Quote:
Originally Posted by ful-rac
Yeah JJ's a great guy, he runs a great operation. Nicest captain you'd ever meet! Sure Jim I'll drop your name...it's not going to get me thrown off the boat is it???  |
You never know....
Actually you'd be surprised... I have a lot of really good friends in the fishing community, especially among serious fisherman who fish boats offshore. Fred Archer and I were talking about it once. He said all this internet stuff is all bullshit, that when you meet a man in person and look into his eyes you can tell if he's the real deal...
JJ is certainly the real deal.... Without a doubt.
Last time I fished with JJ was maybe a decade ago, so I doubt he'll even remember me.
It was tuna trip and he stopped well short of the fleet on a mark in the middle of the night. He came down and I was the only guy on deck, we tossed sardines and chunks but only got one YFT up into the lights and I could not get them to bite. Stayed up all night just talking. Great guy, full of info. At gray light it just went ballistic, we never moved and limited out the boat in a few hours.
Two things really stuck out to me from that trip. I had a eight foot sabre rigged with a slosh and thirty that I had tied a 6xjr to. Every time I'd land a bait fish I'd take a break from bait and fish Iron for a while to keep the other guys from getting pissed off. Tried and tried to get bit on it and never had a strike. Ran it on the surface, skipped it, did the drop crank, flutter, yo yo, the whole nine yards.
JJ asked if he could try it, and then in less then a minute he had a fish on. He ended hooking up, and handing off, a dozen or more tuna on my rod that day.
What I'm saying is that the man has serious skills.
The other thing was after we got our limit he did not head in but instead had us tie on marlin jigs and then started hunting Big Eye. He pulled me up top and had me watch the meter with him. Showed me the marks they make and how to work them to get them into the jigs. Never got bit but it was a great thing to see and I learned a lot from him that day.
Most Captains once limited would of just minimized their cost and headed in. Not JJ he gave them the full trip, burned through his fuel, giving them their tuna along with a chance at a real trophy fish.
At the landing he invited me out for drinks, and we shot the shit for hours, over Jagermeister. I was going to unofficially deckhand (deadhead) for him the next day, but my ride got too drunk and backed out at the last minute, so I had to head back to LA.
That was my last trip with him as right after that I got my skiff, and then later started playing around with Kayaks.
In my opinion your not going to find a finer Captain then JJ in the whole So Cal fleet. I think your in for a hell of a trip and I am truly envious.
Sorry for the thread jack. JJ is just such a good Captain, I couldn't help but bring it up.
At any rate, Good luck all!!!
Jim