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By 1971 the Del Rey Marlin Club folded and several of us (Bob Flamer,
Al
Epstein, Bruce Kessler, and myself) listened to the call of
Dr. Sanbo
Sakaguchi, one of the local Budda Heads, and one of the more active
anglers in the medical community. Sanbo was an active member of the Los
Angeles Billfish Club and we all joined up. There we met several
notables like Frank Hedge, Dennis Gagnon,
Kenny Lightner,
Geoff Halpern,
and all the rest. The club had recently won the San Diego Marlin Club's
Invitational Light Tackle Tournament (I.L.T.T.) and we signed up to fish
the next year (1972). Geoff adopted me and took me under his wing (covering some
umpteen years of experience in local waters). And so he, Al Epstein,
Carolyn and I lined up at the starting line.
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The fog that AM was so thick that we had to follow one of our other boats (with radar) out of the harbor. Eventual we made it out and spent the morning trolling for naught. In late morning Geoffrey declared: "We'll get bit when we come out of the fog bank." It was my turn on the rod, but so bored, I sacked out on the couch near the door. And just as the fog cleared - snap! Out of the outrigger came the line and the sound of the reel woke me with a start. I jumped up the stairs, tripped as I came through the door, and, while on hands and knees, looked up to see a Marlin jumping back there right at the edge of the fog. We finally boated it and when weighed, turned out to be the largest fish of the tournament - 195.5 pounds. Not bad for a 1st Marlin in Local waters. (Carolyn missed the picture.) |
