Corpusfishing.com

[gulftrout]

A picture of the first trip described with Sidney "Sparky" Sparks and Bob Burke. This trip started a seven year working relationship that was so successful, I am enjoying the rewards, even today! "Sparky is pictured to my left. He was the most generous person, I have ever met!

[gulftrout]

Well, here we are and it's time for the Dolphin Docks Kingfish Tournament. There are a couple guys that are the two definite favorites. There is Captain Jim Harmon on the 'Touche" and Captain Bil Culpepper at the helm of the, I'm sorry I can not be sure of the boat he was running this particular year. I think he usually ran other peoples boats, just like I did. Saturday morning Captain Jim will clear the jetty's and take off to the east in the dark, while Captain Bil will hang out at the dock, right up to starting time and then head for the Port Aransas Jetty's. He will sit right on the Port Aransas Jetty apron the entire length of each day, of the tournament. Both these guys have dominated the kingfish tournament scene since kingfish tournaments first started here in Port Aransas, just the previous year or two. Both took this tournament seriously, because in the early years, there was a 6000.00 first place prize guaranteed! This will be my first kingfish tournament to fish in and I can feel the excitement in the air as everyone is putting the final touches to their boats late Friday afternoon. Jim's boat, the "Touche" is docked in one of only three spots available for private charters at Dolphin Docks. Captain Bil has his boat docked at Deep Sea Headquarters right down the street. The "Bold Venture" is docked at Woody's which is where all the action is, come sundown.

[gulftrout]

Well, the first day of fishing is over. My best effort has brought a 26 lb. kingfish to the scales. Captain Bil, sure enough, is leading the heavy stringer and, for some strange reason I do not see the "Touche" listed anywhere on the leader board. This is hard for me to believe. For the last couple weeks, since I found out I was going to have a charter for this tournament, I have been keeping an eye on Jim's catches. Once a week, usually on a Monday or Tuesday he would bring in "ONE" monster king.(Jim always called these guys,"Green Backs") Always only one, never two or three. When these fish were hung up for pictures, they would go from the hook all the way to the ground, with their tail laying flat on the board below. I had only dreamed of catching a fish like this. I figured he was keeping an eye on a spot he had, and was only fishing it once as week when no one was around. He would run to wherever this spot was, make a quick drift, pull a huge "Green Back" off the spot and get out of there before anyone caught on to what was happening. After everyone had cleared the area I saw Jim drive up. I asked Jim what had happened. He said on the way out that morning his boat had broke down. He needed a part that was not going to be available until sometime next week. He looked straight in my eyes and asked, "Do you want to win this tournament?" Well, of course I wanted to win, who wouldn't.

[Aggie 81]

Hurry up. I have to go to work in an hour.
_________________
Aggie 81'

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift."
Steve Prefontaine

[gulftrout]

[Aggie 81]

Thanks. Enjoy your stories.
_________________
Aggie 81'

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift."
Steve Prefontaine

[gulftrout]

Jim ushered me down inside the salon of his 28' Bertram. He pulled out a chart and began rolling it out. He knows the boat I am running runs less than 15 knots so he say's, "Your going to need to leave at 4 in the morning in order to get to where I have been fishing by 7 am. This is the time you are allowed to put your lines in the water. The "Touche" was plenty quick and ran better than 21 Knots when Jim wanted it to. He then showed me a set of rigs 36 nautical miles from the Port Aransas Jetty's. Much to my surprise, these rigs were in deep water. I had always figured Jim was catching these "Green backs" in shallow water. I had thought he was probably fishing on some spot north of "Whitey". This is a rig 19 miles north-northeast of Port Aransas sitting in less than 50' of water. There were plenty of pipes and small rigs if you kept on the same heading and had always thought he was running further up the coast, probably fishing somewhere East of the Port O'Connor Jetty's.

[gulftrout]

The set of rigs Jim is showing me is in about 90 feet of water. He describes what I will see when I approach the area. He tells me only one of these rigs is holding big fish. He goes into great detail, even describing which side of the rig I should fish. He knows I have never been to this area and for some unknown reason has taken me under his wing, hoping I will win this thing. I thank him for the information, but now I need to convince "Sparky" he needs to get to the boat at 4 am instead of the planned time of departure of six. After a little coaxing, I have convinced Sparky he needs to get to the boat by 4 am so we can make our long run!

[gulftrout]

Well, it's Saturday at 4 am and we are headed just a little north of east. I have three hours running time and Sparky is already headed to the couch to get a nice long nap. Frank, my deckhand comes up to the bridge and asks where we are going. I describe the location and tell him how I want the lines put out. Since this is a kingfish tournament we will be using ribbonfish, not cigar minnows. I always buy a box of cigar minnows for charters, but I doubt I will even thaw that 5 lb. box today. As we approach the rig it is finally time to see if the long run is going to pay off. Just because they have been here before, does not mean they will be here today. Everyone fishes differently, but if you remember I spent the whole previous summer, deck handing for four different captains, and Jim was one of them. I know how he does things and I will now get to see if any of that training pays off. I troll east approaching the inshore leg of the rig, just as Jim had described. I take the engines out of gear, stop and then put them into reverse. I again take them out of gear when I am directly over where the baits had just been. I then sit there for a few seconds and then put the engines back in gear, pulling the baits back toward the surface. Jim always described this technique as the "Touche Twist." As soon as the lines got tight two reels started screaming. I was using Penn 309's loaded with 30 lb. Big Game. These reels hold a lot of line and I was not concerned when half the spool was emptied in just a few seconds. I had yet to be stripped by anything since I had changed from Penn 209 reels to the larger 309's. After one long run and a couple more short ones Frank slings the first big king into the boat. It is definatly a 35 lb. fish and the second one looks even bigger. It's silver sides are glistening in the morning sunlight as it make circle after circle under the boat. After a few minutes of this "Sparky" can see he is having trouble bringing this one to the surface. He tells me to grab the rod and sternly says, "Land this fish and I mean NOW!" I can tell he is excited and can sense the excitement of landing these two huge "Greenbacks" so early in the day. I quickly grab the rod and start trying to work it into the gaff's range. This one has become hooked in the side with the two stinger hooks of the leader. When a king gets hooked like this, in the side, the fight resembles that of a Jack Cravelle or "Jackfish" as they are called. Many large kings are lost to the props by unexperienced anglers during charters on everyday trips. After several tense minutes Frank makes a quick lunge with the gaff and hits this one near the tail, right in the laterial line. This is like a main artery and we both watch a pound or two of blood come shooting out of the silver king, that pretty much looks like a twin to the first!

[gulftrout]

When the second one hits the deck there is a loud roar from everyone on board. It is not even 8 o'clock and we have over 70 lbs. in just two fish and if I can find just one more nice one Bil's first day stringer of 89 lbs. may just be in jeopardy. I look up and much to my dismay a dive boat has tied up the the very rig I was fishing. I look at Frank and say a choice word or two like, "Dad Gum It" and "I'll Be Dang!" Oh well, I am thankful I had that one drift and the long 3 hour run was definatly worth it. I try the three other rigs in the area and cannot catch anything. The "Triggerfish" swarm every bait I put out and I am quickly going through my supply of ribbonfish. I look at "Sparky" and tell him I plan to head to the area we fished yesterday, so time to take another long nap. It will be a two hour run back to the "Twin Pipes" I had fished yesterday. I know there are some good solid fish there because I fish these pipes every time I head to the north east. These pipes lie in ten fathoms(60 feet) and are at a heading of 60 degrees and if I remember correctly, 12 to 14 miles from the Port Aransas Jetty's. From this spot it will only be an hour run back to port and that part I like. I set my course and start my second long boat ride of the day.

[jc]

you should start a blog, you could link it on your signature

[gulftrout]

I stop and try a couple shrimp boats to break up the long boat ride. We are catching fish but nothing but "Bullets". These are small kings running around 10 lbs. These will not do anything to help me knock Captain Bil off the leaderboard for the largest stringer of the tournament. I know it will take a 20+ lb. fish to top the 90 lb. mark and that is what I'm after. Well, it is almost noon when I finally reach the "Twin Pipes" area. There are a couple outboards fishing each pipe and I can tell they are all in the tournament, due to the fact that they are flying a pink ribbon from their radio antenna. This is a requirement from the tournament officials and no ones wants to be disqualified over some simple technical error. I personally like the pipe closest to shore, so that is where I head. I start a good distant from the first pipe and troll slowly so Frank can get all four baits out before I reach the pipe. I time my troll accordingly with the two other boats already fishing there, so I will not get to close. It was not uncommon for half a dozen boats to fish the same spot. Back then no one got mad or complained of this practice. We all made sure we kept clear of each others lines and would quickly make turns if necessary to avoid cutting someone's line if a fish was hooked. Everyone was out there to have a good time and that is just what we did. I can either troll slightly right of the pipe, make a turn and nose the boat right up to the structure and take the engines out of gear. This will allow the baits to fall slowly and start drifting from this spot keeping the baits away from the structure to avoid the "Trigger Fish" attack that can come from swarms of these little devils or troll past the small rig and work the baits closely to the up current side where they are some of the time. I want no more "Trigger Action" so I choose the down current side of the pipe. We start our drift and do not get a strike close to this first pipe. I go ahead and just continue our drift for a quarter of a mile or more. When I am just about to yell "Reel Them Up" we get a "Strike". From the distance of the run I can tell it is a solid fish. After awhile you can tell how large a fish is by the distance it will run. This is a nice fish but no where the size of the two in the morning. Sparky has the rod and is giving it all he has. He has a good system going, gaining line quickly on this fish. When we first get a glimpse I can tell this one just might do the job. This is the exact pipe I caught the 26 Lb. king on yesterday and this one is similar in size. My anxiety grows every minute that fish is not in the box. "Sparky" finally gets this one within the gaffs range and in one quick motion Frank has our third "Greenback" laying in the box. I am tired and ready to head for the house right now, but I go ahead and try a couple more drifts off each pipe with no more bites. I tell Frank to reel them up and put a couple feather jigs out as I troll toward the Jetty' at 8 knots. At this speed we will reach the Port Aransas Jetty's way before time to stop fishing. When we arrive, I will then decide whether to fish around Captain Bil or head back to the dock and wait for the final weigh in.

[jc]

what happened next? Is this 16 hours ago or 1983?

[gulftrout]

This is a true story that you can verify with Captain Jim Harmon. The year was 1984 to be exact.

[gulftrout]