Tidelines – June 30, 2011
You may have noticed when picking up this week’s issue of Fisherman’s Post that it is a little thicker and heavier than the past few June issues. Our issue that comes out prior to the July 4th holiday is always a sizeable issue.
When we have a larger issue (more advertisers), then we are able to run more text and more photos. I think you’ll enjoy the surplus of both in this issue.
The Guide Time article—our feature article—in this issue is a nearshore flounder and sea bass trip with Capt. Mike Taylor of Taylor-Made Charters out of Emerald Isle. You can read all about the trip starting on page 42.
The article by Max Gaspeny, per usual, does a great job of capturing the day’s fishing action, and then I, also per usual, like to talk in my Tidelines column about elements of the fishing trip that didn’t make it in the feature article.
Mike Taylor is a fantastic fisherman, from the backwaters out to the Gulf Stream, but fishing may be his second best talent. On the water during our Guide Time trip he talked about bowling league nights and bowling tournaments. He’s rolled a few perfect games before, and when I called him to verify these perfect games for this Tidelines piece, he told me that he had bowled yet another since our fishing trip together.
During this same phone call I made Mike brag about himself, pushing him to answer questions about his inshore tournament fishing success. We quickly agreed that he has too many redfish top finishes to list (though if we did try, the list would probably start with IFA Team of the Year Atlantic Division and two-time Redfish Action Series Champion). He did add with a chuckle that perhaps his strongest inshore finish was in the Swansboro Trout Tournament where his team weighed in a three trout aggregate of over 23 pounds (9, 8, and 6 lb. specks).
Then he told me that perhaps neither bowling nor fishing is his true passion. Perhaps his proudest moment came this past year in Indiana when he took down a big deer with his bow (170”, 11 point, and 300 lbs.).
On this fishing trip with Mike, we headed a few miles out of Bogue Inlet, and he brought along John Roberts, Mike’s big boss man. John owns and fishes “Weldor’s Ark,” a 55’ custom Carolina sportfisherman, and he has hired Mike to be his captain for the past eight years. Their team practically owned the Wahoo Challenge in its tenure, winning the tournament once, placing second two times, and finishing third a total of three times in the tournament’s short lived history.
John isn’t just a boat owner, though. He’s a true fisherman, and it was John that had the hot hand on the flounder, tallying more numbers than anyone else. Mike, however, brought in the single biggest flounder of the day. And the argument could be made that Mike’s so good at positioning the boat over an area he wants to fish that he probably set John up to land the most fish, knowing it wouldn’t be smart for the captain to beat the owner in both categories. Either way, those two guys fish well together.
Not only was the company entertaining—with Mike’s discussions of fried mullet, watermelon, and flatbread, and John’s stories of his daughter’s accomplishments playing softball for UNC Chapel Hill—but Mike and John also brought out the good stuff for Max and me. Mike’s Ranger bay boat was decked out with approximately $10,000 just in rods and reels, sporting ten Stella and Trevala combos.
So Mike’s Ranger bay boat did its job (though Mike may be getting a new Ranger 2310 next year with a tower), the rods and reels did their job (good gear makes a difference), John did his job (catching plenty of fish and making Negro Modelos disappear), and Mike did his, bringing us back to Dudley’s with a story to tell. We not only had plenty of fish for an article, but Max and I drove back to Wilmington with baggies of fresh fillets ready for the grill and/or fryer.
With Mike getting a new boat with a tower, I’m not sure if the next trip I pitch to Mike should be sight casting to cobia, or if I should be plugging for him to gear up the “Weldor’s Ark” for a blue water Fisherman’s Post excursion.
Cobia or wahoo and billfish? Either way the decision goes, Fisherman’s Post can’t go wrong, and those are my favorite decisions to make.
