The Bass Master's Method of Dolphin Lifting

In the real world I am a fishing guide for those of you that don't know. That may be one of the reasons my writing style is a little abby normal. Too many hours in the sun, though I do wear a hat. Fishing stories don't make very big bucks, but since that's what I do, that's what I write about most of the time. So here is a little story you bass fishermen might like.

On Friday June 15^th, I took a crew out of Captain Pips for a little fishing 101. That's where I show the crew the ropes for several types of fishing and give them a little local knowledge so they can catch fish and not tear the boat up. I have written a ton of articles on what you need tackle wise, to catch fish in the Keys.

My crew for the fishing 101 had not read any of those articles. So when I meet up with them, the boat looked like a porcupine with rods sticking out everywhere. They had a huge tackle box and several other tackle bags stuck here and there. I mention that all that gear might get in the way if we got into some big fish. After recommending that they shed a few rods, they took one off the boat.

Oh well, I figure learning from your mistakes is still learning, so we head out in the S.S. Porcupine for some Florida Keys fishing. Troy, the angler that never met a sporting goods story he didn't like, is pretty stoked about the trip. So stoked he is not paying attention to my subtle suggestions like tying a few lures on the trolling rods and hooks on the spinning gear could be a good idea. It is a bit hard to catch fish without hooks on the end of the line.

Once we get to about 270 foot of water, my buddy Gator on the Papa Pip, finds some peanut dolphin and I start heading his way. I mention to Troy and his dad again that it might be a good idea to put some hooks on the lines and get the bait out. When we get to Gator's boat, I tell the guys to put some chunk baits in the water. It took a little while to get the crew in the swim of things, but they caught a few small dolphin also know as mahi mahi for those of you visualizing us hooking Flipper just for fun.

During the battle with the little dolphin, I move a few rods out of the way and try to move some of the tackle boxes that are in the way. With fewer obstacles, moving around the boat was almost safe. We boat about a dozen of the peanuts, get the first dolphin pictures for everyone, and then start trolling south.

Trolling out to the deeper water, the chatter on the VHF radio was mainly negative with no one finding any keeper size fish. One of the captains on the VHF says that he has not seen a single "gaffer", so I explain to Troy's dad that a gaffer is a fish you need to use a gaff to get the fish in the boat. That's when Troy's dad mentions that they didn't bring a gaff. I thought for sure with all the gear cluttering up the boat there had to be a gaff some where, but no.

As per Murphy's Law, about ten minutes later we hook a thirty-pound dolphin. Troy is on the rod, I am driving the boat, so I ask Troy's dad to move about a half-dozen of the rods that are in Troy's way. With the stack of rods in the bow of the boat, I try to keep the fish off the back of the boat so Troy won't have to climb over all the rods.

While we try to make room for Troy to fight the fish, the fish is putting on a great show of acrobatics. Troy and his parents were treated to some fine leaps and even a little tail walking. This was a first for his parents and they seemed to being having the fishing trip of a lifetime. That is always a good thing in my line of work.

After telling Troy that getting the fish in the boat might be a challenge, I ask Troy to do his best to tire the fish out. Then I get Troy's dad to hunt down some line so I can make a tail rope for handling the fish. The only line on the boat of any size was of course the anchor line. Now we have a stack of rods at the bow, tackle boxes and coolers on the deck, anchor line trailing all over the deck and the anchor locker hatch open at the bow. This was a sure signal that the fish had to surge to the bow of the boat to make life a little more interesting.

Troy must be a pretty good dancer because he managed to tap dance around all the hazards at the pointed end of the boat. The fish was a pretty fair dance partner because he kept Troy on his toes trying to go under the boat from one side to the other.

Once the fish was pretty well tuckered out, Troy brings the slammer (that would be a dolphin over 25 pounds) to the side of the boat. I try to use the tail rope/anchor line, but the fish wanted no part of that idea. This is when I notice that the hook in the slammers mouth is not set very well at all. It is not looking good for the home team!

To add to my stress, Troy had mentioned he wanted the fish mounted. I get a fair commission on mounts and extra greenbacks in my pocket would be a nice thing. Seeing part of my rent money disappear before my eyes, I start thinking about pulling the Bass Master's® classic lipping maneuver. Lipping a bass, putting your thumb in the fish's mouth and lifting it out of the water is easy, bass don't have teeth and I have only caught a few over ten pounds. Dolphin on the other hand do have teeth, not big teeth, but enough to rip the skin off of your thumbs. This dolphin was definitely bigger than any bass and still pretty spunky.

I didn't have my gloves, which were in my tackle bag at the dock, which had a hand gaff in it by the way, which I had left because of all the gear on the S.S. Porcupine, so I grabbed a hand towel to protect my thumbs. With my right thumb grabbing the fish's lower jaw, I realize that lipping a big dolphin was a little bit more challenging than a bass. So I get the left hand into the act. Finally, I feel that I have a secure enough grip on the fish to pull it in the boat. As I lay the fish on the deck the hook falls out of his mouth.

I am just about as tuckered out as the fish after leaning over the gunwale of the boat for ten minutes trying to get a grip on the fish. We get all the required photos and place the fish in the box with all the ice we have. Since the fish box on the S.S. Porcupine is not the most thermally efficient in the world, I tell the crew we might need to shorten the trip a little to make sure the dinner for 20 or more in the box does not go bad.

We get a shot at a sailfish but can't get it to eat and start doing a little yellowtail fishing on the reef to finish the fishing 101 tour. The weather started blowing up so we had to cut the trip short an hour or so to keep from getting roughed up a little.

Back at the dock, Randy at Captain Pip's measures the fish at 57 inches for the mount paperwork and brings out their new Boca Grip® imitation to weigh the fish for Troy. The Boca Grip® is a neat gizmo that you can put in a fish's mouth to lift it out of the water. A much more convenient way of lifting a slammer dolphin than the Bass Master's® version I had used. This is when Troy mentions that he has one of those Boca Grips® on the boat. With that I just scratch my head and have another cold one.