baitcast
Super Nomad
Posts: 1785
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: kingman AZ.
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Mood: good
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Brought back by popular demand.
For two of you
The year was 1957 and I found myself on the USS Chickasaw a navy ocean going tug boat towing three large
barges of asphalt to a far-away place namely Enewetok atoll
in the Marshall islands,these islands are 2500 miles southw-
est of Hawaii,out of the main shipping lanes,in the middle of nowhere.
Having been born inland and not seeing the ocean
until my late teens this was something else again,I had drea-mt about such a place for years fueled by the writings of Zane Grey and Hemingway.
The tow was very slow to say the least which was fine with me not so with most the crew,four or five knots divided
by 2500
Most of the crew saw nothing but water but I and my bud saw life everywhere, the water was full of visitors every-
day,dorado by the scores,sharks even a couple of bill fish,
whales would even stop by for a visit,at night flying fish would bombard us by the dozens,we tryed to show a movie
on the stern one night and were sent running for our lives,
birds would rest on the barges frigets and albatross,the area was anything but dead.
Every morning we had to run around and pick up the dead flying fish then it was show time for the crew,I would
throw a couple out and watch the dodo,s come running,just like feeding the chickens.
Enewetok atoll is nothing more than a circular thin strip of island with a large lagoon in the middle,fifteen miles
in diameter,we entered the lagoon thru a small opening which had been blasted out for smaller ships such as us,the
lagoon was like nothing your imagination could expect,a flat mill pond,not a ripple and clear as a gin jug,so clear it seem-ed like we were floating
on air,as you looked down you could see forever,after off loading the barges we made for the fuel dock,only to find they would not let us off,which
was ok i guess,probably could,nt walk anyway after nearly a month
of rocking and rolling,after fueling we moved out to anchor
for the next two days,then the fun being more me.
Night time and I got to wondering whats down there?
we had two large lights on the stern for night time work which we turned on and pointed at the water,in a matter of minutes things began to happen!
clouds of plankton appear-ed,than krill,than small bait fish,they just got bigger by the minute,we talked the cook out of a block of frozen shrimp to
add to the mix ........several kinds of jacks began showing
some of the larger ones I think were trevally,s,big brownish
groupers started making passes thru the melee than things
came to a stop out from under the boat comes a fifteen ft.
or more tiger shark with his blunt nose an striped body,a
beautiful animal,we were but a few feet from his head.
After the big boy left things returned to normal,we only had one fishing pole and an hand line which I had rigged up earlyer,no match for
these guys,everything was to big and strong for our stuff,if you hooked something small he never made it to the top,always big boys would take him and
leave us just standing there laughing.
Much more to the story but you get the idea,also five years earlyer same island the last hydrogen bomb was fired off,the place was
hot,what were we doing there?
They did not start to clean up the place until the late 60,s so I quess we were lucky!
BAITCAST
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FARASHA
Senior Nomad
Posts: 848
Registered: 6-3-2006
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Interesting story !!
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Mexray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1016
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: California Delta
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Mood: Baja Time
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Baitcast....
...my dad was in the Merchant Marine (Radio Operator) during 'Double-U Double-U Two' and spent time in the Marshall's and Eniwetok atoll. His crew
were also confined aboard ship during those war times to enjoy the tropics from a hot steel deck! On their last trip home, they had all kinds of neat
stuff they had 'collected/traded' (Japanese souvenirs) but were forced to toss em' overboard before landing.
I was on a boat delivery from Louisiana to Hawaii in 1992, and we were also a 'slow' vessel - not quite as slow as yours! We had a BBQ mounted on the
stern, and were able to snag several Dodo's along the way, crank em' in, fillet em' and toss em' on the Barby within minutes - talk about 'Fresh' fish
- we really had some great dinners aboard, in the open ocean!
Sometimes, low and slow isn't all that bad!
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Thank you for sharing your memories baitcast. I knew it would be good. What was the asphalt for?
Eiwetok sounds a lot like Christmas Island. I would go there for the bonefishing. It too was used as a testing site for hydrogen bombs by the brits. I
suppose you probably snorkeled during your spare time. Those tropical reefs are amazing. I never saw so many moray eels. They were everywhere. Their
presence would freak me out.
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baitcast
Super Nomad
Posts: 1785
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: kingman AZ.
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Mood: good
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Joe the asphalt was for the air strip I believe,they
refused to let us off the boat so no time for snorkeling or anything else which was fine,the standing joke around there was the fish glowed at
night,the area was still very hot so I,m glad we didn,t get off the boat
I have often wondered what about the guys working on the island?
Looking into the water at night under the lights was something else,the only thing that comes close is the marine world tank.
Doing any fishing? I still have my heart set on San
Franciquito,saw some pic,s on mexfish of some guys hooked up big time on the beach,real nice fish!!!!!
BAITCAST
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Summanus
Nomad
Posts: 481
Registered: 10-15-2006
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Ahh, nice fishing accounts and experiences at sea. Thanks for sharing the moments. I have seen the nighttime waters off Baja alive with leaping
and glowing porpoise...a sight one to behold! The wake of our boat was a white trail behind us with the edges curling over like meringue on a pie.
(I put the meringue in there so FARASHA could have some dessert.)
Summanus....ancient Roman Nightly Thunder God. He liked refrieds too.
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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S.F. yellowtail
| Quote: | Originally posted by baitcastDoing any fishing? I still have my heart set on San
Franciquito,saw some pic,s on mexfish of some guys hooked up big time on the beach,real nice fish!!!!!
BAITCAST |
I just looked at those pictures. It appears as though the shore yellowtail were caught in mid day. That's doing it the hard way. They are a very good
size for beach fish.
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