Team Jefe
07-30-2003, 06:40 PM
Well here it is. Settle in for a good fish story.
For those of you not familiar, the Grand Isle International Tarpon Rodeo is one of the largest fishing tournaments in the country and has been a South Louisiana tradition for 82 years. This was a 5-day trip for me and Jefe’s REVENGE that started last Wednesday.
Wednesday - July 23
Travel day, 7 hours on the road to Fourchon La. Have I ever told you how much I love the Powerstroke? Cruise control on 70 mph all the way. I dropped the boat off and went on to Grand Isle for the Bollinger kick-off party. Great party, wonderful food, I met LA’s Governor, and want-to-be Governor along with lots of folks….but I’m fishing tomorrow so its home to bed early.
Thursday - July 24
Mr. Dan Franz, my great fishing buddy and one of my personal Heros, turns 51 today. I have Jon Head and David Rokokl as crew this morning. We’re going to be tagging along with pro guide Chris Moran aboard Cajun Made. Chris is a top shelf guide and has Danny with the rest of our crew. We head out of Belle pass to some pretty rough seas; good 3-4 footers and things are chopped up as well. No matter, we’ve got some gung-ho crews, but we decide to forego the 3 hour trip offshore and opt to go for mangrove snapper a mere 18 miles out of the pass. Fishing was great as always, but catching was not so good. The seas were so rough that we had my rig hook ripped off and straightened out. Plus I was not able to get any poggies like Chris so we were using live shrimp. We caught a mess of red snapper, but all were too small. Late in the day, we picked up some hardtails and decided to make the offshore run for AJ’s, rough seas be damned. This is were things got interesting. Last week I went on a shakedown trip to check out some new additions to the REVENGE. One of those things is a cargo net attached to the bimini to hold the beanbags I keep on board for rough seas. Well Jon and Dave decided to ride at the helm with me, so I jumped on the rail to put the bags on top under the net. While up there, and holding on to the net, I decided to stow the fish net there as well. When I reached for it we were hit by a 30-foot rogue wave and I was slammed backward (yes I said 30 foot wave so let it go at that). I tried to pull myself back in but the cargo net (a big bungee cord) just stretched right over the side with me. I held on but was getting dragged toward the props so I let go and was treading water in the GoM. Luckily Jon had the helm and they came back for me. Unfortunately that was the day’s excitement as our AJ trek was unsuccessful. Still in all a good day, good crew, and I got a big compliment from Chris and his deckhand & father Sam. They were watching the REVENGE beside them all the way out and commented on how well she took the rough seas. Thanks guys that means a bunch coming from you, but what can I say…it’s a DONZI.
Friday – July 25
Capt. Jefe gets the day off. My crew yesterday is going out with Cajun Made today….looking for Yellowfin Tuna and AJ’s. the crew was filled out with Dan and Perry. we make the big trek out to….Chris would kill me if I gave that out. Chris showed me how to throw chum with the baited line to fool the tuna and hooked a nice fish soon after getting there. He passed the rod to me and the fight was on. After about a 20-minute fight I had a 40+ lb. tuna onboard. Well I had the trick down and started my own chum/baited line technique. It wasn’t long until I had hooked and boated another tuna, this one over 50 lbs. Unfortunately those were the only tuna we caught. So we decided to head for AJ country. We got there and sent the lines down, Perry and David were the first ones in the saddle. Both hooked up and had good fights to boat two nice AJ’s. Perry’s was over 60 lbs. Then it was Jon and me. We hooked up at about the same time, but Jon was done, with another 60 plus pounder, in less than 10 minutes. The man is a machine. It took me a good 20 minutes to boat the 40 pounder I had. We reloaded and did the same trick over again, bringing 8 fish to the boat (one was fought and released as our limit was 7). An awesome day, great crew, excellent skipper and mate. These are the days we dream about.
The Whole Crew
http://www.donzi.net/photos/DJReid23.jpg
Your Fearless Hero
http://www.donzi.net/photos/DJReid24.jpg
Saturday – July 26
Jefe’s REVENGE had a very special treat. Danny’s lovely girl friend, Miss Caroline came down for redemption from last year’s loss of the “Monster AJ”. She brought her friend and colleague Miss Lori. Lori had not been offshore fishing before and was a little worried about things, like getting sick. 0430 came pretty early to these pretty ladies, and I started to have my worries about their stamina. We headed out with Dan and me at the helm and the girls resting on the beanbags. The weather looked nasty but the seas were fairly calm, so with some detour maneuvering, we “wiggled” around the storms. AJ’s need live bait and hardtails are like Crack to them, so we stopped by to pick some up at a weed line. I was at the helm, and Dan was casting the Sabiki rig at the school with little luck, so I grabbed two more rigs and gave the girls a 10 second casting lesson. They started slowly, but hooked up soon and before long they were casting like salty dogs and catching two hardtails at a time. Caroline caught at least 5 doubles. I was no longer worried. We stopped by a few rigs looking for AJ’s with no luck so we decided to make the big run to Chris’ honey hole. Once out there, Caroline, being her naturally sweet self, gave Lori the first chance in the saddle. Went down and hooked up, big pull then nothing. Reeled in and the entire leader was gone…even the knot…the girls didn’t get it at first, but Danny knew…my knot didn’t hold. Well we got that fixed and went down again, hook up, big pull, back to the rig, and snap the leader. This trick happened 3 times, and Lori is getting mad…at the fish (where is the quiet girl we started with this morning). 5th time down, hooked up, Dan is at the helm and motors away from the rig. Here we go, pull up and reel down, the fight is on. Lori is awesome, she fights like a champ, will not give up, and I quote “ no way you son of a b!tch, your mine” and he was. I was there behind her making sure she didn’t get in a bind and go overboard, and I kept the rod from turning over in her hand, but she boated a 55 lb AJ. A nice fish for anyone, but remember she maybe weighs 100 lbs herself. Easily Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately we didn’t get Caroline her redemption, now I owe her two. But we did stop off on the way home and picked up some mangroves and red snapper. This is when I realize we created a monster in Lori. She was having trouble getting her bait past the sharks to the snapper, and was getting mad at the sharks just like a true blue-water fisher…person. I was so proud. Then she took the helm and navigated the 20 miles back to the dock. The girl is a natural, it must be in her Cajun DNA. We may be calling her Capt. Lori instead of Miss Lori before long. Another great day and great crew. Dan and Caroline are two of my favorite people, and Lori wow – from shy to “shut up and fish”. All three are welcome to crew anytime.
The Cast of the All New version of,"Fish On"
http://www.donzi.net/photos/DJReid25.jpg
Sunday – July 27
Travel home day. All was going well until we stopped for gas and diesel. Some jake-leg slammed his piece-o-trash suburban into my truck. Dented the bumper, so that was good for an hour and half delay waiting for the police. But I guess that is a small price to pay for the otherwise outstanding time. Another great rodeo.
Tight Lines;
JEFE
For those of you not familiar, the Grand Isle International Tarpon Rodeo is one of the largest fishing tournaments in the country and has been a South Louisiana tradition for 82 years. This was a 5-day trip for me and Jefe’s REVENGE that started last Wednesday.
Wednesday - July 23
Travel day, 7 hours on the road to Fourchon La. Have I ever told you how much I love the Powerstroke? Cruise control on 70 mph all the way. I dropped the boat off and went on to Grand Isle for the Bollinger kick-off party. Great party, wonderful food, I met LA’s Governor, and want-to-be Governor along with lots of folks….but I’m fishing tomorrow so its home to bed early.
Thursday - July 24
Mr. Dan Franz, my great fishing buddy and one of my personal Heros, turns 51 today. I have Jon Head and David Rokokl as crew this morning. We’re going to be tagging along with pro guide Chris Moran aboard Cajun Made. Chris is a top shelf guide and has Danny with the rest of our crew. We head out of Belle pass to some pretty rough seas; good 3-4 footers and things are chopped up as well. No matter, we’ve got some gung-ho crews, but we decide to forego the 3 hour trip offshore and opt to go for mangrove snapper a mere 18 miles out of the pass. Fishing was great as always, but catching was not so good. The seas were so rough that we had my rig hook ripped off and straightened out. Plus I was not able to get any poggies like Chris so we were using live shrimp. We caught a mess of red snapper, but all were too small. Late in the day, we picked up some hardtails and decided to make the offshore run for AJ’s, rough seas be damned. This is were things got interesting. Last week I went on a shakedown trip to check out some new additions to the REVENGE. One of those things is a cargo net attached to the bimini to hold the beanbags I keep on board for rough seas. Well Jon and Dave decided to ride at the helm with me, so I jumped on the rail to put the bags on top under the net. While up there, and holding on to the net, I decided to stow the fish net there as well. When I reached for it we were hit by a 30-foot rogue wave and I was slammed backward (yes I said 30 foot wave so let it go at that). I tried to pull myself back in but the cargo net (a big bungee cord) just stretched right over the side with me. I held on but was getting dragged toward the props so I let go and was treading water in the GoM. Luckily Jon had the helm and they came back for me. Unfortunately that was the day’s excitement as our AJ trek was unsuccessful. Still in all a good day, good crew, and I got a big compliment from Chris and his deckhand & father Sam. They were watching the REVENGE beside them all the way out and commented on how well she took the rough seas. Thanks guys that means a bunch coming from you, but what can I say…it’s a DONZI.
Friday – July 25
Capt. Jefe gets the day off. My crew yesterday is going out with Cajun Made today….looking for Yellowfin Tuna and AJ’s. the crew was filled out with Dan and Perry. we make the big trek out to….Chris would kill me if I gave that out. Chris showed me how to throw chum with the baited line to fool the tuna and hooked a nice fish soon after getting there. He passed the rod to me and the fight was on. After about a 20-minute fight I had a 40+ lb. tuna onboard. Well I had the trick down and started my own chum/baited line technique. It wasn’t long until I had hooked and boated another tuna, this one over 50 lbs. Unfortunately those were the only tuna we caught. So we decided to head for AJ country. We got there and sent the lines down, Perry and David were the first ones in the saddle. Both hooked up and had good fights to boat two nice AJ’s. Perry’s was over 60 lbs. Then it was Jon and me. We hooked up at about the same time, but Jon was done, with another 60 plus pounder, in less than 10 minutes. The man is a machine. It took me a good 20 minutes to boat the 40 pounder I had. We reloaded and did the same trick over again, bringing 8 fish to the boat (one was fought and released as our limit was 7). An awesome day, great crew, excellent skipper and mate. These are the days we dream about.
The Whole Crew
http://www.donzi.net/photos/DJReid23.jpg
Your Fearless Hero
http://www.donzi.net/photos/DJReid24.jpg
Saturday – July 26
Jefe’s REVENGE had a very special treat. Danny’s lovely girl friend, Miss Caroline came down for redemption from last year’s loss of the “Monster AJ”. She brought her friend and colleague Miss Lori. Lori had not been offshore fishing before and was a little worried about things, like getting sick. 0430 came pretty early to these pretty ladies, and I started to have my worries about their stamina. We headed out with Dan and me at the helm and the girls resting on the beanbags. The weather looked nasty but the seas were fairly calm, so with some detour maneuvering, we “wiggled” around the storms. AJ’s need live bait and hardtails are like Crack to them, so we stopped by to pick some up at a weed line. I was at the helm, and Dan was casting the Sabiki rig at the school with little luck, so I grabbed two more rigs and gave the girls a 10 second casting lesson. They started slowly, but hooked up soon and before long they were casting like salty dogs and catching two hardtails at a time. Caroline caught at least 5 doubles. I was no longer worried. We stopped by a few rigs looking for AJ’s with no luck so we decided to make the big run to Chris’ honey hole. Once out there, Caroline, being her naturally sweet self, gave Lori the first chance in the saddle. Went down and hooked up, big pull then nothing. Reeled in and the entire leader was gone…even the knot…the girls didn’t get it at first, but Danny knew…my knot didn’t hold. Well we got that fixed and went down again, hook up, big pull, back to the rig, and snap the leader. This trick happened 3 times, and Lori is getting mad…at the fish (where is the quiet girl we started with this morning). 5th time down, hooked up, Dan is at the helm and motors away from the rig. Here we go, pull up and reel down, the fight is on. Lori is awesome, she fights like a champ, will not give up, and I quote “ no way you son of a b!tch, your mine” and he was. I was there behind her making sure she didn’t get in a bind and go overboard, and I kept the rod from turning over in her hand, but she boated a 55 lb AJ. A nice fish for anyone, but remember she maybe weighs 100 lbs herself. Easily Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately we didn’t get Caroline her redemption, now I owe her two. But we did stop off on the way home and picked up some mangroves and red snapper. This is when I realize we created a monster in Lori. She was having trouble getting her bait past the sharks to the snapper, and was getting mad at the sharks just like a true blue-water fisher…person. I was so proud. Then she took the helm and navigated the 20 miles back to the dock. The girl is a natural, it must be in her Cajun DNA. We may be calling her Capt. Lori instead of Miss Lori before long. Another great day and great crew. Dan and Caroline are two of my favorite people, and Lori wow – from shy to “shut up and fish”. All three are welcome to crew anytime.
The Cast of the All New version of,"Fish On"
http://www.donzi.net/photos/DJReid25.jpg
Sunday – July 27
Travel home day. All was going well until we stopped for gas and diesel. Some jake-leg slammed his piece-o-trash suburban into my truck. Dented the bumper, so that was good for an hour and half delay waiting for the police. But I guess that is a small price to pay for the otherwise outstanding time. Another great rodeo.
Tight Lines;
JEFE