Pulled out of Owls creek little late 0500...had my GPS set for the 44 Fathom wreck to start fishing...about 10 miles short of the mark I spot a pod of porpoise so I pull back the throttles and Steady, Otter and Captain Fatbeard put start putting out lines.....the WWB was out, steady was letting out the 2nd long rigger when the first long rigger gets hammers.....then the WWB gets hammered but gets cut off....Jeff is on the fish that came tight and skillfully battled the 62# YFT to the boat where Otter sticks a gaff in him.....

Get reset out and about 20 minutes later the left long rigger...(G&H sea witch with Mylar) gets nailed...otter grabs the rod when the fish jumps....Steady yells Marlin....Otter said yea, it's a white...I said No, I think it's a Blue one....fish is swiming to the boat when Otter hands the Rod Off to Jeff since he was a billfish virgin and we wanted to throw him in the water...the fish gets about 100 Yards off my stern when he sees the boat...he greyhounded and when he did, there was no doubt what he was....Mr. Blue Marlin is hooked up on still thinkin....

We get all the lines clear while he's screaming line off the Penn International 50W and once lines are cleared I send Jeff up to the bow and commence to run the fish down...gotta love a center console...he makes a lot of jumps before he comes to the side of the boat..steady has leader and is pulling the fish up to Bill him and release the fish...I tried to take a picture but it ended up just being Steady's hand on the leader...he was about 2 feet down and went under the boat and broke the leader ....great release on a Blue one for Mr. Captain Fatbeard, who is now calling himself a Professional Marlin Fisherman (PMF).

we celebrate our Blue release and finally I get the crew to get lines back out and I decided to change up and put out a Pink Sea Witch (oh no not blue and white)...well of course this gets hammered and is Screaming drag...Otter is on the pole and finally gets the fish turned....10 minutes battles puts a 32 Pound Wahoo in the boat....this is all before 10 o'clock.


Spent the rest of the day playing with Whites who kept coming in the spread but just batting my baits around...pulled lines in at 2PM and headed to Fishermans' Wharf for the Citation and ceremonial "Creeking" of Mr. Jeff Brown....Don met us there to enjoy the festivities....

Great day and great job to Otter, Steady and Jeff...thanks to Don for coming by the house to drink a couple of beers and he even wanted to get bloody so he cleaned the YFT...here's some shots....Bob

The Fun begins

More Pics

great job guys. Told ya you would get a blue to make up for Sat. lost white...Great job on the meat also. By tounament, this billfish thing will be second nature at this rate.....

GREAT JOB BOB! Jeff you done just fine yourself! And Otter and Stready, you guys are real! BTW, Jeff you are not a professional Marlin Fisherman....yet.
Still Think'n rocks!
Dave

[quote=Billable,Jul 29 2007, 08:58 PM][quote=short comings,Jul 29 2007, 07:25 PM]great job guys. Told ya you would get a blue to make up for Sat. lost white...Great job on the meat also. By tounament, this billfish thing will be second nature at this rate.....
[/quote]


GREAT JOB BOB! Jeff you done just fine yourself! And Otter and Stready, you guys are real! BTW, Jeff you are not a professional Marlin Fisherman....yet.
Still Think'n rocks!
Dave

[/quote]


If its not a marlin.. I am not interested. By the way Dave... How many Blue Marlins have been caught on Billable Ours? If you need the expertise of a PMF, Let me know!

Bob , Ott, Steady. Thank you for the best day of off shore fishing i have ever had. This will be one i will never forget ! Steady, you are a machine in the pit. Bob you are the best Captain in the fleet-Hands down ! Ott... You are a drunk and you need to go to Re-Hab ( or Sea-hab ) Thanks again !

PS.. There was a 150lb Swordfish caught on a TROLL today. They were Stoked !!!!


But they did not get a blue Marlin !

WHAT A DAY!!! That's awesome guys. It takes great team work to bring the blue one to the boat. Jeff, I couldn't be happier for you buddy. You've reached the apex of sportdfishing, sharing rarified air with the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Tred Barta. I am truely and profoundly sorry that I was not at the dock to assist in hurling your hindparts as far into Lake Rudee as is humanly possible! Bob, you realize that you've created a monster there buddy. Jeff sent me a PM indicating he wants my Marlin Maniac tag. Maybe I'll change my name to "Thrilled about Spot" or "Croaker Choker". Anyway congrats to the crew, especially the mate Otter, on a job well done!

Nice meeting you at the ramp this morning....congrats on your Blue release!

We started at the 44 wreck and went north...zigged when we should have zagged.

Congrats to you guys on a great day!

Keith

Very nice congrats on the Blue!!!!

Bob, nice job on team Still Thinkin. We were north of you not doing squat but some days you are the bug and some days you the windshield.

Great job Fellas!! I wish I would have gone, but my blue's coming soon!! I'm really excited for you guys...gonna give Neal a run in the Classic!!!

Here's Jeff with some air...

Jeff the PMF!!!

pretty work

Pretty work fellas, Otter I told you it was gonna happen!!!

Way to go Team Still Think'n!!!

Jeff you are the man, way to go.

Bob, what is up with you guys and the marlin pictures??? You seem to have no problem getting a full shot of Jeff.

I guess its too exciting to get a clear shot? You need to take me fishing, when it comes to pictures, I have nerves of steel.

Awesome job guys!!

Great job guys Jeff congrats on the blue release.

Congrats Bob and crew. Great job on the catch and release....

Nice day for sure.

The following conversation takes place about 30 minutes after Capt. Fatbeard got his blue and first ever bill.

RADIO: Still Think'n gets a call that some Wahoo are being picked up near us.

BOB, OTTER, MYSELF: "Let's keep out the marlin spread but head over that way."

JEFF: "If it doesn't have a bill.........I am not interested."


Capt. Fatbeard is now the PMF.......professional marlin fisherman.

So to any of you who may be fishing for bills this August and not having much luck just ask yourself what would Capt. Fatbeard do?

This was by far one of the most fun days I have ever had on the water. Jeff's claims to why he should be chosen to fish are as accurate as can be. Gourmet sandwiches and not stop laughs mixed with great songs he makes up all day.

Bob,

Sorry for late congrat's --I was out of town--great job on the blue one !! I knew you would get one.

Kent

Great job Team Still Thinkin'! Congrats on the Blue - that's awesome. Congrats on a great day overall! Bob, I have to ask you a question - if you don't mind. I'm asking to make myself a better offshore fisherman (MUCH to learn). What made you decide to go North rather than South? We fished near you around the Cigar on Friday - you had a good day. What made you decide NOT to go to the Cigar area on Sunday. Was it talking with others, water temperature, gut feeling, quicker run to fishing grounds you wanted to work or all of the above. We went South on Sunday because there were so many fish caught down there on Friday. It seemed like a lot of fish were caught North (where you were) on Sunday. What made your decision. Thanks for the help on the radio and we'll see you on the water soon.

Mike

Couple of things made me want to check out that area Sunday....

1. On Friday we were doing OK but I had a feeling there might be some fish around the fingers (why I don't know) so we pulled up lines at the cigar and rolled on over to the fingers, there were some awesome rips around the 380 - 400 line that I noted while heading there and stored it in the back of my mind for whatever reason. We hooked up a Wahoo on the eastern side of the fingers and a couple of nice Mahi so the area definately was holding fish.

2. Heard talk around the docks of a good bite around the 44 Fathom wreck so that is where I was actually heading when I spotted a pod of dolphins in about 30fathoms....we stopped, put out lines and only had a couple of lines out when the YFT hit, along with a Wahoo bite off on the WWB. Lots of slicks and rips and upwellings in the area so I decided to fish that area hard the whole day. The Blue came early in those slicks as well as the Wahoo.

3. Little dip in the temp on the oceantemp.com showed the temps in that area around 79 with water around it in 80.....got alot of shots at the white ones yesterday but they were being extremely finiky and didn't come tight but the fish were definately in that area all day.

That's all....nothing really major other than a hunch and observations from Friday that made me go where I did.....I'm just lucky finding fish....Bob

Mike,
Don't let Bob fool you with all that talk...his quarter landed heads up!!

You know you're doing well when the charter boys see Still Think'n fishing and come off throtle to see what's going on!!! Still Think'n is a team to watch out for!

Thanks Bob - I appreciate it a lot. See you out there!

Mike

good job

Congrats to entire Still Thinkin team and especially to Jeff and Capt Fatbeard, whom I'm pretty sure showed up later

Yeah, thanks Bob! It's nice having a buddy or 2 out there. It sure is addictive - wish i was there right now.

Ohhh Julie Ball....

WTG Bob...It deffinetly helps to fish two days in a row!

I tell ya we were right behind you out of the gate and that Southport was gone!

Frantic will get the job done like wise but you guys were on a mission

Great pics of Jeff gettin in the water! That aint no small dude! JOB WELL DONE!! Congrats on da Blue!!! yall are fishing machines!

WTG Bob! You guys are killing me with the reports..... 3 months to go and GAME ON! Good Luck in Tourney!

Phil

Tks Phil....You got a spot when you get back...and no Hot sauce on your Wings !.......keep your head down buddy...almost done....Bob