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A picture of me at home, with
a trophy hammerhead. I rarely keep trophies, but this was the perfect size
for my house. |
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Here I am after a successful collaboration with Jim Heckshire, the Captain of the "Rousing Ramona", which sails out of Oceanside, California. This Beast brought in a $5,000 grand prize. I let Jim keep the full prize, for renovations on Old Ramona. |
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I sometimes volunteer to take the elderly on deep sea fishing trips. Chances are Osteoporosis and other disorders hamper the ability of the elderly to land a real trophy fish. In such instances, I try to lend a helping hand. |
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Not all the fish I catch are trophy caliber.
Some are just fun to look at, and then eat. Quick recipe: Take this fish,
stuff it with butter and pepper, and drop it in a deep fryer. Add tartar
sauce and enjoy. |
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This particular Houndfish managed to crawl out of the water and attack me in my tent. I woke up to find the fish going through my pockets for change. After I administered a fisted beating, I fried up the sucker and ate it with red potato salad and tartar sauce. |
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When Zack Starkey asked me if I would accompany
him on a fishing cruise of the North Sea, I never imagined how much I would
regret it. |
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Ba-Joo was almost happier than I was that I caught this nice Mahi. He said that fishing with me would be a story passed on for generations in his family. I thanked him, bought him a Grape Shasta, and let him keep the fish. |
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This is a great shot of me catching a marlin
with my bare hands. The stealthy bastard pulled our boat for six miles at
a rate of 14 knots. I needed to apply medicated hand lotion for days to
help heal the rope burns. |
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The Monkfish is quite an ugly
looking fish. Though his looks can be intimidating, the Monkfish is really
a very sweet fish that can be sensitive without appearing feminine. |
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Here I am posing with another Monkfish. The
sea beast is quite flat. |
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Sometimes, its fun to battle
the fish on its terms: naked, underwater, and no holds-barred. Nude fishing
is serious business. One wrong move and the fish can take off vital organs
with one bite. |
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The hardest thing about deep sea fishing by
hand is that you have to get the fish into the boat. Using my bare hands,
I pulled this marlin on board after fighting it for hours with a fly fishing
pole and 20 yards of Christmas tree lights tied to a horseshoe. |
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We caught this shark after using
a giant grouper as chum. Once opened up, the beast had the following contents
in its belly: a texas license plate, a asthma medical alert bracelet with
"kitner" engraved on it, and three copies of "Iaccoca"
without dust sleeves. |
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This monster Skate (or Ray) may look frightening, but its really harmless creature. I sold this to a Chinese restaurant, which I believe used it for everything from soup base to pork dishes. |
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The very human-like lips on this
Skate can help explain why sailors used to refer to them as Mermaids, or
Maids of the Sea. Many a lonely sailor learned the hard way that Skates
aren't keen on relationships. |
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Sometimes, I'll catch the occasional throw-back. I do encourage people to throw back undersized fish, so that one day I real fisherman like myself can come along and catch the mature fully sized fish. |
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Night fishing for Striped Bass
is a sacred ritual in the waters around Jones Beach, NY. The ocean is calm
and full of silver monsters like this one, which I caught while sneaking
a listen to an outdoor Phish concert at the Jones Beach Theatre. |
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Hand fishing off the beach is exhausting and
dangerous. Here I am resting after catching this fish about a mile off shore
and dragging it in by the gills. |
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I'm pulling this Tarpon out of
the water slowly, so it doesn't lose any flavor. The longer a fish is out
of the water, the worse it tastes. |
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I was so exhausted after landing this marlin,
I needed two ship mates to help me hold it up for the picture. Usually it
would be inexcusable to need two men to help me, but I was suffering from
a serious case of malaria at the time. |
