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I guess that there has already been an official posting on the Viking TNT, but that sort of report fails to address my favorite subject: ME.
When I go fishing it often becomes a test or indicator of my mental health or lack of and this TNT trip was no exception. I arrived at the boat at 11 PM for a 1 AM departure. I was already in the grips of a pre-fishing trip obsessive compulsive mode syndrome, PFTOCMS --- this is a condition which involves the tackle, clothing and food preparation that is, in my mind, required for a multi-tasking fishing adventure of the TNT type: I had 11 pieces of luggage, 2 coolers, 7 rods, 10 reels, 30 trolling lures, a 12 gauge sawed off wrapped up in my bed roll and a book of matches in a water-proof canister.
At the office I got my ticket and went down to my bunk --- the first test revealed itself: there was someone sleeping in my bunk. My first though was,? what the f is this about? --- You just come on the boat and do whatever you want? --- What you don?t know how to read your ticket and coordinate it to the number on the bunk?? This is a very dangerous situation for me: being RIGHT. How do you ask someone, who you are pissed off at, to get the f out of the bunk? A bunk you had reserved 6 months ago, on the very first day that the trip got posted --- another characteristic of the PFTOCMS condition. Can this be done with love in one's heart? This type of situation could get ugly and cast a dark cloud over the entire trip. So, I sought out some adult advice and asked the mate how to handle this monumental problem. Steve M responded, ?Well if it's your favorite bunk, then ask him to move, if not, then just grab another one. WOW --- I realized that I didn?t have a favorite bunk --- I just didn?t like the idea of someone being in my space. At that moment, I also remembered that there are very few hard and fast rules on the Viking. That looseness I love: no rules / or as few as possible. The Viking has a certain live and let live way of operating that I don?t find on other boats --- I like it. This also goes for the rail positions --- in 4 days I didn?t hear one person say,? hey, that?s my rail position.? It seems reasonable to ask to fish YOUR assigned spot but at the same time its often based in self-centeredness: you want your rail position when it works for you but when it doesn?t any empty spot can be jumped into ---- hip-hip hooray for me.
Of course, I wasn?t totally over it with the guy in my assigned bunk BL 28 and the first few times that I saw him topside, I thought to myself, A*&h*&^, but as the trip progressed, I realized that he was a very friendly low key person and not the devil incarnate that I had built him up in my mind to be.
A little about the fishing --- the conditions were difficult --- 6 to 10 foot swells and zero action the first day of fishing --- the second day --- also a slow day --- but we hooked up and landed 2 Bigeye --- guesstiamated respectively at 130 and 160 pounds. These kinds of details are often sprinkled into fishing reports in a manner to make so-so trips appear awesome. Two big ones in the boat, things were looking up and Steve Jr had taken a bold move of traveling more than 150 miles NE in an attempt to get us into a fishable area: another action that many boats wouldn?t do --- little consideration for the expenses incurred by the Viking in the process on getting on the fish. The Viking consistently goes to whatever lengths necessary to catch fish --- not all boats do this. The 2nd night bite in the Bigeye zone also failed to produce any tuna --- I had an opportunity to fight the only yellow hooked, nice fish, only to break him off one turn before gaff --- for me, this would turn out to be a foreshadowing of things to come.
I decided to write this report because I wanted to confront my somewhat fragile ego. Total beginners were hooking up but I couldn?t buy a hit. Everyone caught but me --- everyone caught a lot. I began to realized that I prefer to write stories where I?m the hero --- and I often want to believe that my relative success, when compared to the other people fishing, is in some way an indication of my self worth or intelligence --- **** was I cut down to size. ********** were catching and I could only standby in envy and watch.
I often say to myself --- it?s not about the catching --- it's about the experience --- the people, time spent doing something purely for the fun of it. I believe that I believed most of that. I still want to hold on to that principle as worthy to aspire to. That principle, its not result but only the effort that counts, was previously easy to buy into, because I had often done as good or better than the rest. I often came out the hero, at least in my mind. This time around that was not the case, was forced to look at my competitive attitude and how it can cause unnecessary bad feelings --- its fishing, relax and enjoy myself.
The majority of the fish caught were Long Fin, 38 total, and this occurred the last day on the trip home. This could be a story in itself. We were already way late in relation to getting back to the dock. So, I figured that I?d break down my gear and just use my trolling outfit. Seemed reasonable --- I was fried from 2 days of non-stop fishing and wanted to go to sleep knowing that my gear was somewhat ready to be taken off of the boat. ERROR --- I guess it was off of the Cape that we ran into the LF --- the Helen H was already there. It was about as good as it gets on the trolling --- on one pass there was 7 fish on out of ten lines --- and every pass there were multiple hookups. I ran 4 different classic lures of various sizes and couldn?t get a hit. Fish were also being jigged up but I had already put my gear away. I keep thinking, ? the fishing is over, its midday, if they keep fishing we?ll get in a half day late --- it didn?t stop and the trip was EXTENDED a half day due to catching fish --- what other boat does that on their dime???
During the trolling massacre the disease started to resurface --- amongst the people fishing, there were varying degrees of experience from novice to hardcore. When the overall trip was at the so-so level --- I was OK with not having caught. Now, it was turning into a good trip and every fish caught made me feel worst. This spiraled downward --- everyone was basking in victory --- there were people with tuna GRAND SLAMS --- YFT,BFT,LFT and Bigeye --- F me.
Then I hit bottom --- and thought to myself, ?I?ll cut my losses and go to bed.? I laid down praying to be left alone. Then Carl, the mate, comes in and says that they want me to take over one of the hot rods --- the humiliation --- A man of my stature being treated like a tourist catching his first fish. I didn?t want to do it --- they asked me please --- I had a moment of clarity --- Bob, it?s really not all about you. I need practice at this. At times, I get locked into self-obsession and its difficult to see that I?m just one in the mix and that its good to take other people?s desires into consideration, put other?s first. The crew of the Viking are f*&^ing awesome --- they really care about making the Viking experience a personal and memorable one for each and every client, especially the newbie?s. IMO, in today?s world, this high level work ethic exhibited by the Viking crew is becoming more and more difficult to find. I got up like a man and played the role of the buffoon to the max. All the rods again got bent over and the hot lure that I manned got reeled up with grass. They tried to soften the blow, but for me, on this trip there was no fish catching redemption.
A Gratitude List:
For having the money, health and time to do these Viking trips
For the Viking and their colorful cast of characters: Steve/Steve/Steve/Carl/Eric/Steamboat/Kobi
For all people on that particular trip especially --- Nicky, Ross, Charlie, Pete, Roy, Paul, Peter, Joe.
Trip $650 ---- the memory PRICELESS!!!
This post edited by BobWheeler 04:06 PM 09/06/2008
When I go fishing it often becomes a test or indicator of my mental health or lack of and this TNT trip was no exception. I arrived at the boat at 11 PM for a 1 AM departure. I was already in the grips of a pre-fishing trip obsessive compulsive mode syndrome, PFTOCMS --- this is a condition which involves the tackle, clothing and food preparation that is, in my mind, required for a multi-tasking fishing adventure of the TNT type: I had 11 pieces of luggage, 2 coolers, 7 rods, 10 reels, 30 trolling lures, a 12 gauge sawed off wrapped up in my bed roll and a book of matches in a water-proof canister.
At the office I got my ticket and went down to my bunk --- the first test revealed itself: there was someone sleeping in my bunk. My first though was,? what the f is this about? --- You just come on the boat and do whatever you want? --- What you don?t know how to read your ticket and coordinate it to the number on the bunk?? This is a very dangerous situation for me: being RIGHT. How do you ask someone, who you are pissed off at, to get the f out of the bunk? A bunk you had reserved 6 months ago, on the very first day that the trip got posted --- another characteristic of the PFTOCMS condition. Can this be done with love in one's heart? This type of situation could get ugly and cast a dark cloud over the entire trip. So, I sought out some adult advice and asked the mate how to handle this monumental problem. Steve M responded, ?Well if it's your favorite bunk, then ask him to move, if not, then just grab another one. WOW --- I realized that I didn?t have a favorite bunk --- I just didn?t like the idea of someone being in my space. At that moment, I also remembered that there are very few hard and fast rules on the Viking. That looseness I love: no rules / or as few as possible. The Viking has a certain live and let live way of operating that I don?t find on other boats --- I like it. This also goes for the rail positions --- in 4 days I didn?t hear one person say,? hey, that?s my rail position.? It seems reasonable to ask to fish YOUR assigned spot but at the same time its often based in self-centeredness: you want your rail position when it works for you but when it doesn?t any empty spot can be jumped into ---- hip-hip hooray for me.
Of course, I wasn?t totally over it with the guy in my assigned bunk BL 28 and the first few times that I saw him topside, I thought to myself, A*&h*&^, but as the trip progressed, I realized that he was a very friendly low key person and not the devil incarnate that I had built him up in my mind to be.
A little about the fishing --- the conditions were difficult --- 6 to 10 foot swells and zero action the first day of fishing --- the second day --- also a slow day --- but we hooked up and landed 2 Bigeye --- guesstiamated respectively at 130 and 160 pounds. These kinds of details are often sprinkled into fishing reports in a manner to make so-so trips appear awesome. Two big ones in the boat, things were looking up and Steve Jr had taken a bold move of traveling more than 150 miles NE in an attempt to get us into a fishable area: another action that many boats wouldn?t do --- little consideration for the expenses incurred by the Viking in the process on getting on the fish. The Viking consistently goes to whatever lengths necessary to catch fish --- not all boats do this. The 2nd night bite in the Bigeye zone also failed to produce any tuna --- I had an opportunity to fight the only yellow hooked, nice fish, only to break him off one turn before gaff --- for me, this would turn out to be a foreshadowing of things to come.
I decided to write this report because I wanted to confront my somewhat fragile ego. Total beginners were hooking up but I couldn?t buy a hit. Everyone caught but me --- everyone caught a lot. I began to realized that I prefer to write stories where I?m the hero --- and I often want to believe that my relative success, when compared to the other people fishing, is in some way an indication of my self worth or intelligence --- **** was I cut down to size. ********** were catching and I could only standby in envy and watch.
I often say to myself --- it?s not about the catching --- it's about the experience --- the people, time spent doing something purely for the fun of it. I believe that I believed most of that. I still want to hold on to that principle as worthy to aspire to. That principle, its not result but only the effort that counts, was previously easy to buy into, because I had often done as good or better than the rest. I often came out the hero, at least in my mind. This time around that was not the case, was forced to look at my competitive attitude and how it can cause unnecessary bad feelings --- its fishing, relax and enjoy myself.
The majority of the fish caught were Long Fin, 38 total, and this occurred the last day on the trip home. This could be a story in itself. We were already way late in relation to getting back to the dock. So, I figured that I?d break down my gear and just use my trolling outfit. Seemed reasonable --- I was fried from 2 days of non-stop fishing and wanted to go to sleep knowing that my gear was somewhat ready to be taken off of the boat. ERROR --- I guess it was off of the Cape that we ran into the LF --- the Helen H was already there. It was about as good as it gets on the trolling --- on one pass there was 7 fish on out of ten lines --- and every pass there were multiple hookups. I ran 4 different classic lures of various sizes and couldn?t get a hit. Fish were also being jigged up but I had already put my gear away. I keep thinking, ? the fishing is over, its midday, if they keep fishing we?ll get in a half day late --- it didn?t stop and the trip was EXTENDED a half day due to catching fish --- what other boat does that on their dime???
During the trolling massacre the disease started to resurface --- amongst the people fishing, there were varying degrees of experience from novice to hardcore. When the overall trip was at the so-so level --- I was OK with not having caught. Now, it was turning into a good trip and every fish caught made me feel worst. This spiraled downward --- everyone was basking in victory --- there were people with tuna GRAND SLAMS --- YFT,BFT,LFT and Bigeye --- F me.
Then I hit bottom --- and thought to myself, ?I?ll cut my losses and go to bed.? I laid down praying to be left alone. Then Carl, the mate, comes in and says that they want me to take over one of the hot rods --- the humiliation --- A man of my stature being treated like a tourist catching his first fish. I didn?t want to do it --- they asked me please --- I had a moment of clarity --- Bob, it?s really not all about you. I need practice at this. At times, I get locked into self-obsession and its difficult to see that I?m just one in the mix and that its good to take other people?s desires into consideration, put other?s first. The crew of the Viking are f*&^ing awesome --- they really care about making the Viking experience a personal and memorable one for each and every client, especially the newbie?s. IMO, in today?s world, this high level work ethic exhibited by the Viking crew is becoming more and more difficult to find. I got up like a man and played the role of the buffoon to the max. All the rods again got bent over and the hot lure that I manned got reeled up with grass. They tried to soften the blow, but for me, on this trip there was no fish catching redemption.
A Gratitude List:
For having the money, health and time to do these Viking trips
For the Viking and their colorful cast of characters: Steve/Steve/Steve/Carl/Eric/Steamboat/Kobi
For all people on that particular trip especially --- Nicky, Ross, Charlie, Pete, Roy, Paul, Peter, Joe.
Trip $650 ---- the memory PRICELESS!!!
This post edited by BobWheeler 04:06 PM 09/06/2008
