Right time Right place

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Written by Administrator Saturday, January 16, 2010 05:15 pm

I always enjoy hanging out at the local tackle shop listening to the guys that live the life. Captains, guides, mates, and boat owners that endlessly pile through the front door with war stories detailing their long days spent offshore fighting the beasts of the deep.  These guys live a life that most of us envy. Who wouldn’t want to fish for a living? I know I would!

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in White’s Tackle, in Fort Pierce, relaxing and listening to Captain Brian Sckoski talk his about time spent in Nantucket this summer catching Giant Bluefin Tuna. As he described this chaotic fishing, I remembered that I needed to get some photos for a mullet dredge tutorial. As soon as Brian finished his story, I asked him to call me the next time he was knee deep in brine soaked mullets. He laughed and then quickly invited me to head over to the Pelican Yacht Club where his crew just happened to be rigging mullet for the following day. I quickly looked at my watch and decided that I might as well take advantage of the situation.

When I arrived at the dock I found a scene typical of sailfish season. There were four fisherman wearing Grunden bibs stacked shoulder to shoulder rigging ballyhoo and mullet, laughing about random happenings in their world. As I moved around from left to right, I took the photos I needed for my mullet rigging tutorial, and then decided to ask what boat they were fishing on. One of the fisherman paused from rigging a bait and said, “The Bandolera”. I had never heard of the boat, but as they began to talk more about it, I realized that this vessel was not your ordinary Sport Fisherman. The more they chatted about the Bandolera, the more I wanted to see this thing. Before I knew it, I was being asked to check her out. As we walked to the end of the Pelican Yacht Club dock, I couldn’t help but notice the soft, blue glow of l.e.d. lights that perfectly lit the cockpit.

I could write an entire article about this boat’s features, but today that is not my goal. I want to deliver photos from my day aboard the Bandolera with Captain(s) Hanz Krass, Gene Soya, and Brian Scokski.

Before the photos depict my day aboard the Bandolera, I want to further explain why I was in the right place at the right time. The day I first set my eyes on her, was the day before the above mentioned team of anglers were heading out for a day of fishing preparing for the infamous Treasure Coast Billfish tournaments. The Bandolera was brought from Puerto Rico to Fort Pierce the week prior to my first encounter with her, and this night was the eve of their first practice day to start the season.

As I hung out on the back of this magnificent boat, Captain Gene mentioned that he may be able to get me on the Bandolera for a day so I could take photos. I quickly let him know that all he had to do was name the date, and I would be there. Gene called me the following day to inform me that I did infact win the golden ticket, and I was more than welcome to show up on that Friday with cameras! I was excited to say the least. I tried to sleep the night before, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the sailfish bite, and the opportunity I had been given.  The morning of the big day started with me trying to stay out of everyone’s way as they loaded the boat with gear, food, bait, and sail fishing essentials. Before I knew it, we were pulling away from the dock and headed out of the Fort Pierce Inlet.

The Bandolera is 72’ and capable of running 52 knots. The boat burns 1oo gallons an hour at that speed, but we comfortably cruising at 38 knots. I sat on a luxurious chair in the cockpit while Gene and Brian began to pull pre-rigged mullets out of refrigerated hatches. Bait by bait they prepared the two mullet dredges, 50 fresh rigged baits on each. I realized yet again, that these guys had their stuff together. Roughly 45 minutes later, Captain Hans Krass came off the throttle and the owner, his friend and son came down from the bridge and began to get into battle positions. I began taking photos of the gear, the crew, and the process of dropping dredges, squid chains, and ballyhoo back into the turbulent, frothing-blue water behind the boat.

We trolled for about 30 minutes before we had our first knock down, and I was pleased to watch the youngest angler on board expertly fight and land a small dolphin.  This youngster is not your average angler, he has fished from San Salvador to St. Thomas, and the Dominican Republic. He was quite skilled, well behaved, and a pleasure to be around.

After our first dolphin was in the box, I began listening to the captain and crew talk about and execute adjustments to various aspects of the boat. They were beginning to dial in the details that are essential to properly raising fish and winning tournaments. As they perfected the setup, the sailfish began to pop up in the spread.  Fish were coming in one at a time and in pairs. I was quite excited to see lit up sails playfully swatting at our dredges. I would have loved to leave the dredges in place so I could have gotten numerous photos of sails in this scenario, but the captain and crew made sure to retrieve the dredges slowly back to the boat so that owner and friends could drop flirtatious baits into the hot zone.

 As the day ended, the captain and crew began to tally the pencil marks on the perfectly buffed fiberglass. The official numbers were 11 for 18. I was impressed with our day, but the captain and crew began to discuss how to ensure a better catch ratio for their next outing the following day. In their world, missing a hook set or breaking a fish off can mean the difference in winning and losing.  It was an unbelievable opportunity to chronicle the team and listen to them talk sail fishing.

As I finish up this piece about my day spent aboard the Bandolera, let me share one last piece of information. This trip was in late November, just two weeks before the first sailfish tournament. What I didn’t know then was that the captain and crew would go on to catch more sails than any boat that entered the TCC. The winner of the TCC caught 56 sails, and the Bandolera caught 72. I was lucky enough be in the right place at the right time, and witness a team getting prepared to battle numerous other skilled crew and come out on top.

If you would like to see more pictures Bandolera photos, click here to visit our highlighted forum thread. If you are not a member of floridafishandhunt.com, we encourage you to join by clicking here.