3/22/07 Deep Drop Fishing Report

[Capt. Jim Brincefield]

Wow! What a nice day (for a change) on the Atlantic Ocean. We finally got some decent temperatures and a weather and sea window to get out there and do some much needed fishin’! Today we did a put together party for our 18th extreme long range deep drop adventure of the 2007 campaign. Mr. T.J. Reiber of Northern Virginia served as 1st Mate today.

The Jil Carrie crew consisted of 14 intrepid anglers as we slithered on out to the offshore wrecks to collect a few specimens. Capt. Darren Foster and new co-Captain David “Danny” Davis served today. Capt. Davis fished with us last year and now is aboard as a new Co-Capt. - welcome aboard Capt. Davis!

Unfortunately, it was the same sad story - miserable, filthy, stinky, useless Dawg Sharks. These P.O.S.’s are eating everything in the Atlantic Ocean including all of the Sea Bass. And in more bad news from T.J., we had a new influx of hideous Conger eels making a bums rush! However, good news for me again - 4 more horkers selling cars which always provides good entertainment.

The crew valiantly fought and struggled through yet another hideous DTBR (Dawg To Bass Ratio) the prerequisite tangles, current, deep water, and the like – hangin’ in there the entire day. We did a “1/3, 1/3, 1/3 day” with 1/3 of the day Sea Bassin’, 1/3 of the day Tilefishin’, and 1/3 of the day Grouperin’. Sea Bassin’ was fair, Tilefishin’ was good, and Grouperin’ was zippo, el skunkeroonee.

We tallied 167 corpulent Black Sea Bass, an impressive (2nd place Jil Carrie all time tally) 141 Blueline Tilefish up to a whopping 17 pounds 1 ounce, and our first 2 Winter Runner Bluefish in quite a while. We also released several undersized Black Sea Bass which were undoubtedly devoured by the Dawg Sharks. We also released about 30 hideous Conger Eels. Some of these things were just absolutely disgusting in their slimyness and their horrifying girth.

Blueline Tilefish VA Weight Citations
Edward Ballard of Hampton, VA - 17 pounds 1 ounce (big fish pool winner)
Christopher D. Denson of Portsmouth, VA - 15 pounds 11 ounces
Edward Pickett of Portsmouth, VA - 11 pounds 10 ounces
Tim Elliott of Hampton, VA - 10 pounds 11 ounces
Lee McManus - 10 pounds 6 ounces

[ Pictures to follow ]

[David-C]

Jim,

It's clear you hate the dreaded dawg fish, but it sounds like those conger eels give you the wooly-boogers!

Don't know just how many dawg fish any one person could handle, but they are good to eat. Really. Just fillet and treat them like any other fish. Be sure to ice them down quickly as the high level of urea in the blood will make them funky in a hurry. But if you keep it cold from the start it is good.

I've never seen a conger eel, but regular old American eels are disgusting enough! But out of curiosity I did a search on Google for recipes (conger eel recipe). There are a ton of them! I don't know if I could get past the basic nastiness of the critter on the hoof, but somebody here ought to give one a fair try and give us a report! Anybody out there brave enough?

Tight lines,
David (from Walter Reed)

[222swanc]

Plenty of folks eat them eels. Probably as many if not more than
the number who eat dog sharks. They get fried just like any other fish.

[Old School]

Nice report Jim! I hope to get into some tiles like that on the 2nd.

Congrats on getting more horkers to join the club.

I'm still a proud card carrying member of the NHA (Non Horkers Association)

[SIMPLY DIVINE]

WTG Jim. Glad somebody is able to go out and get some fish...

[virginia boy 1]

We caught a bunch of congers up in cape cod a few years back. the portugese fishermen were pretty much cussing us for throwing them back.....we were offered $6 a pound for them at the fishmarket up there. they pickle them. yuck!

[Hakuna Matata]

MAN, I have got to book one of these trips! Thanks for the report.


-JB

[Crabcake74]

141 Blueline Tilefish up to a whopping 17 pounds 1 ounce

Wow!!! That's a truly impressive tilefish count. Let's hope the Marine Fisheries people aren't too harsh and allow you to continue chasing these tasty critters. Next year, I really want to come down your way to catch a few.

[Capt. Jim Brincefield]

I've just got my computer back up and will post the pictures soon. I do have customers that keep the eels and dawg sharks. They all say they are good to eat. I guess I'm too picky!

As far as the Blueline Tilefish and the VMRC meetings, we are not done yet. We lost round one but we will keep fighting. I'm sure we will be more prepared for round two.

Never Give Up!!!

[Capt. Jim Brincefield]

"I brought you a delicious Bass"