Outdoors

The day the fishing turned to catching

By TERRY TOMALIN, Outdoors Editor
Published September 14, 2007

Seventeen years on the outdoors beat has given me the opportunity to fish with a lot of captains in a lot of places. Many of those fishing trips have been good, some bad, and a few were downright awful.

But on a warm summer day in the not-so-distant past, I returned from one particular outing and happened to get a call from longtime pal and veteran fishing captain, Larry Hoffman.

"How did it go?" asked Hoffman, who is known around the docks as Capt. "Huffy" because of his tendency to get a little hot under the collar.

"Best day ever," I told my friend. "Really?" he asked, knowing that he had guided me to two 45-pound kingfish over the years.

"Yep, best day ever," I repeated.

The skipper

Steve Papen started his fishing career as a 13-year-old pier rat at Redington Long Pier and later graduated to high-end fishing boats. He's not much to look at - sunburned, stained long-sleeve T-shirt and a couple of pounds on the wrong side of his ideal fighting weight.

But what Papen, 32, lacks in appearance he makes up in performance. Fueled by a steady diet of Mountain Dew and Marlboro Lights, Papen is obsessed with the bottom machine.

Running at 50 mph in his friend Doug Speeler's 33-foot Contender powered by triple Yamaha 250s, Papen pulls back on the throttle anytime he sees the slightest rise in elevation on the bottom.

"That is how you find new spots," he said. "That is how you find the fish."

Papen's obsession has paid big dividends. This spring, he and Speeler, a.k.a. Team Lagerhead, won two major kingfish tournaments, back to back.

"We got lucky, I guess," he said.

The crew

Papen and Speeler had a plan: head 70 miles offshore to 200 feet of water, test some new artificial lures, catch as many fish as possible in the shortest amount of time and return by sunset.

The pair brought along a skilled crew - Dave Bayes, manager of Dogfish Tackle; and Steve Barnhill, a sales rep from tacklemaker Shimano - and one not-quite-as-skilled outdoors editor.

Speeler's go-fast center console allowed the fishing party to hit several spots, including wrecks and natural hard bottom, which resulted in the capture of a variety of sport fish, including amberjack, snapper and grouper.

Papen planned to try the new Shimano flat-bodied "butterfly" jigs on an open-water swimmer, i.e., amberjack or kingfish, before targeting bottom dwellers.

The first stop netted two 30-pound amberjack, which prompted the captain to declare, "Now we know they work, let's go catch some big fish."

The tackle

Shimano developed the butterfly jig system in the early 1990s. Japanese anglers demonstrated that the lures could catch fish in deep water 500 feet especially when used in conjunction with new "super" lines and fluorocarbon shock leaders.

But Shimano didn't stop with just the lures. They also built rods and reels specifically designed to maximize the action of the lure in deep water.

"The system is a little hard to get used to," Bayes said. "But once you do, you just kill 'em."

A slow, steady flick of the wrist apparently drives the fish crazy at depth.

Barnhill and Bayes caught a dozen or so large grouper and red snapper, it appeared without much effort. Then, as soon as the action slowed, Speeler, the kingfisherman, tipped the jigs with natural bait and started reeling in monsters, including a pair of 40-pound-plus gag groupers. My day included five grouper, including a couple 20-pounders, two red snapper and amberjack.

The dinner

Back at the dock before 5 p.m., I called my friend George Stovall, who owns a minor share in Harvey's Fourth Street Grill, and told him to let the kitchen staff know that I would be arriving shortly with a cooler full of fresh fish.

Harvey's, like many local seafood restaurants, prides itself on selling fresh, locally caught fish. The grouper arrives whole and is never frozen (so folks know they are getting the real thing) but they also occasionally cook a customer's catch, with prior notice.

Grouper and snapper never tasted better, and Stovall asked to what I attributed our success. I mentioned the captain, the crew, the tackle, the tactics and, of course, the cook.

"That had to be my best fishing trip ever," I said. "I guess you could say it was all of the above."

Butterfly jig system

The Shimano butterfly jig system is expensive, but effective. The entry-level Shimano Torium reels range from $169.99 to $179.99. The Trevala rods run from $99 to $199. The 4- to 8-ounce flat-sided jigs (the most effective in this area) run $12.99 to $17.99.

For more information, go to www.butterflyjigging.com.

Your best day ever?

What was your best fishing day like, and why was it so special?

Did you catch a personal record in quantity or size? Or was it because of who you were with or the setting you were in? Tell us about it in 100 words or fewer. E-mail rkenda@sptimes.com and put "Best trip ever" in the subject field. Remember to include your name and what city you live in. We'll run a selection of stories in upcoming Gulf and Bay pages.

[Last modified September 13, 2007, 21:18:39]