Corpusfishing.com

[Towboat Trash]

"We've been through some things together,
with trunks of memories still to come.
We found things to do in stormy weather
Long may you run.

Well it was back in Blind River in 1962
When I last saw you alive
But we missed that shift on the long decline
Long may you run.

Maybe the Beach Boys have got you now
With those waves singing, "Caroline, no"
Rollin' down that empty ocean road,
Gettin to the surf on time,

Long may you run,
Long may you run."



--"Long May You Run" album, Long May You Run, The Stills-Young Band, 1976. Rest in Peace Steve....


Driving home with the radio on
Got it tuned to the loneliest station I know
Gettin low
Where'd we go wrong and don't you see?

So I bend a little,
But how do we climb back up from here?

Yeah, we've been through this before
I don't want change

--"Spinng the Truth Around" June 13, 2009 at the Blue October concert at North Beach as the wind blew 20 knots off the bay and Justin Furstenfeld blew the stars out of the sky with 10 Zillion Watts of rock vocals and there was nothing else but the moment.



Well, here we are again. Steve Honc, also known as Stevebait2 has passed on over the bar on the morning of March 1 after a long illness and he ain't coming back across. I should have passed this on already for those that knew him but I've been on the beach processing and this one hit hard and I've been too pist. But he's no longer suffering and he had been for a long long time. Seems the good ones suffer while I personally keep waiting for lightning to whack some of the bad ones, but they'll live forever it seems. And if you make enough older friends, you just might outlive them. Respecting those who came before us is huge and you don't see it enough out here these days.

Steve was the best rod builder of the classics, the originals, that I've ever known. He had a collection of the original Fuji Turbo guides and Gudebrod thread and Varmac reel seats that no one I've met could match. He could restore a Harrington or Harnell like no one else could. He was a hustler and was one of only two men I've ever known that could talk me out of my shirt before I knew it was gone. He did his time in the Army in Germany during the early 70s. He loved to shark fish and I knew the day I met him he was meticulous about his gear and its organization. Everything and every item had its place and must be ready to go at all times, no messing around. He lived to customize his gear and make it better. A beach man and sharker from the generation of Norman Bateman is what he was through and through. I owe my Zodiac knowledge and gear to Steve. He spent quite a few years fishing offshore for sharks the real way and had some great stories to go with those years, including one of my favorites.

I guess this post is for me, but if you knew him, you knew him, and if no one likes it, well I never cared any kind of way and there's quite the Pelagic crowd these days you can go hang with. His legacy for the old things will live on in every rod he restored or built and for that there is no taking it away.







"What did I just SAY Cow-Linn!" Steve yelled as the campfire crackled and popped down Nicaragua wreck way on a dark night shark fishing. They ain't no Money Hill over that dune there that you sent me up and I dam* sure didn't find no coins! And no! My phone didn't get no signal and that chair bucket you said you use back in the dunes was all FULL of black widows!!! DID YOU KNOW THAT! THAT'S RIGHT MY A** WAS ALL COVERED UP WITH THEM THINGS!!! NOW WHAT YOU GONNA SAY ABOUT THAT!!! Big giant stare, and Steve was ready for my response, in face he was daring me. Quite helpfully for my cause, Warren quickly popped up with, "Dam* Steve, a black widow wanted to see your nekked a**??" The time was now. I chirped in quickly with, "A do what, you found a black widow female back there?? Daaaaang man I heard about you back in the day but you still got those gigolo skills? Man I didn't know you could still see that good! Dang was she good looking?? Why she single?? What she doing in the dunes at the 50 mile marker??" I knew then I had him. After a long stare and obvious mental debate about attacking me with the filet knife, he yelled "COW-LINN I SAID NOTHING ABOUT A BLACK WIDOW FEMALE OUT IN THE DUNES LOOKING FOR A MAN I'M TALKING ABOUT BLACK WIDOW SPIDERS ALL UP ON MY A**!!! And right before he almost threw me in the campfire, I replied, "Man dang I'm sorry man that sounds like a personal problem to me!"

--sharking fishing about 50 miles down the beach with Steve and Warren on one of his last trips, January 2017

"NOW LIKE I SAID WE HAD BEEN OFFSHORE FOR 2 DAYS ALREADY IN THAT BOAT!" Steve yelled in a voice loud enough to never be outdone or unheard. "AND WE HAD CAUGHT ENOUGH SHARK AND WAS GETTING LOW ON WATER AND CIGARETTES AND BEER! SO WE WAS GONNA RUN BACK IN TO PORT MANSFIELD! AND THAT'S WHEN IT HAPPENED!" "What happened Steve?" I asked. "WELL IF YOU WILL SHUTUP AND LET ME TELL IT I'LL TELL IT!" Steve yelled again. I sat down and Steve got ready to retell one of my favorites. "WELL THE THING ABOUT IT WAS, WAS WHAT'S HIS NAME HAD DROPPED HIS CIGARETTES IN THE BILGE AND THEY ALL GOT WET AND I HAD TOLD THE OTHER ONE TO BRING A DIFFERENT FUEL LINE BUT HE HADN'T DONE IT! AND WE WERE STILL 20 MILES OUT WHEN THE MOTOR QUIT!! JUST QUIT!!! AND I'LL BE DAM*ED IF THEN THE BATTERIES ALL DIED CRANKING ON THAT RAGGEDY A** PIECE OF SHI*!!! "Well, what did you do, what happened next?" I asked like I didn't know the answers. "WELL THE SHARK STARTED TO ROT! WHAT DO YOU THINK! WE HAD TO THROW IT ALL OVERBOARD ONE BY ONE! IT WAS SUMMERTIME AND WE WERE STILL 20 MILES OUT IN A BOAT FULL OF ROTTING SHARK WITH HARDLY NO CIGARETTES! AND THEN WHAT'S HIS NAME STOLE MY LAST CIGARETTE AND THE BATTERIES WERE ALL DEAD AND WE HAD BEEN DRIFTING NORTHWARD UP THE COAST FOR 24 HOURS! "Hot dam*!" I interjected. "AND THAT'S WHEN WE SAW THEM! THAT WORTHLESS A** NO ACCOUNT SORRY BEHIND COAST GUARD PATROL BOAT ABOUT A HALF MILE TO THE SOUTH! This was always the point I knew the story was once again legendary. "WHEN THE MOTOR FIRST DIED THE DAY BEFORE THEY HAD GONE BY AND WE STILL HAD ENOUGH BATTERIES LEFT TO CALL OUT ON THE RADIO BUT THEY WOULDN'T ANSWER!!! CH 16 OVER AND OVER AND THEY SORRY A**ES WERE A MILE OUT AND WOULDN'T ANSWER NOBODY!!! SO I SHOT A FLARE TOWARDS THEM AND THEY KEPT RIGHT ON GOING! AND EVERYBODY WAS PIST SITTING THERE IN THE HOT SUN ALL DAY, NOBODY TALKING!! THEN THAT NIGHT THEY HAD COME BACK BY ABOUT 2 MILES OUT AGAIN AND THAT TIME I HAD SHOT THE FLARE RIGHT AT THEIR BOAT AND STILL NOTHING!!!! SO THIS TIME I TOOK THE LONG RIFLE OUT!!!" "The shark rifle??" I asked. "YEAH THAT'S WHAT I SAID! WE USED IT TO SHOOT THOSE SONS OF @#$## AFTER WE CAUGHT THEM! YOU GOTTA THINK, IT HAD BEEN OVER 24 HOURS IN THAT HOT A** BOAT DRIFTING NORTH WITH NO BATTERIES AND NO POWER AND BY THE 3RD TIME THAT NEXT DAY THAT THEY HAD COME BY I HAD HAD ENOUGH! I AIMED THAT RIFLE RIGHT AT THE SIDE OF THEIR BOAT AND LET HER RIP!!! PUT A FEW ROUNDS RIGHT AT THE BOW!" Steve yelled with bravado, anger, and self righteous fury all rolled into one big ball of justified expression. "AND THEY KEPT RIGHT ON GOING I DONT KNOW WHAT THOSE FOOLS WERE DOING UP IN THE WHEELHOUSE OF THAT THING!!" "You put rounds at the Coast Guard??? And then what happened?!" I asked. "WHAT DO YOU THINK!!!! THEY NEVER STOPPED AT ALL!!! AND WE FLOATED AND ALL WIND HAD DIED AND IT WAS HOT AS HADES AND THE NEXT DAY WHEN THEY CAME BY AGAIN I EMPTIED EVERY LAST ROUND I HAD AT THEM AND THEY NEVER STOPPED FOR A FOURTH TIME AND WE NEVER SAW THEM AGAIN! AND THE LONGSHORE CURRENTS HAD US RUNNING STRAIGHT UP THE COAST AND NOT COMING IN TO THE BEACH LIKE WE WANTED!! AND IT WAS TWO MORE DAYS IN THAT HOT A** BOAT WITH NO FOOD AND LOW ON WATER!!!! THE WIND PICKED UP AND PUSHED IT TO THE BEACH AND THE BOAT FLIPPED OVER OUT ON THE BAR AND WE HAD TO SWIM TO THE SAND!!!! "Where did you wash up????" I asked. "RIGHT THERE AT THE NICARAGUA!!! AND THEN WE HAD TO WALK ALL THE WAY TO THE JETTY AND NOBODY CAME BY AND BY THE TIME WE GOT THERE I TOLD THIS FISHERMAN DOWN THERE TO GIVE ME HIS DAM* CIGARETTES AND WE HAD TO WAIT IN THE HOT SUN FOR A BOAT TO TAKE US IN TO TOWN!! "You had to walk to the jetties in the hot sun with no cigarettes like a bunch of crackheads kinda like that time Skipjack got thrown out of his kayak and spent all night drifting in the surf off the beach in the dark getting stung by jellyfish????" I yelled back. "COW-LINN THIS AINT NO KAYAK AND THIS AINT ABOUT NO JELLYFISH OR NOBODY NAMED NO GOTTDANG JACKFISH THIS WAS FOUR DAYS DRIFTING IN THE HOT SUN WITH NO FOOD AND HARDLY NO WATER AND A BOAT FULL OF ROTTING A** SHARK THAT WOULDNT CRANK!!!! AND WITH NO CIGARETTES TO BOOT!!!!!" Total silence, and the look on Steve's face told the tale of a survivor of every man's nightmare nemesis, every man's most furiously hated enemy, the modern day Goliath, the outboard that just won't crank.

--One of Steve's offshore sharking stories, 2012



"Man, ain't nobody worried bout no Harnell, shoot I can go to Wal Mart and all and get a Fugly Stick and roll OUT!" I told Steve. Long, long pause. Incoming swell crashed out over the bar in the dark night air, and the fire crackled one good time before he answered me. But first he took one good solid pull off of a brown pack Winston as my education was thoughtfully prepared. "WELL NOW, look here son, it's like this! YOU CAN HAVE A PORSCHE OR YOU CAN HAVE A BICYCLE NOW WHICH ONE WOULD YOU WANT! YOU CAN HAVE A HARNELL OR SOME KINDA CALSTAR NONSENSE WITH ALL THOSE TINY GUIDES AND SOME KINDA TIE DYE WRAP! HARNELL...NOW HARNELL IS GONNA HOLD ITS VALUE, HARNELL'S BEEN CATCHING FISH SINCE BEFORE YOU WERE BORN AND IT'S GONNA KEEP CATCHING FISH AFTER YOUR LITTLE ARSE IS GONE!!! AND ALL I OWN IS HARNELL AND HARRINGTON AND THAT'S ALL I'M EVER GONNA OWN!"

--shark fishing campfire education with Steve


"I'm tellin you son, back in my day in my prime, when I was your age, I wasn't nothin' but a GIGOLO!" Big grin. "Like Duece Bigolow, Europeon Gigolo?" I asked. "You doggone right boy! JUST LIKE THAT!"

--Sharking fishing with Steve and Warren

"HEY!! NOW LOOK HERE! I...JUST....MIIIIIGHT BE SELLING MY 553!" Steve yelled at me over the phone. Feigning ignorance since it was sometime around midnight on the back watch, I loudly replied "What's a 553!!! THAT A UGLY STICK?! CUZ I CAN GET THOSE AT WAL MART!! AINT NOBODY NEED NO MORE WAL MART RIGHT NOW!" Long pause as he took a slow hit off one of those brown pack Winstons, and then, "COLIN!! A HARRINGTON/HARNELL 553 IS THE MOST BADARSE ROD EVER BUILT AND I MIGHT JUST KEEP IT JUST BECAUSE ITS THAT BAD TO THE BONE! I'M TELLING YOU RIGHT NOW! I HAD A FULL 10 FOOTER WITH A 16/0 ON IT YEARS BACK AND IT WHOOPED MY BUTT I'LL TELL YOU THAT!!! THAT KINDA ROD TAKES A MAN WITH HAIR ON HIS CHEST TO FISH IT!!!!" And right then and there I knew the gig was up, I had seen that rod in his collection, and it truly was that bad to the bone. And like every red blooded fisherman to come before me and every one to come after me, I just had to have one more rod....

--Midnight rod bantering with Steve, the best restoration shark rod builder I knew.

"Look here!" I yelled through a halfway grin, "You proof positive that we can't CUT DOWN that 553! If we just cut two feet of of it, it would be so much BETTER!" I could hear the gears turning before the hammer of doom came down upon me, and I knew I had seconds to live, but I just had to pick at Steve a lil' bit that night I guess. "NOW LOOK HERE! IF YOU GONNA CUT DOWN A HARRINGTON OR A HARNELL THEN YOU DONT DESERVE A HARRINGTON OR A HARNELL YOU DONT CUT DOWN NO 553 MAYBE ONE OF THE OTHERS JUST A FEW INCHES OR SOMETHING BUT NOT NO 553, NEVER! NO HOW! NO WAY! AND FOR DARN SURE NOT MINE!!!"

--discussing the utter blasphemy of cutting down a vintage Harrington with ole Steve there.


"COE-LINN WHY ARE YOU LATE!!!! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN DOING!!!!" Billy Sandifer screamed at me as I pulled up. Knowing what I was about to do would immediately start WW3, I replied, "Now don't get all mad, I know how you be player hating, I was with the greatest sharker of all time that ever lived, in recorded history and all, I think his name...uhh...yes that's it, it's Steve Honc." Billy's shock at my last statement immediately turned to unmanifested rage as he prepared an onslaught of epic proportions. "Steve!! Honc!!!! YOU WERE WITH HIM!!!!! YOU WERE WITH STEVE!!! HONC!!!!!" The rest is probably better left unsaid, but it had all the essential ingredients of a good Willie and Waylon song to include jail, people getting beat up, money, drugs, and even some sharks. "Hang on Billy, Steve's calling," I fibbed to Billy just to get his goat one more time. And with that Billy really screamed and relocked his gate and stormed back in the house still yelling about a shark in jail or something or other.

--2013 with Billy Sandifer




Harnell 534 restoration
http://www.corpusfishing.com/messageboard/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=36303&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=harnell

Harnell 575 restoration
http://www.corpusfishing.com/messageboard/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=37031&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=harnell

Harrington 553 and 555 restoration
http://www.corpusfishing.com/messageboard/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=37499&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=harnell


"You looking for Steve?" apartment lookout asked me nonchalantly. "Yessir," I answered quietly. "Up there, last door that way." A moment later Steve opened the door to his place and the smell of cigarettes was overwhelming. But what took hold of me was the sight of shark jaws on every wall, and a display of Penn Senators all the way up to the biggest ever made, the big Kahuna 16/0. There were hooks and tackle on display and awards and Gulf Coast Shark Assocation stuff and pics of old boats for shark fishing offshore and sharks hanging on the hook back at the dock and my mind was blown. All the way to the back we went, to the rod wrapping room overlooking the Laguna from the 2nd story balcony outside. Never had I ever seen such a collection of meticulously organized thread and guides and tackle all from the days of yesteryear. For the next 4 hours we would talk fishing, women, rods, and the like. The rest was history already and I knew that and Steve did too. We were both cut from the same outlaw cloth, no pelagic BS, no hats with the neck flap, just two grown men still chasing the feeling of the renegade sharking trail.



Cuban "Chub" last week washed in, occupants in custody...just sitting and thinking of Steve washing in on that old sharking boat....








Early Zodiac.


One of Steve's rigs.


Yesteryear.


Steve's work.




Early bait running vessel.



Restored.


























Steve's last beach rig.


Some of Steve's restorations.






















































I have no idea where we go from here or how much time I myself have left but I guess like everything else a man just keeps on going down the road until it's his time too. Seems like when all of us were younger these things were easier to accept. Chris' head was taken off when we were 13 in a hunting accident and he was just gone and that was the end of it and there wasn't anything to be done and we mourned but we knew he wasn't coming back. But after all this time, after all this water under the bridge, after all the faces here today and gone tomorrow why anyone else and you and I are still here? Well, with the exception of those lightning bolt folks that just won't die off, but they've been amongst us since the dinosaurs I suppose. Heck, just the other day one had a selfie stick shoved up the superintendents forehead at the PINS meeting. It's so dam* hard to lose folks that really understand you. Are you complicated in your own way? Are there things you do that people can't understand and won't take the time to? Is there someone out there who gets you and there is no explanation needed? Who would you want with you if it all falls down around you? Do they have your back at 2 in the morning and do you have theirs? Don't forget about them if they're still with you today, give them a call. Tomorrow ain't promised and there's no climbing back out of that six foot deep hole when it's all over. As for me, I can only hope I was a friend enough to folks that have had my back with no questions asked like Steve was.

Rest easy old sharker, Rudy and I will both miss you as will Becky and Warren and Diane and your brother and others I haven't mentioned.

Over and out old buddy....

Your brother on the sand,

Colin.
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Protect Padre at all costs for future generations to use and enjoy and never forget our freedoms aren't free.

www.padreislandexpeditions.com

[RodBreaker]

Great post Colin! So sorry to hear about his passing. I got a chance to talk to him many years ago at a Sharkathon check-in. And he was a frequent poster on this forum at one time.
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certified whiting slayer

[Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm]

true story, he will be missed....what a character!
becky
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[RodBreaker]

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/houston-tx/steve-honc-11179249
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certified whiting slayer

[awesum]

What a great testimonial to your friend.

I didn't know him but wish I did.

Thanks Colin.

[CopanoCruisin]

Sad to hear that Steve has crossed the bar. Oh, what a great guy, fisherman and quiet a character at that. Condolences to his family and all his friends. Actually when I moved a bit up the coast years ago, my beach running days came to an end. Years afterwards, when I decided to sell all my Hornell long rods, I was happy that Steve was the one that ended up with them. He sent some me some pics after he completely rebuilt them. I was just in awe at the beauty that he brought them back to. He will be missed by many! Calm seas my friend. May the lord bless you again on your next adventure. God bless
.........Smokey

[SaltyMutt]

RIP Sir, I had the pleasure of meeting Steve after I messaged him about a custom rod. I ended up going to his place and spent a good while sitting down and listening to so many great stories he had to share. At the end of the day, I went home with a beautiful Ugly Stick he had completely rebuilt. I loved that fishing rod, and was heartbroken when my place was broken into and had it stolen. Really saddens me that I'll never be able to get another rod like it.
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I like fishies

[HungerBuster]

He rebuilt three of my breakaways. Awesome man. Sorry to hear of his passing, but grateful that the suffering is over. Hang in there Colin. Give your wife and kids big, tight hugs...
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Fish ON!

[SaltyMutt]

I may be mistaken, But I do believe in that first pic, that Red Rod on the top rack is the one I had gotten from him. Man, I hate thieves.
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I like fishies

[Tyler]

Damn
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[cuzn dave]

Great tribute to an OG character, Coe- Linn!
I am fortunate to have 7-8 rods that Steve built for me. 3 of them are Horenells as he used to say. I supplied him with wood butt sections for a couple years when he was still in Corpus.
See you on the other side, my brother!
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"If we don't leave any, there won't be any."
Capt. Billy
"Enjoy every sandwich" Warren Zevon