Bluefin/Striper/Blackfish Beat Down (Not) Today!

[Capt. JJ]

Hi kiddies, long time!

Capt. JJ has been away from fishing in NJ while I took part, as a paid mercenary, in the Ukrainian conflict, and now the Israeli conflict in Gaza. (although, truth be told, the only reason I traveled to Gaza was because I misread it as "gYoza", and thought it was an all inclusive sushi bar!)

That being said, I received an invite from someone called "Ninja Steve" to join his trip today, AND AGAIN, I read it wrongly and assumed he was a fellow merc because who in hell calls themself "Ninja Steve".

Anyways, I showed up at the vessel at zero dark and foggy 5:30am, and met a very nice group of non-mercs with names I only caught tangentially like "Hollywood", and "Bradley"....I think there was a Phil as well, but who really cares about names. In my mercenary world, we only care about branch of service like Navy Seals, Delta Force, and roofing salesmen.

Captain lead us out to acres; nay: MILES of working birds, and splashing tuna, but we forsook stopping to catch them as we were hell-bent on filling the fish boxes with a massive haul of blackfish. And to that endeavor, our humble captain traversed all regions of the ocean: North, as far as Nantucket shoals...East, as far as the Hydrographer canyon, and South, as far as Atlantic City. Unfortunately, blackfish were absent from all of these locations, and the only luck we had was when Capt. Jelly tied us up at Harrahs marina and Brad ran in and hit for a quick 5G's at the craps table. (which he then spent on 5 bushels of white leggers because the latest retail price was $1000 a bushel thanks to Uncle Joe Biden and our post-covid economy)

Notes: Capt Jelly has changed muchly from the days when I humbly worked deck on a boat tied up next to his in Belmar. Hes gone from smoking an occasional cigarette in the old days before his current boat, to smoking 70-80 a day a couple years ago when he was known as a rather pugnacious rapskallion...to today when he never ceased to smile...spoke highly of mutual fishing acquaintances...and was full of Politically Correct, and woke, banter. Oh how I long for the good old days!

Great crew
Great group of non-merc guys
The only thing "Ninja" about Steve was he uses a Ninja Air fryer to cook his sausages.
No blackfish (well, like 7, but whos counting?!)
Steve and I share the same birthday!

Not-so-tight lines!
Capt. JJ