had Otter, and mark (VooDoo) onboard today for some striper fishing.....left Owls Creek at 0730 to a full parking lot and stiff South wind...pointed the Southport South looking for signs of life.....found a pod of boats around False Cape but the fish had moved over the line so we continued heading south in the spotty fog and sporty conditions...

Finally ended up at Currituck light to tons of birds, whales and great marks....we had lines in for about ten minutes when we had 3 rods go down....get two of those in the boat (mid 30's)....another bite on the Green umbrella but he gets off....G&H Mojo gets the next opportunity and put another mid 30 rock in the boat....two more bites that didn't make it to the boat before what looks like the Japanese Fleet steaming on Pearl Harbor showed up and pushed the fish out over the 3 mile line...

pulled lines and worked our way back north stopping on scattered marks but we had no more love...

ended the day with 3 fish in the box and 2 or 3 missed shots...happy with what we got listening to the radio, not alot of fish caught ...

on a side Note...Steady had an underway emergency and called out for help, about 30 boats within site of him took off for the Hills...one boat (Playn Hooky) answered the call and save Steady and his father in law in a life or death situation.....If you hear somebody calling for help especially during striper season (cold water) answer the call...





oh yea...Dolphins made the Playoffs, after a 1 and 15 season that's pretty unbelievable....GO FINS...Bob

Hats off to Playin hooky!! doesnt suprise me that no one else would help, i hope theyre all ok, do you know what the problem was?

Nice job finding them Bob.

(((((what looks like the Japanese Fleet steaming on Pearl Harbor showed up and pushed the fish out over the 3 mile line...))))
Dont you hate it when that happens. This time of year it is kind of hard to fish alone.

Glad to hear Playn Hooky came to Steadys rescue. No one nomatter what time of year should Ignore a call for help. It could be them next time.

Congrats to you guys and thanks for the beer delivery!

And yes a big hats off to 'Playin Hookie' for coming to Steady's aid!!! Glad Steady and his father-in-law made it to shore!

Go Fins!!!

A fitting in the transom came loose allowing water to flow into the bilge at a high rate. They were sitting on the bow of the boat with their life jackets in hand while people watched or took off. THey had to scuttle the boat.....Bob

Thats pretty scary, having water come like that, and as slow of a day you say it was, it sucks no one was there quicker, maybe could have salvaged the boat.

J

Nice job on the fish Bob.We covered alot of water with nothing to show for it.Glad Steady and his Dad are OK!

Always fun to be aboard Still Think'n. Thanks for the ride Bob and glad Steady and his father are OK. It does not surprise me that everyone heads for the hills when someone is in trouble. Hats of to Playin Hooky for doing what is right. Thanks again.

Voodoo

Glad everyone was OK. That is sad if boats are nearby and don't come to aid. I fished Sunday at CH from 10:30 - 1:00 pm. I never heard a distress call but did hear the CG talking about a DSC alert but never heard who or where.

Got right sporty there as the winds turned due south and kicked up to over 30 knots which made me not want to run south. We scratched out a single 42 incher right off CH light in our 2 hours of fishing.

nice catch! some folks just should not have boats out there, what goes round comes round. on Sat there were people flying around in dense fog with no radar weaving in and outta boats. it's crazy

Great work Bob! Glad to hear Steady is OK. There are hundreds of people out there that think more about catching a fish then helping out, and there are those that always try to do the right thing.
Tight lines,
Dave

Yeah, pretty crazy situation. Playn' Hooky helped us out in a major way, and saved me and father in law from a cold swim to Fort Story. Guys name is Jimmy Blake. Kudos to him. Another buddy, Dan Legrande, aka Reel Hunter was willing to help but too far away with as dire as the situation was. And 3 guys in a 28 Privateer center console with twins, aided as well, I asked them and they stayed next to us while we attempted to beach it, until that was no longer an option with the loss of power. Most guys just ran.

While we had power, my first thought was to beach it at Cape Henry light and worry with it later. Just get to saftey. We made it to about 500 yards of the beach when the rear pit was almost completely submerged. Motors were running under water. Thats when we hooked up to Jimmy in Playn Hooky and he tried to tow us to Cape Henry. Jimmy kept us moving forward somewhat, even though almost submerged, until Tow Boats got there. Tow Boats didn't want to hook us up to tow right away becuase the tought it was a lost cause. So Jimmy with a single 200 kept pulling us until a Tow Boat guy got on with a pump to see if it would work first, then took over the tow.

We went from trolling to taking on water so quick. And from taking on water to almost submerged even quicker. Bilge just couldnt keep up and a manual bilge was no match.

Tow Boats was able to salvage the boat with the help of VBFD, but it is being totaled. Climbed aboard with pumps, and got it towed to Lynnhaven. Beached it at the docks, completely submerged and lost it there again. While this was happening and without us knowing, Jimmy had waited at Lynnhaven to see if we got in, had taken his boat off his trailer, so his truck could be freed up to take my father in law to get his trailer at Little Creek. Then he borrowed a truck from Tow Boats, took his trailer, and used his trailer for a 24 to pull my father in laws 28 out to try to save it. A 28 with 8000 gallons of water in it.

When my father in law got back and saw what had happened, he tried to give Jimmy a wad of cash which he of course refused.

Can't say enough good about Tow Boats or Jimmy. Both of them class acts. Tow Boats is even helping out with the insurance claim.

$50,000+ lost to a $5 piece of plastic and a gasket and a poor bracket design. Thank god for insurance.

Sounds like a pretty scary situation. Glad everyone is OK.

Was it a rubber boot on your lower unit like OMC has ?

No, it was the gill bracket on the transom bracket. Of course, this area became underwater so I couldnt see it. While the water should have been contained in the the transom bracket, it flowed into the bilge and the rest was history.

Glad you guys are SAFE! I will be checking all of my bilge fittings before the I head out from now on.... Huge kudo's to Playn' Hooky.

I think we're loosing what's important here....

DIDN'T YOU GUYS READ THE DOLPHINS MADE THE PLAY OFF !!!...

Seriously, glad you and your father-in-law are fine.....Tell Jimmy if you got his number he's got a ride on my boat for some Tuna this spring...bob

You know, I think a lot of people don't realize how fast cold water can kill somebody. 42 degree water will drain you quick, for sure. This was a real emergency, and I'm very glad there were some good Samaritans out there to help. If I'd been out there I would have responded regardless of the situation, but especially with water being as cold as it is right now. It's just hard to understand some folks, I suppose...

Congrats to Bob and crew on Still Thinkin for the nice catch, and GO TITANS!!

glad you're all safe. and to the a$$holes that ran - what goes around comes around.

Glad everyone is OK.

Glad to hear nobody got hurt and everybody got back safe. I sank a boat last year and Boat US was on it. right before the boat went completely under the coast guard got us off the boat and Boat US salvaged the boat. The boat was totaled in the end but it was not left at sea and they did all the insurance stuff for me. Great guys.

By the way it sucks to be a Cowboys fan today.

Great job to those who helped. Fished sat with a buddy boat and got separated in the fog eeling when he lost a motor. We were able to relocate at bouy 10 and figure out a plan. Fog lifted and he was able to get home safe. Couldn't immagine a more serious situation, glad everyone was safe thanks to Playn' Hooky.