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| Greg Moore |
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| By Greg Moore
IGFTO Observer
OFFSHORE FLORIDA – I’m up on the bridge surveying a spread of three live goggle eyes and three thread fin herring. The two kites supporting them are high up in a clear blue Florida sky. We’re in ninety feet of water off the Boynton Inlet in calm seas.
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| Weez in the Keys |
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Captain Ray Rosher, is at the tower helm barking orders in his gravelly voice to his anglers down on deck. The six anglers and two mates are tending their rods and watching their baits. I’m observing aboard Weez in the Keys, a beautiful 58-foot Merritt, on the last day of competition in the 2012 Palm Beach Double Shot. The boat is currently in third place in the Buccaneer Cup.This calm scene is interrupted when three – four – no, five – sailfish exploded out of the water crashing the baits. Everyone goes into action on deck and the captain directs the action from the tower. Two of the sailfish crisscross lines and are immediately cut off. The other three head out in different directions.
From my vantage point on the bridge, I can see all three fish taking line. The captain directs the strategy by instructing angler Edgar Benes – a former Miami Hurricanes Football place kicker and Boca Raton lawyer – to the bow of the boat as his fish was heading east. The other two fish took off to the west and south. Edgar’s fish goes right by a dive boat. I’m wondering if the divers saw the sail go by as the captain powers the boat comfortably around the dive boat and is now chasing the sail. Edgar is getting line back on the reel and within minutes, I can see color in the water and after a few more pumps, the leader is at the rod tip and I holler “Release.”
Action resumed in the stern where angler and Miami firefighter Roy Huff was cranking away. The captain is backing down toward Roy’s fish when the sail breaks the water and makes another run. The angler lets the line peel off and patiently waits until the fish tires before he once again reels in his catch. Roy wins the battle and I shout “Release” as the leader hits the rod tip.
During all this time, angler Scott Robbins had been fighting the third fish, which had headed west underneath a southbound sailboat. Fortunately, the fish was deep enough that the sailboat passed by without cutting the line. Capt. Rosher backed down aggressively. Scott was braced against the transom taking whitewater in the face while reeling smoothly. The fish breaks the surface with a shower of spray and I yelled “Release” as I saw leader at the rod tip.
There was a quick round of high-fives before the crew went about their business of re-rigging and setting out baits. As the day went on, the crew caught several more sail. Late in the day, the bite had slowed down and the Weez in the Keys crew was still in third place in the rankings.
Edgar was working a flat line off the stern. He had tied a weight to the line with a rubber band to get his bait down deep. With only 20 minutes to go in the tournament, a sail jumped right behind the boat. Edgar reeled and never let the fish get a chance to run until he got to this weight and could reel no more. As the crew watched nervously, Edgar put the rod between his legs and fumbled a bit as he removed the weight from the line. He resumed reeling and within seconds he has the sail to the leader. The release came a few minutes before the end of the tournament. This last fish made for an exciting finish and put the boat in second place in the tournament.
As the captain heads the Weez in the Keys back to port, I reflect on my day as a tournament observer. I had done my job in identifying the fish and assuring that all tournament and IGFA rules were followed. Through these efforts and the release of all these fish, we can see by the increased number of sailfish being caught off the Florida coast that our efforts are helping save the species. It was also great to be onboard with a professional fishing crew and captain as they successfully reeled in a triple. I couldn’t help but wonder about the two that got away. What a scene that would have been – to observe a quintuple.
Maybe next time.
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