish at 7:10 this evening. Their final tally was 1 blue and 1 white, but the points scoring for the tournament has been delayed until tomorrow because of their late arrival at the dock.

Southern Comfort released a white and a sailfish today. Capt. Mike, effusive as always, gave us the following report: "Slow."

Aut-Top-Sea's Coen family released 2 whites today, and the whole family left to go home tomorrow with big smiles on their faces.

Big Y released 1 white and 2 sailfish.

My Three Sons went 2 for 3 or 4 on whitey, and chased a nice blue (over 300 lbs., according to Capt. Warren) down sea for quite a while before pulling the hook.

Calienté released a white and a sail, reporting 4 or 5 bites in total.

Vintage released 1 white marlin, despite a trip to the Port of La Guaira to clear up the confusion created when their EPIRB was accidentally triggered.

Just Us released 1 blue marlin and 1 white marlin.

Reel Easy was flagless today, but we did not get their report.

Tournament points update: Poste Haste II is in the lead after Day 2 with 2,300 points; Southern Comfort is in 2nd (on time) with 2,200 points; Aut-Top-Sea is third with 2,200 points. Other standings: Big Y 4th with 1,600 points; My Three Sons 5th with 1,300 points; Calienté 6th with 1,200 points; Vintage 7th with 1,000 points; Just Us 8th with 900 points.

10/17/03

This was the first day of Gabe and David Knapp's El Ribazón tournament, with a total of 8 boats participating (5 from Marina Portofino, plus Big Y, Just Us & Vintage.) The organizers have done a superb job, and produced the first day's results on their back to the dock. So in the order of today's finish:

Southern Comfort released 1 blue marlin, 3 white marlin and 1 sailfish for 1 Grand Slam and a total of 1,800 points. They are ahead on time.

Aut-Top-Sea had 10-11 bites but finished with the same release totals as Southern Comfort, the same Grand Slam (well, actually a different one, but you get the idea) and the same points, and is in second place after day 1. Mom and the kids (whose names are now spelled correctly and whose ages have been corrected where necessary) did well again. Big Richard (age not specified) got into the game today and released a white, so the whole family left the boat in great spirits.

Post Haste II is in 3rd place with 2 blue marlin and 3 white marlin; they did not see a sailfish today, unfortunately.

Big Y released 4 whites and a sail to end up on 4th place today; 1,000 points.

My Three Sons tested their rebuilt transmission with 1 blue marlin and 2 white marlin for 900 points and an 5th place finish today. They had a total of 4 eaters in the baits. Terri Pennino released her first white marlin today in the process. Pretty work!

Calienté and Vintage each released 4 whites for 800 points and a tie for 6th place.

Just Us, with Capt. Paul Ivy at the helm, finished in 8th place today with 1 sailfish release.

Reel Easy, was not in the torneo, but flew a white marlin flag anyway after jumping off two more. Perhaps they should try to get in it tomorrow to improve their luck?

10/16/03

Aut-Top-Sea slammed out with one of each of the principal species in these parts. Mate Mike reported that Mclean Coen (an eight year old young lady from Charleston, SC) released the 100 lb. blue, and her brother Richard (age 12) released the white; Mom (Sally) got the sail. Mike caught the booby, so he's now looking for a pajaro flag to go with the remora flag. Pretty work, Coens! Oh, and you too, Mike...

Post Haste II released 3 sailfish; had 9 bites in total.

Calienté saw a sailfish and had nothing else to report.

Reel Easy was flagless today, but the ladies had a nice day by the pool. Tony reported that they were 0/2 on the sailfish, but 2/2 on the booby releases (including rescuing one poor bird with a hook in its throat).

Southern Comfort hooked three, jumped two off and released a white; that was all she wrote today.

But Capt. Mike, when confronted with the news that his booby-catching feat of a few days ago had been equalled by the Aut-Top-Sea and bettered by the Reel Easy, reported that they captured offshore (and released ashore) two finches who were obviously lost. So Mike is still (barely) ahead in the bird department, not to mention completely unmatched in the monkey wars....

10/15/03

Post Haste II's New Zealanders added two sailfish to their first-time-catch list, and added a nice 80 lb. yellowfin and a few dorado to the list as well. The final tally was 2/7 sails, 0/1 white.

Reel Easy went 2 for 6 or 7 on the sailfish, and had a whitey looker but not a whitey eater. They also captured a pretty nice wahoo to add to our gustatorial delight!

Southern Comfort released 2 whites and a sailfish for the high point tally this evening.

10/14/03

Aut-Top-Sea released 3 white marlin and 3 sailfish today, but we failed to get a more detailed report.

Calienté's 14-year-young-lady angler released her first blue marlin today, part of a blue-sail double header. They raised a white later in the day but couldn't connect.

Post Haste II is hosting a couple from New Zealand on their first visit to Venezuela and they each caught their first white marlin today. Pretty work!

Southern Comfort saw 2 blue marlin and 6 whites, releasing 1 blue (a nice one of approx. 350 lbs.) and 4 whites. No monkey sightings today, thank God!

10/13/03

Aut-Top-Sea was "high point" today at Marina Portofino, releasing 3 whites (for 9 bites) and a blue marlin. The blue battle took 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Reel Easy went 2 for 3 on the whites, and saw a few other fish that wouldn't eat.

Southern Comfort climbed out of the barrel with 2 white marlin releases. Por fin! Capt. Mike reports a total of 7 bites, missing a blue one and another white or two. They also released a booby (a bird, for those of you who focus only on the fishing part of this.)

10/12/03

Aut-Top-Sea caught a triple header of whites (3 out of 4 isn't too bad!) and ended up with 6 releases for a total of 9-10 white bites; they also missed a blue man.

Calienté raised 4 fish, and released a white and a sail. Capt. Ryan says the spread-out of the flags (whether tight or extremely far apart) is simply a question of who puts up the flags, but I still think there's a code there somewhere....

Post Haste II teased up two more whites for Nat Harris, but they didn't cooperate in the eating department, unfortunately.

Southern Comfort had another slow day, although they slaughtered a small family of dorado to ease their frustrations. Bob deG tried to fob off a story about catching a stuffed monkey today, but we're simply hopeful that he and Capt. Mike have put it behind them.

If you're looking for more detailed results from the Shootout Tournament, we're sorry but we don't have them. We couldn't find them on the Southfishing.com website either. Please voice your complaints (if you have any) to Rick@southfishing.com and/or Herb@southfishing.com, not to us.

10/11/03

Aut-Top-Sea went 19 for 21 in the first two days of the Shootout, but came up just a little short in the final standings with a 3 for 7 result today. Dell also reported their first "helicopter sancocho": apparently they had a hard-charging white attacking one of their long baits when the Tournament photo helicopter pulled down to within 20 feet of the water to film the action. The fish spooked (at the noise?) and faded off... Oh, well, better luck next year!

BudMan went way to the East (37 miles, according to Capt. Lee) and did not see any billfish. Apparently Lee tried this a few weeks ago, with the same result. Mr. P. told us last night that they were not planning to repeat these expeditions in the forseeable future.

Calienté raised 3 blues and broke the line on a 600 pounder when the reel locked up. They ended up with a Grand Slam anyway: one blue marlin, 1 white marlin and one sailfish were released by day's end. Pretty work. [Parenthetically, Capt. Ryan reports that four (4) Shimano reels died in one way or another during this 3 day Tournament. We guess Tony will be getting a 'phone call on Monday...]

Post Haste II teased 1 blue marlin but he wouldn't eat the fly and teased (and hooked) 2 white marlin before pulling them both off. Counting the double-header sailfish "flurry" on the long teaser, Capt. Dave has been able to raise a Grand Slam for Nat on each of the last 3 days. Golpe Mosca, here we come!

Reel Easy had a slow day with only a couple of billfish bites and no releases.

Southern Comfort did not go all the way to the East, but had the same slow day as BudMan.

Preliminary final results from the Shootout Tournament (which we think should now be called the "Hyphenated Tournament") show A-Fin-Ity as the winner and Aut-Top-Sea as runner-up, with Joropo in third place. Congratulations to all of the competitors.

10/10/03

Aut-Top-Sea released one blue marlin, 6 white marlin and 5 sailfish for a Grand Slam and the lead in the Shootout Tournament. They caught just about everything they saw– we love it when that happens! Pretty work, gentlemen

BudMan went swordfishing and had "a little tug" when they first put the baits down, but unfortunately that was all she wrote for the rest of the day.

Calienté released a blue marlin and 2 sailfish, and didn't see much else today.

Post Haste II (still fly fishing with Nat Harris) had 2 blues, 3 whites and a sail in the teasers; Nat hooked the white but the sneaky guy pulled the hook.

Reel Easy was 3 for 4 on whitey and 0/1 on the sailfish, with three big dorado in the bargain.

In the Tournament, the hyphenated boats are still on top after the second day of Shooting: First Place: Aut-Top-Sea; Second Place: A-Fin_Ity; Third Place: Joropo. Tomorrow will tell the tale. I don't have the exact stats, but something like 7 blue marlin were caught today, so perhaps that's an early harbringer of November.

10/9/03

Aut-Top-Sea went 3 for 3 on the whites and 4 for 6 on the sails. No remora bites today.

BudMan saw "half a dozen," but only had one eater and released a white.

Calienté released a white and a sail out of 5 total eaters.

My Three Sons was 3 for 10 on whitey and so won the unenviable "sancocho crown" for today (at least at Marina Portofino.)

Post Haste II was fly fishing with Nat Harris and "had him on", but the fly line broke (at the butt end) and the 125 lb. blue went away. They also raised 2 whites (one teased with no bite) and 5 sails (but none of them teased properly.)

Reel Easy was 2 for 3 on whitey and 1 for 1 on the seatxxds, and had two other UFO bites.

In the Shootout Tournament standings, Joropo is in 1st place, Apache in 2nd and the two hyphenated boats (Aut-Top-Sea and A-Fin-Ity) are tied for third place at the end of the first day of fishing.

10/8/03

Boats are coming in early because of the Shootout Tournament kickoff this evening, so we have some early reports:

Aut-Top-Sea released 4 whites, 2 sails, and a remora! The short version of the story is that (apparently they foul-) hooked a whitey by hooking the remora; the fish jumped a bunch of times and then pulled off. But there was still weight on the line, so they reeled it in and found a remora on the hook. Angler (and owner) Dell Dembosky saw Mr. Whitey swimming back toward the boat so he pitched out another bait, promptly hooking and releasing the fish! They don't get to double-count the white, but Mate "Fumbles" Mike is going hunting for a remora flag as soon as he finishes cleaning up the boat (and all of the crimping sleeves, but you'll have to ask him about that)...

In other, less unusual, news, Calienté released 2 whites and a sail (flags spaced close together this time – we're still trying to figure out the code); Reel Easy released 1 white, and saw quite a few sails; My Three Sons released 4 whites and a sail.

Richard Gibson has cancelled his Grand Slam Tournament (yes, again), but Gabe and Dave Knapp have stepped into the breach to organize the first "El Ribazón" fun tournament for the dates Richard was planning to use (17-19 October). For tournament rules and more information, please go to the El Ribazón page.

10/7/03

Aut-Top-Sea released 12 (10 whites and 2 sails, I think); Calienté had 3 white marlin flags flying (extremely well spread out); Reel Easy released 2 whites; My Three Sons released 4 whites.

A little slower today for everybody (except for Capt. Reid & Co.)

10/6/03

Reel Easy was 4/6 on whites, 1/1 on the blue man and 0/2 on sails; Calienté had a bunch of flags flying but we never got the full report.

10/5/03

Fishing is excellent, and we're anticipating the Shootout Tournament at the end of next week. We will try to update this report with daily updates for the next two weeks.

10/4/03

Calienté just finished up 4 days with Guy Harvey and a film crew, working on a feature about daylight swordfishing. Apparently some good footage was procured, as four swordies were brought to the boat for filming: Calienté had two, BudMan got into the act with a nice one of almost 200 lbs., and a local boat brought one to the surface as well. Capt. Ryan says that the show will air next year at about this time, as Guy & Co. are on their way to Australia for a month.