December 26, 2025 • 56 mins
The ocean doesn’t care about your plan, and that’s exactly why we love it. We invited part of the Taylor Jean crew aboard the show to share how a handful of friends—bankers, builders, and tinkerers—built one of the most respected teams on the offshore tournament circuit. The story starts with a seasick freshwater angler who fell in love under a sky full of stars 80 miles out, and it unfolds into a masterclass on preparation, judgment, and trust when the seas get sporty.
We dig into the craft behind the glamour: why some captains believe certain hulls “raise fish,” how swapping to a Viking changed hookup rates with the same crew and tactics, and what it takes to rig for success when a nicked leader can cost six figures. Blaine walks us through the pre-season grind—thousands of hooks, fresh line on every rod, backup everything—and the game-day calls that make or break an eight-hour window. Jay connects the dots between life skills and fishing skills: communication, composure, and the discipline to do the boring work so the exciting moments go your way.
Then the ocean tests the plan. A rogue wave breaks over the house, the cockpit floods, a rod disappears, and the call is to head in—until a blue marlin eats and forces the team to execute in chaos. They finish the fight, release cleanly after lines out, and live to fish the next day. Along the way, we talk release-first ethics, guest anglers, and the traditions that stitch a team together, from first-billfish jumps to prank wars on rival boats. COVID-era adjustments—dinners delivered to the dock, fewer tents, more focus—sharpened their edge and reminded them why they chase fish in the first place.
If you’re curious about offshore sport fishing, tournament strategy, and the strange alchemy of passion plus preparation, this conversation puts you right in the cockpit. Hear about wildlife encounters like a giant loggerhead and the famed Dolphin 56, learn why weather windows dictate 120-mile runs, and see how camaraderie turns pressure into performance. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves the water, and leave a review telling us your favorite moment—we read them all and it helps more anglers find the show.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Every conversation tells a story, and the best ones
(00:03):
begin with honesty, courage, anda little curiosity.
That's where Elsa Kurt comes in.
She's an author, podcaster, andindependent media personality,
and this is where she bringsreal life to the table.
Authors, thinkers, creators,leaders, everyday folks with
extraordinary journeys.
We sit down, we dig in, and wetalk about what matters, what's
(00:26):
messy, what's beautiful, andwhat just might inspire you to
look at the world a littledifferently.
So pour a cup of something good.
Settle back and join me.
This is Elsa Kurt Interviews,where truth has a stake and
everyone's welcome.
SPEAKER_03 (00:42):
Well, hello, friends.
Welcome back for another episodeof Elsa Kurt Interviews.
I am Elsa Kurt, and I have todaythe crew of the Taylor Jean.
And if you don't know who thatis, you are about to find out.
So buckle up and stay tunedright after this.
SPEAKER_00 (01:02):
Out on open water, there's nowhere to hide.
Every decision matters, everysecond counts.
For over a decade, the TaylorJean team has been competing at
the highest level of offshoresport fishing, earning respect
through skill, strategy, andconsistency on the tournament
circuit.
From record-breaking catches tohigh-stakes weight, this crew
knows what it takes to performwhen the pressure is on and the
ocean makes the rules.
(01:23):
Today, we go behind the sceneswith the people who built one of
the most respected vessels incompetitive sport fishing.
The winds, the losses.
The moment you don't see fromshore.
This is Taylor Jean, and this istheir story.
SPEAKER_03 (01:35):
All right, guys, I'm gonna bring them on one at a
time here.
We have got Jay, we've gotBlaine, and we've got Ken.
And this is not the whole crew,this is part of the crew.
So, first and foremost, thankyou guys for joining me tonight.
How are you?
SPEAKER_06 (01:52):
Doing fabulous.
Thank you for having us.
Looking forward to having alittle fun and getting to share
some fun stories with you.
SPEAKER_03 (02:00):
Excellent.
I love it.
So uh Ken, I am going to uhstart with you.
You guys have built one of themost decorated sport fishing
programs on the circuit.
So uh I think I would like tolearn a little bit about how the
Taylor Jean team first cametogether.
What keeps you guys passionateabout competitive fishing?
(02:21):
And we're gonna start with you,Ken.
So so give me a little bit ofthe how and why for you.
SPEAKER_06 (02:27):
So it's funny that you use that word passionate
because that's exactly how Idescribe it.
This is not something I like todo, it's not something I love to
do, it's my passion.
Absolutely love it.
And um, so it started back in2005 when I bought a house next
door to this guy who had been anavid fisherman.
I was an avid fisherman, but Iwas a freshwater fisherman, he
(02:48):
was the average salt water.
And uh I didn't do that becauseI got seasick.
And you know, I tried a bunch oftimes and got drugs and stuff,
you know, the all the differentpatch and everything else, and
it just didn't work for me.
So he bought a boat and he said,Can I need help?
I need to bring the boat back.
And I said, Well, I said, ifwe're close to shore, it
(03:09):
shouldn't be too bad.
You know, I'll give you a hand.
Where is it?
I'm thinking maybe Cape May.
And he goes, town in NorthCarolina.
I go, North Carolina, are younuts?
So he told me to find something.
I did.
I found this medicine calledBone.
I keep it on my boat.
If you open up any jar in myboat, there's a blister pack of
bonine everywhere to this day.
(03:30):
I have it there and and uh and Itake it as uh as needed.
So um that's what got me intoboating.
And he took me out on my firstuh tuna trip, and we're out in
the canyons, and and for thoseof you audience that don't know
what the canyons are, that's umthat the canyons underwater,
about 80 miles offshore.
(03:52):
It's the tip of it from uh wherewe are in New Jersey.
So you're out in the canyons,it's nighttime.
You actually see the whole MilkyWay, all the stars, there's no
noise, it's so calming, sorelaxing.
I couldn't believe it.
I remember as a kid laying on ahill in my backyard and looking
up and being able to see starsand stuff because I'm old, you
(04:13):
know, and there wasn't all thatlight pollution back then.
No, yeah.
And uh and so when I saw it, Iwas like taken aback, and then
all of a sudden I heard thisnoise.
I jump up because it's deadquiet out there.
I go, what the heck is that?
And then he goes, Oh, it's awhale.
So I could start freaking.
I go, well, well, he goes,Hager, it's not Moby Dick.
(04:34):
Sit down, we'll be okay.
And so, you know, we we caughtsome tuna, we saw some turtles,
we saw a bunch of different, youknow, uh wildlife out there, and
it was just it was just sodifferent from you know, fishing
in the lake and fishing and thepond and what have you that I
immediately fell in love.
(04:55):
And uh and and so Dave and Ibecame fast buddies and and
started fishing together.
SPEAKER_03 (05:01):
Wow.
I so am I understandingcorrectly that you you still
battle the seasickness and ithasn't stopped you.
That is that is a passion rightthere.
That that you know, because Imean if anybody's ever been
seasick who who hasn't had thatsensation at some point, right?
I mean, if you know what thatfeels like, that it's really
(05:23):
unpleasant to say the least.
No, it's not fun at all.
So that tells you the love anddedication for for the ocean and
for the sport and being out onthe water like that.
And yeah, that sounded yourdescription just sounded like a
a slice of heaven right there.
So how amazing to get toexperience that on a regular
basis.
(05:44):
Um yeah, Blaine, how about you?
Give me a little bit of yourbackstory there, how how this
came about for you.
SPEAKER_05 (05:53):
So, I mean, I've been fishing since about we were
going to the canyon when I wasabout three years old.
Um, been fishing my whole life,uh, met Ken through a mutual
friend back in 200 maybe 12 or13, somewhere around there.
And um, you know, we've beenfishing together since
periodically.
(06:13):
And then um, you know, a coupleof years ago, I want to say it
was maybe late teens, you know,Ken asked me to start fishing
with him um for the tournamentsand going back and forth.
And then uh around 2020, um, youknow, we started doing full time
with uh all the the tournamentslike during COVID and just been
you know driven ever since, youknow, Ken described this is
(06:35):
passion, it this is my passionas well.
And you know, we share that bondtogether and you know we've been
full steam ever since.
SPEAKER_03 (06:42):
I love it.
Jay, how about you?
SPEAKER_04 (06:45):
Um I started sport fishing in um 2012-ish, getting
into the tournaments.
Uh my ex-wife's family was uhpretty into it, um, got me
connected.
I was uh hooked the first time,first trip out there.
We caught a bunch of tuna,caught a blue marlin, and I
said, This is the coolest thingI could ever be doing.
(07:07):
I think being out on the water,um it's it's surreal.
You're out in the middle, youcan't see anything for for
miles, and you're trollingaround, and then all of a sudden
you pull some sea monster out,and it's uh you're like, I can't
believe this is real life.
And uh it's a good release forme.
(07:28):
You know, like um all of us workfull-time and and this is our
our hobby and our passion.
And you know, this is this keepsmy mind going.
You're washing the water, you'reprepping, you're working
together as a team.
All the things that you knowmake you successful in life will
make you successful in fishingtoo.
SPEAKER_03 (07:47):
Yeah, I you know, I would think that, and correct me
if I'm wrong, that you eitherlove it or you hate it.
Like I don't feel like there canbe an in-between for sport
fishing.
SPEAKER_04 (08:01):
Totally agree.
SPEAKER_03 (08:01):
Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_04 (08:02):
Yeah, the time and money and the commitment, yeah,
it's really and the work.
SPEAKER_06 (08:06):
There's a lot, you know, people don't understand
the amount of work.
You say you're going out for atournament, you're out there for
eight hours, but there's 30hours of preparation ahead of
that for that one eight-hourtrip, you know.
And that's and that's what takesit takes a lot of time.
Making sure that you have youryour baits tied, you want to
make sure that they swim right,you want to make sure that your
(08:27):
lines are c are uh have no nickson them.
Uh, whenever we go outtournament fishing, we change
the lines on every rod, everysingle time, right?
For every tournament, becausewhen you're fighting big fish
and they start stretching theline, or you can get a nick on
it, you don't know it.
You you don't want to lose afish because of equipment
failure.
unknown (08:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_06 (08:46):
You want to lose a fish because it pulled the hook,
or basically because it pulledthe hook, you don't want to lose
a fish for pretty much any otherthing.
You know, yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:57):
Yeah, and you guys have, you know, obviously built
a heck of a reputation, uh greatstanding.
And uh, you know, I I think it'sreally cool that uh Ken, you
specifically you didn't start bypretending that you were like a
tournament legend.
You tested it with uh a 28-footwalk around.
That's right.
Then you leveled up, yes.
(09:19):
And so what did that proof ofconcept season teach you about
captaining?
Captaining?
Did I even say it felt like Isaid that wrong?
And and you know, and aboutyourself too.
Like the you're getting reallykind of you're jumping in,
basically.
SPEAKER_06 (09:35):
I mean, you know, so most people don't start off with
the first boat at 20 feet.
Everyone said, Well, that's apretty big boat.
And I said, Yeah, but I'm apretty big guy, and you know,
and I go out with pretty bigguys, and so you know, I think
I'm comfortable with that.
It taught me a lot about what Ididn't know, right?
And there was a lot, like, youknow, how to adjust the trim
tab.
So there's a lot of times I wasrunning like this, you know, at
(09:57):
an angle instead of because Ididn't have the trim tabs
properly adjusted.
So that first year, it taught mehow to dock a boat.
It taught me that, you know,that uh we went out basically.
Um, when we went out on my boat,we went out fluke fishing, we
went out um for strike bass.
We didn't go out to the canyonswith with that.
We would take Dave's boat.
(10:17):
Dave's nickname is cowboy 35because that's what he had.
He had a cobble 35.
And uh after that, I said, okay,let me let me know move up.
Uh and so I went through theboat show with my wife, and we
looked at a 33 and a 36, and shesaid, you know, 33 is a lot
bigger than the 28.
Why don't we just get the 33?
Right, why the 36?
(10:37):
I said, honey, I'll get the 33.
Yeah, and it's gonna be anotherproof of concept year.
And then the year after, I'mgetting to 36.
Or we can get the 36 today, andI'll keep that for at least four
years, five years before I eventhink about getting uh another
boat.
And she said, I believe you,let's get the 36.
And so that's a good woman rightthere.
(10:58):
Yes, yes, very good woman.
She also knew I was gonna I wasgonna get one or the other.
So yes, why why take thedepreciation hit twice?
SPEAKER_03 (11:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, isn't there a thing wherethey say like the minute the
boat hits the water?
SPEAKER_06 (11:13):
Yeah, well, you know, they say the the the day
that you buy your your yourcurrent boat is the day that you
start thinking about what's yournext boat gonna be.
And there's a lot of truth tothat, you know.
Yeah, oh you know what, Ithought this could do this, but
it can't, or it's not bigenough, or it's not and it was
(11:34):
funny.
Every time I upsize my boat, Igo you know to the marina say,
okay, I got a big boat now.
You pull in, you know, and I hada 45 and I pour and they put me
next to a 70 and a 60.
I'm like, oh come on, you youcouldn't put me next to the 30s,
you know?
Uh that that type of thing.
So there's a lot of big boatsout there uh in in the water.
SPEAKER_03 (11:56):
Yeah.
And when you made those changes,um, your you saw your success
rate change too, right?
SPEAKER_06 (12:02):
Yeah, so here's the interesting thing, right?
There's always been a battle outthere.
Um, do boats raise fish?
And what what that means is doesthis particular type of boat
attract more fish for fishermento catch than uh a different
model?
So when I had the 36, it was thesame group of guys.
We were going out using the sametechniques, the same gear, going
to the same fishing spots, and70% of the time we would come
(12:26):
home with zero, you know, or onefish, nothing.
Once I switched to the Viking,we went to probably 75 to 80% of
the time coming home with fishand multiple fish.
So there's something about theharmonics, the engine noise.
You know, all boats make anoise.
I remember playing used to gonuts when I would put on an
autopilot.
He goes, yo, you know, uh,people don't use autopilot when
(12:50):
they're fishing, you know, itscares away the fish.
They go, Yeah, how come wealready have six in the boat?
You know, but that was the wayhe he was brought up.
So it was bad weather, and youhave to turn into the sea the
boat pitches, you know, and it'shard when you're trying to, you
know, stand there and and andsteer it to maintain control.
So sometimes uh put onautopilot, you just move it a
(13:11):
little bit at a time to make ita little gender of a turn, it
makes it uh it makes it easier.
But we we we found once Iswitched to the 45 Viking,
everybody've had since it hasbeen a Viking because they raise
fish.
SPEAKER_03 (13:26):
You know, it's fascinating to me that there's
all these, there's all thisnuance to it all.
So it's not like you know, youjust open up a manual or a
textbook of you know uh how tosport fish, how to be a
champion.
It it's there's a lot ofintuitiveness that is happening
(13:47):
here.
That's uh I it never would haveeven crossed my mind, you know.
I I think I honestly I think Iwould have thought, like, yeah,
you you you you you read aboutit, you know, you read about it.
SPEAKER_06 (13:58):
So I did do a lot of reading.
I mean, it gives you the basics,you know.
Sure, you know.
So I mean, I subscribed to everysaltwater fishing magazine when
I first got into it, you know,for like seven years.
I read every magazine, uh coverto cover, because you would
learn new techniques and learntechniques that I shouldn't
know, but I hadn't known becauseI wasn't in it.
I go to Dave.
(14:19):
That's like five years old.
What are you talking about?
Like, oh well, it's new to me.
SPEAKER_02 (14:23):
Oh, that's funny.
Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_03 (14:26):
Uh let's see.
So in 2011, you got your firsttournament check at the South
Jersey tuna tournament.
Uh Blaine, or whoever wants toanswer really, whoever remembers
it best, what did that win dopsychologically for the team?
SPEAKER_06 (14:41):
So unfortunately, Blaine wasn't there, right?
SPEAKER_03 (14:44):
Oh, I'm sorry, Blaine.
SPEAKER_06 (14:45):
We were, I didn't start.
I think I was, I think I startedlike 2012.
Maybe 2015.
SPEAKER_02 (14:52):
Okay.
SPEAKER_06 (14:53):
Yeah, yeah.
So Blaine wasn't there.
Dave, Dave was there.
Okay.
Um, and and and it's funny, whenI look at that picture, you
know, I still fished with allthose guys that uh that were in
that picture.
Uh Brandon is one of our regularcrew members.
He couldn't be here tonight.
Uh, he was there.
Uh what it did was, you know, weknew that we were pretty good
tuna fishermen.
(15:15):
Um, and so it cemented the factthat not only were we good tuna
fishermen, but we could winmoney in it.
We could be competitive in it.
We're all very, very competitiveof people.
It's not about the money,because in the long run, you're
not going to make money.
I can't retire off of the moneywe make uh, you know, on the
boat.
But it's the competitiveness,right?
You want to finish that, youknow.
(15:36):
My goal was always to finish inthe top 10%, then the top 5%,
then the top 3%, and then thetop one.
You know, is always what youwhat you try to do.
So that made a a world ofdifference.
And we said, you know what?
Let's do more of this.
And so the following year iswhen we we entered the big boy
tournaments, and that was theMid-Atlantic and the uh and the
(15:57):
White Mall went open.
And in fact, here's a funnystory.
On day one of the umMid-Atlantic, we were in the
tent, and so Mid-Alantic hasthis huge tank down in Cape May,
and all the people are in there,they have a dinner, they have a
captain's meeting and stuff likethat.
You have to turn in with whatthey call a late-eight form,
meaning I'm not fishingtomorrow.
So the weather was horrendous,and we were turning in our late
(16:19):
form.
And I'm sitting in there and I'mwalking around the tent, and I'm
hearing everybody going, Yeah,we're not fishing tomorrow.
We're not fishing tomorrow,we're not fishing tomorrow.
So I go, hey guys, captain'smeeting back at the boat, let's
go.
So we go back to the boat.
I said, Guess what?
They said, Why is no fishingtomorrow?
They said, Are you nuts?
Have you seen the seas outthere?
I said, I'm following theweather.
I'm looking at the apps.
(16:41):
When we leave, it's gonna benasty.
But every hour it's gettingbetter and better and better.
You know, and we can leave attwo o'clock in the morning and
fishing doesn't start to eight.
So it gives us six hours.
We could go three hours out andcome back if it's really bad,
and still turn it on late forhim because you have to turn it
in by nine o'clock and there'snothing to rules.
(17:01):
I say you can't do that.
So we did.
We're actually written up in thepaper because we're the only
boat that went out that day.
SPEAKER_07 (17:08):
Really?
SPEAKER_06 (17:08):
60 foot boats, 75-foot boat, 80-foot boats.
So everybody is sitting back atthe dock and laughing and
saying, Can you believe thatsmall boat went out?
I can't believe those idiots.
And then suddenly they realizedthat if we caught a fish that we
could weigh in, it was a$50,000payday because we'd win first,
second, and third for the day.
SPEAKER_07 (17:27):
Right.
SPEAKER_06 (17:27):
There was nobody else out there, you know.
And that was my thinking behindit is hey, listen, if we can get
a a good fish, you know, we'llpay for the tournament.
We're already ahead of the game,and then we get the rest of the
week to, you know, to to make ituh happen.
And so yeah, it was it was uh itwas pretty funny.
That again chose thecompetitiveness.
SPEAKER_03 (17:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
How um uh how many like for anygiven tournament, how many
competitors are there typically?
Is there a a wide range?
SPEAKER_06 (17:57):
So local tournaments, you have 50 boats,
you have 60 boats, sometimes youhave 15 or 20 boats, right?
But the big tournaments you'retalking about hundreds of boats,
you know.
Um what what's what's the bigrecord playing?
About uh about 275, 300?
SPEAKER_05 (18:14):
Yeah, uh I think it was just under 200 this year, or
just about 200, somewhere underYeah, that was because of the
weather, right?
SPEAKER_06 (18:22):
Yeah, so also the weather makes the big factor.
So if you're in a small boat,you know, you don't sign up into
the captain's meeting becauseyou want to see what the
weather's like.
But if you're on a bigger boat,you're gonna sign up because you
know that you're gonna go outbecause you you can hand
overseas, you know.
Yeah, and uh but like the whitemall on the open, that's 400
boats.
400 plus boats.
SPEAKER_02 (18:41):
Yeah, wow, yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_04 (18:43):
Nine million in prize money, it's it's big time.
Yeah, crazy.
SPEAKER_03 (18:49):
No kidding.
I I did not realize I can I jointhe crew because you don't you
don't want me on this crew,trust me.
We already we all already knowthis.
I I'm stating the obvious.
SPEAKER_06 (19:02):
Listen, we love taking out guest languages all
the time, but we do it, and wedo it in the tournaments uh all
the time.
Because it's fun, because youknow, to experience that it
there's nothing like it.
SPEAKER_03 (19:12):
You know, I'm glad you said that because I was
gonna get around to asking youthat, not for myself.
I mean, maybe, but but yeah, soyou do.
So you do take out guests outthere, uh complete novices, or
do they have to they gotta havesome skills?
SPEAKER_06 (19:25):
So on a complete novice, as we say a mahi mahi,
you know, like that we caught,right?
That could be worth 20 grand,you know.
Um we'll let them reel that onein, right?
But if it's a if it's a a whitemall or a blue lawn, that could
be worth three million or or amillion.
We're gonna reel it.
SPEAKER_03 (19:43):
Yeah, yeah.
But that that feels pretty fairto tell you.
Yeah, I listen, I'm actuallyjust really impressed that you
you would even be willing to letpeople come on who don't have
the level experience that youguys do because it is
competitive fishing.
I mean, it is kind.
Of a big deal that you know youreally don't want to be the guy
(20:05):
or woman to mess that up.
That's painful.
Does anybody have one of thosestories?
SPEAKER_04 (20:14):
Probably yes.
Luckily, um, you know, touchwood.
You know, you you try not to uhuh you aim small, you miss
small, right?
You do what the captain tellsyou, you do what the mate tells
you.
You know, I'm an angler on theboat, and um, you know, it's my
job is to get that fish in andnot disappoint, you know,
(20:35):
Blaine, who spent, you know,tens of hours researching where
we're going, prepping the boat,Ken, who's spent uh millions
making all that this cometogether, you know, Blaine's
brother and cousin are mates,and you know, always putting us
in the right position.
And, you know, everybody hastheir their role on the boat.
(20:57):
And yeah, you don't want todisappoint your your friend, and
there's a lot of money on theline and a lot of pressure, and
you know, you don't make bigmoves so that you don't you
don't mess up big.
SPEAKER_03 (21:07):
Yeah, yeah.
You know, I'm so glad youbrought that up too, because I
am really curious about whateverybody's you know very
specific role is.
Uh, you mentioned Blaine's role.
So, Blaine, tell me a little bitabout what you do.
I I didn't realize like reallyhow much prep.
I knew there would be prep, ofcourse, but um tell me a little
(21:27):
bit about the the scope of thepreparation for any one of these
tournaments that you have to do.
SPEAKER_05 (21:34):
So, I mean, going in before the season, we kind of
have a schedule of what we'regoing to do, what tournaments
we're gonna be at, where we'refishing, what kind of fish we're
fishing for.
So we have to, you know, startprepping the tackle.
I think I started back in Marchand I just knew it was gonna be
like a heavy season.
Our first tournament was at theend of May.
And it's just acquiring all thetackle, rigging all the tackle,
you know, making sure everythingis ready to go at any given
(21:55):
point.
Make sure there's, you know, itcould be a thousand hooks ready
to go for the season.
You know, you want to make sureyour leaders are ready to go,
you know, baits on the boat,obviously ready to go, you know,
all the teasers, you havebackups for every single thing
that happens.
So a lot of preparation goesinto it.
And you know, there's days I'llspend eight to ten hours on the
boat, you know, just Saturday,Sunday, eight to ten hours a
day, just making sure thatthings ready to go.
(22:17):
So when we do start tournamentfishing, it's just everything is
quick and easy because time ismoney in these tournaments.
Right.
So you know, we got everythingready to go um before
tournament, you know, we'remaking sure the lines are ready,
um, the boat's looking good,everything's firing all
cylinders, everyone's ready,boat's prepped.
Um, you know, there's enoughfood on the boat, everyone's,
(22:37):
you know, sleeping arrangementsare ready to go, and just every
single piece has to be dialedin.
Motors, um, you know, every partof the boat's ready to go.
So refrigeration long time.
Um everything's you know, has tobe top-notch before you finish
these tournaments.
Is you know, there's so manythings that happen when you're
out there and you got to be ableto pivot at any given moment.
(22:59):
So, you know, coming down to thetournaments or say like the
White Moran Open, you know,we'll spend you know days
looking at the water, we'llspend days prepping the boat.
Um you know, it's that first dayand the practice day.
And so, I mean, there's a lot.
And then with my duties isrunning the boat now, it's you
know, just figuring out wherewe're going, you know, making,
like I said, and uh, you know,just it's it there's endless
(23:23):
amount of time that goes intothese things.
Like you can say, oh, there'sonly a couple hours, you know,
it's a couple weeks and if not acouple months.
SPEAKER_03 (23:29):
Yeah, sure.
And all the way up until thelast minute because there's
everything is so changeable,right?
Weather in particular, I mean,you're so you're watching
everything at all times.
That's a lot.
SPEAKER_05 (23:41):
Yeah, I mean, there's times we have to pivot
during the day where weather'scoming.
For example, in the was it thefirst day of the minute there we
are, you know, we knew there wasweather coming.
So we had to get and then weknew where the fish were, and
they were way up to thenortheast.
So we had to make like a120-mile run the first day to
get up there where the fish werebefore the wind came in.
Because if once that wind comesin, we weren't going anywhere.
(24:03):
So we had to fish all the way upthere, catch the fish, and start
making our way home as that windcame throughout the day.
So, you know, it changes anygiven moment, you gotta be ready
for everything's at all time,and you know, something can
happen.
And like, for example, make sureall the safety's gear is there
because if you know big wavecomes, rolls the boat over, and
everyone's in the water, youknow, yeah stuff happens quick
(24:24):
and it gets real real fast.
SPEAKER_04 (24:25):
Yes, real quick.
That was uh absolutely that wasdefinitely the uh scariest day
on the water for me uh in in myfishing uh career.
SPEAKER_02 (24:35):
Tell me about it.
SPEAKER_04 (24:37):
Um it was the mid-Atlantic.
We we knew I knew it was gonnabe rough, and we thought it
would get rough around midday.
And um, you know, Blaine took usout 100 plus 120-ish miles from
Ocean City, Maryland.
And I was like, Oh, all right,you know, the my mom texted me,
we have Starlink on there,right?
(24:59):
My mom's always concerned if I'mgonna be safe.
And it was uh seven in themorning.
I said, Mom, it's flatcom,right?
And uh by 750, that wind wasblowing 40 miles an hour, and
you know, one foot turned to twoto four, and then it was a solid
(25:19):
12 foot during the day.
And you know, uh the the TaylorJean has a a seakeeper, so a
gyro stabilizer to keep youthere, but okay, it was rocking
a lot, and um, you know, waveswere crashing over the back, and
uh, you know, we were throwingup the cockpit, yeah, catching a
few white marlin, which was fun,and it was getting rougher and
rougher.
(25:40):
You know, we fish on the sportfishing championship series, so
we have a cameraman.
The cameraman was not doing sowell that day with the rough
scenes, yeah.
And uh all of a sudden we're youknow, we're sitting in the back
watching the rods, and I hearBlaine yelling something, and he
turns the boat, and this roguewave that was over 15 feet broke
(26:06):
over the the top of the TaylorGene.
And this is a big boat.
This boat weighs 125,000 poundswith no fuel in it, and the
whole cockpit fills up withwater.
We lost a rod.
Um, you know, the boat has a uhwhat's the uh thing?
SPEAKER_05 (26:26):
The sonar.
SPEAKER_04 (26:28):
Yeah, sonar.
And it's designed so if you soif it's deployed below the boat
and the boat starts moving, itgoes back in so it doesn't break
itself.
Okay we were sliding down thismassive wave in 125,000 pound
boat so fast that the gyrostabilizer went back in.
(26:49):
So we're all a little frazzledto say that we just lost a rod
that's cost three thousanddollars.
SPEAKER_03 (26:57):
Yeah, this isn't your Walmart fishing rod that's
hanging out on the fishing holeguy.
SPEAKER_04 (27:01):
This is this is big tongue fishing, and uh Ken goes,
that's it.
This is this is unsafe.
We gotta go, we gotta go in.
SPEAKER_06 (27:09):
I don't care the tournament's not over.
SPEAKER_04 (27:11):
We gotta go.
unknown (27:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (27:13):
That's a minute.
We hook into a blue marlin.
Come on, and unfortunately, Ihad to reel it in, and there's
video.
And the funny thing is, is itwas so rough, and we're trying
to back down on this fishbecause you know, there's a you
know, 250, 300 pound blue marlinon the other end of it, and I
can barely stand up because itwas so rough.
(27:35):
So I sat in the chair, thefighting chair, mostly because I
I couldn't stand because it wasrough.
And then we got the we got therelease, you know, Blaine's
brother Jared is is hands downthe best mate I've ever I've
ever fished with in my life.
And you know, we released thatfish, and then we had the the
long journey in, and it wasrough, but you know, catching
(27:58):
that fish in those conditions,um you know, I see the video
because we had a a videographer,and I couldn't believe it was
you know, seeing it on video,replaying it again.
I was like, oh boy, oh my god,yeah.
SPEAKER_06 (28:14):
I know I I was I was sitting inside, you know, with
my back to like this, and thewings hit us, and all of a
sudden I started going back andback and back, and I was like,
Oh my god, we're going over.
And uh and and and Lane, youknow, he handled the boat
perfect.
I got us, you know, back back onpitch.
So that's why I said, that's it,we're out of here.
(28:36):
So they can catch a fish, wecan't back down on it anyhow.
And bang we did, and bang, wewere able to back down on it.
And there was another boat outthere that said that they were
watching us, they saw us get thehit by the wave, and they said
they figured, all right, we'reout of here.
And so next thing we know, youwere backing down on the face.
And we said, I can't believe it.
And they ended up staying towatch the whole fight, which
(28:58):
took about 45 minutes, an hour,right?
Because um, it was after linesout.
So, you know, you you have linesin going at a certain time.
A lot of times it's eight tothree or eight thirty to three.
But if you have something on,you just gotta notify the that
you know the other boats thatyou have something on, and you
can fight it till you till youget it.
So we had to fight it till aboutfour o'clock, I think about an
(29:20):
hour after um lines out.
And uh it was it it wassomething.
SPEAKER_03 (29:28):
I can tell by all of your smiles that like you're
just living the dream.
Like I'm sure in the moment youdid not feel like you were
living the dream, but like whatstories that you guys have to
tell.
It's just incredible.
And I'm sure those those kind ofmoments are like the ones that
(29:52):
solidify that this is truly sucha a passion for you guys because
you know there's there'scertainly people that that would
happen to, and they'd be like,and I'm done.
That's it.
Um I am over it.
That the you know the bug isgone and never again.
And you guys are like, when whenare we going out again?
All right, wait, let me let meask that.
(30:13):
After an incident like that,after an experience like that,
did anybody have that feeling oflike, I think I want to be done
for a little while?
SPEAKER_06 (30:21):
Or was it like, nope, not oh we that was Monday
of the tournament, so we hadWednesday and Friday to fish.
We had two more days, you know.
You fish like every other daywhen you can, and uh so
everybody was there for the forthe next two days.
Yeah, even the cameraman.
SPEAKER_03 (30:37):
Even the cameraman.
All right, good on good on goodon him, good on him for toughing
that out.
That's uh good on him, and I'mso glad he got video of that for
you because that's incredible.
Oh my goodness.
Tell me a little bit, you saiduh like two, three days there.
How long is it?
I'm sorry I don't know thesethings.
Um, how long is the actualtournament duration?
SPEAKER_06 (31:00):
So the major ones are are five, and you fish three
out of five days.
SPEAKER_03 (31:06):
Yeah, and how far out do you guys go from the
base, so to speak?
SPEAKER_06 (31:12):
So there each tournament has its own limit.
Um, most of them are 100 miles.
Um, I think the Mid Atlantic's125, the Marlin's 100.
Um, some of the more localtournaments are like 70 miles,
you know.
So uh it depends on thetournament.
Anywhere from 50 on the on theshallow side to 125 on the
(31:33):
outside.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (31:34):
And so so for each for me, each day of the
tournament, like there's aspecific start time and a
specific end time, and theneverybody has to come in and
like weigh in whatever theycaught essentially.
SPEAKER_04 (31:45):
Okay.
Or there's release fishing,which you know, uh Taylor Gene
is is a lot of release boats,you know, on that circuit.
SPEAKER_03 (31:54):
Yeah, I really love that because those there's those
are like one of you, I think itwas you, Jay, that said, you
know, like these prehistoricmonsters coming out of the
ocean.
And they are they, you know,there's something so uh
enthralling and at the same timeterrifying about the ocean and
what's in it.
And when you see, you know, Iwas looking over your pictures
(32:16):
and and videos and everything,and just you know, kind of like
zooming in on these theseprehistoric, insane looking
creatures.
And it's like these thingsexist, and you guys get to like
hold them and and see them upclose.
And uh that to me is soincredible.
I I am I have always been sofascinated by what lives in the
(32:39):
ocean.
So I I think it's so cool thatyou guys just uh get up close
with them like that is isincredible.
SPEAKER_06 (32:49):
They might not have thought about it in the ocean.
SPEAKER_03 (32:52):
Yeah, I I think like I said, it's yeah, it's like
fascinating and absolutelyterrifying at the same time.
Like I don't think I'd want tojump in there and be in the
water with you.
SPEAKER_06 (33:04):
That's a funny thing.
If you came out fishing with usand you caught your first bill
fish, there's a there's a apractice or a rule or a
tradition.
Tradition that's what I was thatwe have.
You must jump in right where youcaught that fish.
SPEAKER_02 (33:19):
Oh, okay.
Fair enough.
SPEAKER_06 (33:22):
I have all over my chart pod is Vinny swim, Tom
swims, Michael swims, and Imarked the spots, yeah.
And there's a reason for thatbecause I knew I caught a big
fish there, right?
And somebody had to go goswimming.
SPEAKER_03 (33:36):
Oh, that's so cool.
Yeah, I love that.
Oh, okay.
I don't know.
I I think I might be chickeningout on joining you guys because
I was pretty sure I was gonnaask you, beg you like to let me
come out one time.
We didn't have a little skimmer.
SPEAKER_04 (33:50):
You gotta come to a fun location like uh, you know,
the Bahamas or one of the othertournament places.
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (33:58):
I got nothing against Jersey whatsoever, but I
I want to be I'm gonna besomewhere really Walker's Cave
Bahamas is a much better spot.
SPEAKER_04 (34:06):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (34:07):
Yeah, there you go.
Um, let's see.
I wanted to ask you guys aboutwe mentioned COVID.
I I want to talk about that timeperiod for you guys.
Um, so let's see.
So during the 2022, 2022, youknow what I mean.
Just was not sounding right tome.
Um, but you guys, you guys keptfishing uh through all of that
(34:30):
chaos, and you basically adaptedwith the sport.
So what did the ocean give youguys?
And I I feel like I already knowthe answer, but what did the
ocean give you guys in thoseyears that the rest of the world
um just wasn't offering?
SPEAKER_06 (34:45):
It was very weird, like you know, so you have a
boat in a bay, right?
And and you know, with all theboat trap, you don't realize
that it kicks up a lot ofsediment.
And so the bay isn't as clear aswhen you're out in the, you
know, out in the deep blue.
In the beginning of COVID, Icould walk out my backyard, I
could actually see the bottomfor the first time since I moved
(35:06):
here in 2005.
I was like, oh my God.
And the same thing at themarina, I could see the bottom,
I could see all over.
It was incredible because nobodywas taking their boats out.
And then, you know, first ofall, it was March, April, you
know.
But uh, but around May, whenwhen it first happened, we
started taking our boats out.
And um, and it was funny becausepeople suddenly realized, hey,
(35:30):
listen, I can I can get themskirt around these roofs and get
out in a boat and have fun andnot be contained.
And so the prices of boat wentlike through the roof.
All these huge boats priceswent, you know, way, way up, and
you couldn't even get a boat.
And um and and and thetournaments adapted.
Like a lot of tournaments weretalking about do we have to
cancel, you know, and so um whatsome did is a lot of them, it's
(35:52):
the hospitality of it that theythat they enjoy and and that
they're known for.
So instead of having a big youknow, dinner under the tent,
they delivered the dinner toeverybody, to the boat.
SPEAKER_02 (36:02):
And you're gonna boat, yeah.
And then with it, too.
SPEAKER_06 (36:06):
So it wasn't just food, yeah.
You know, so they there weredifferent things like that that
I remember playing.
You remember anything elsedifferent about now?
SPEAKER_05 (36:15):
It's just doing the you know, it's usually with the
tournaments, it's all about thecamaraderie with everybody,
right?
It just wasn't the camaraderie,but we still had the thrill
going out there.
Um I think COVID really kind ofkickstart our successful
tournament careers.
So I think we'll come back atthat.
Let's say it's ever happened.
SPEAKER_03 (36:33):
Yeah.
Um, let's see.
Oh, um, I think correct me ifI'm wrong, you guys actually
just had a recent tournament,yes, last week.
SPEAKER_04 (36:44):
Yes, he did.
SPEAKER_03 (36:45):
Okay, tell me a little bit about that-star
Blaine Burst.
SPEAKER_05 (36:49):
Yeah, the all-star tournament.
SPEAKER_02 (36:52):
The all-star tournament.
SPEAKER_04 (36:53):
Tell her how well you did.
SPEAKER_05 (36:55):
Yeah, I guess you know, we had a we started out in
uh on Friday, had a great timewith everybody, had a blast.
You know, we had too much funfish Saturday, and I started
feeling a little ill um aboutmidday, and I knew something was
(37:17):
wrong.
And by four o'clock, I was inbed, and I didn't get up till
the next day around 11.
And I had probably almost thrownup and had a fever and all that
mess.
So I got to enjoy the fun, butit wasn't very fun for me.
So we all his teammates werevery supportive of him.
SPEAKER_04 (37:36):
Yes, you know, Ken and I'm where they go.
We flew down there, took timeaway to support all-star Blaine
Birch.
He missed day two, and what dowe do?
We start making memes on um chatGBT saving save Blaine, pray for
Blaine.
(37:57):
It got so out of hand thatcalled me, who knows Blaine
well.
Right, yeah, said, Oh my god, isBlaine hurt?
What happened?
And I said, No, no, he's he'snot feeling well, he's not
fishing, we're giving him a hardtime.
Then Blaine's parents called himright and like, oh my god,
what's wrong?
And it was uh it was prettyfunny.
(38:18):
So it it shows the camaraderiethat we all have of you know,
we're working hard together, um,there's a lot of fun, you know,
playing around with each other.
And and Blaine talked about thatcamaraderie.
And you know, now in the digitalage, and you know, there's a
production team that's part ofthe sport fishing championship
series.
We're we're messaging them andsending them these things, and
(38:41):
they're they're doing an injuryreport on uh all-star captain
Blaine Birch isn't feeling well.
Uh it was it was pretty funny.
SPEAKER_06 (38:50):
Yeah, it was.
I don't think Blaine laughed asmuch as everybody else did, but
you know, but he he he took thejoke very well.
SPEAKER_05 (38:56):
If if I was feeling better, I'd be laughing.
But I was just like, I was justyou know, I hate being sick, and
I was in bed until Sunday.
You know, yeah, it was it wasbad.
SPEAKER_03 (39:09):
But are you I want to know I want to know, Blaine,
are you plotting your revenge?
Are you just waiting for thenext one to get sick so you can
uh no?
SPEAKER_06 (39:21):
Well I have a potential.
Yeah, you potential combat work,right?
You don't tell them what it is,but you you you you you do have
a little a a little video thatmight be posted.
SPEAKER_03 (39:35):
I okay.
I wouldn't I'm I wouldn't say noto a little advanced copy of
that video.
I mean, I'm not saying, youknow, I I might have a few
followers that that they mightenjoy that.
(40:00):
uh rebuttal yes rebuttal backyeah because that would be that
would be something oh that's soawesome yeah it's you know i
what's really clear is that youguys really truly and you
mentioned this the camaraderieuh that you really truly deeply
enjoy not only what you do butdoing these things together
(40:22):
there's a uh you know stronglevel of trust that you have
with each other that you'vebuilt over the years i mean you
know these are these are nowlike long established uh
relationships that you guys haveand i and i think that's really
special is that common oruncommon for that's uncommon
right so we're just a bunch offriends really you know um
(40:43):
there's two insurance guys uhtwo financial guys a cabinet
builder uh a retired electricianyou know blaine uh vp at a bank
and just a bunch of people thatmet became friends sharing the
pasture and just started fishingtogether and you know there's a
bottle of dozen of us that fishtogether so that I always know
(41:03):
that when I want to go fishingI'm gonna have people to go
fishing with you know which iswhich is key and we all bust
each other's chops and and youknow sometimes people get
offended like if you like webring on the guest we're busting
the chops and say hey listen ifnobody's busting your chops we
don't like you that's rightthat's and listen I I tell my
(41:26):
husband that all the time I'mlike honey if I'm not making fun
of you then we have a problemlike if I'm not making on you
exactly I'll tell you howwelcoming uh you know the
industry is right like one Ithink you know I I'm I live a
pretty blessed life right that Iget to do this and have fun
friends and you know um one ofthe guys who fishes uh with us
(41:50):
Steve Melchiori buddy of mine uhhe literally we all got together
in you know me on this this thispodcast now he slid into
Blaine's DMs to ask him sportfishing questions right Blaine
calls him they start talking toeach other right shows who
(42:10):
Blaine is and like you know he'slike hey I got this boat I want
to do this uh Blaine Steve and Iend up like fishing a tournament
in December sailfish tournamentuh we caught a fish or two hung
out you know had Blaine's phonenumber uh fast forward it's
April and Blaine's like hey comemeet me at this uh bar we're in
(42:32):
Key West for the Viking Key Westchallenge and that's where I met
Ken.
SPEAKER_04 (42:36):
So I meet Ken and his wife and you know we talked
for a couple minutes and uh Daveuh McKendrick was right in front
of me on the flight and I saw ithe was like wearing all this uh
Viking shirts and I was like ohhe must be there for that don't
think anything of it then twohours later I'm at a bar and you
know I get Ken's number andKen's like hey we should fish
(42:56):
together this this summer youknow and you're thinking I've
had a couple drinks I'm at a barin Key West this guy tells me
he's gonna take me fishing onhis uh 62 Viking you know I'll
never hear from the guy againand then a couple months later
I'm on Ken's plane I'm flying toMars's vineyard and we're
fishing this massive tournamenteveryone everybody you know it
(43:18):
just shows you you know you gotto be out there in life you know
doing fun things talking topeople interacting and and
that's where I think thisyounger generation is just too
glued to their phone and theiriPad or you know that's why I
tell my son like hey you youcan't have a good time sitting
at home on the couch.
Right?
You got to be out there and youknow I've I've taken my son you
(43:39):
know fishing and you knowhopefully he likes it as much as
I do and uh either way he'scoming with me.
SPEAKER_03 (43:46):
Yeah so if he doesn't he will he will learn to
love it if he doesn't already II am sure as a kid what he's
like 10 right is that yeah yeahyeah just just hanging out with
his dad what's cooler than thatas a 10 year old so that's
awesome and boy oh boy did youreally hit on the head there Jay
I I agree with you so much thatyou know this this not even just
(44:08):
this younger generation like theadults too I mean how often do
you walk around and you see whentheir their faces are in their
phone and they're not talking toeach other not engaging they're
not out in fresh air touchinggrass or in this case smelling
the salt right yeah you know andI I was thinking about that as
(44:29):
you were talking about it I'mlike oh just what what we're all
missing you know by not doingand I know not everybody can get
out you know on thesemagnificent boats and and do
what you're doing but mygoodness if you get a chance to
get out there and in the freshair and and just talk with
people.
Yes just unplug and I I I go torestaurants and I see everybody
(44:52):
sitting at the table and they'reall looking at the phones and a
restaurant having dinnertogether and I'm like you know I
don't get it I always had a ruleyou put your phone in the middle
of the table the first one thatreaches for it pays the bill I
like that I like that yes yesyeah and I and I tell you and I
you know to to not be ahypocrite I have to admit I
(45:12):
because of what I do is yes I II am forever this stupid thing
is like I I got the death clawyou know half the time because
it's like oh wait your phone'snot in your hand calm down and
you know and and I I feel it tooI'm like oh why is you know why
is why do I feel like I havemonkey brain right now well it's
because you've been you knowjust in all of this stuff and
(45:34):
you're not just getting out inthe world a little bit so I set
it all aside.
Now the rule is you knowSaturday and Sunday is uh no
social media.
Good yeah yeah good well youknow what the world won't end
because you didn't answer a textwithin 45 seconds or 45 minutes
you know yeah absolutely you getit within 24 hours that should
(45:54):
be respectable you know yeah andpeople too they expect it of you
they're like I tried I tried toget a hold of you and it's like
been five minutes it's been fiveminutes that I didn't answer.
SPEAKER_04 (46:03):
Then you know sport fishing might be for you because
you can just tell everybodythere's no internet out there.
And until until Starlink um youknow there there was no internet
out there.
Right.
And it's it's completely changedthings you know we're we're all
working and and sometimes youknow we'll be on the boat and
having to take uh you know callvideo calls on teams and and and
(46:27):
doing things it's really openedthings up materially but I can
also say hey Starlink's notworking uh I couldn't reach you
yeah so it's nice to have thatbreak.
SPEAKER_03 (46:37):
It's so nice and it's so just everything about it
I I think really just soundsabsolutely magnificent.
I I have I have some I'm walkingaway from this conversation
feeling some envy definitelybecause what a what a life what
a great life to be able to getout and do that on a regular
basis and and just engage withnature and be with people that
(47:00):
you really like being around andyou have that teamwork.
SPEAKER_06 (47:04):
Yeah what an amazing I mean we we one time caught a
thousand pound lager head tartoff the coast of New Jersey here
which is normally not here atropical strong I call in and
and we caught it I got a pictureof it and the turtle's head is
bigger than the angular head theonly reason that we fought it
(47:26):
because we had a big float on itbecause we were shark fishing
right and they went after ashark and had this big float on
it and I was afraid that if itcut it behind the float that
might kill the turtle it mightnot be able to you know dive and
and what have you so we had toget it to cut it in in front of
the float another real quickstory is one day we're out there
on on the boat and we went outto the inlet and we're doing a
(47:47):
little wine and cheese we'rehaving some wine and cheese and
and there's this dolphin outthere that's swimming around by
us and stuff and it was reallyfriendly and we're on on the way
back my son said Dan was thatsomebody's pet I said no brain
there's a dolphin in the wildwhy would you think it was
somebody's pet he said becauseof the number I said what number
he said they had a number on itI said what are you talking
(48:08):
about so this is back in the daybefore iPhones and stuff so I
got my digital camera I pluggedit into my computer I looked at
the picture and sure enoughthere was a 56 cogged into the
dorsal thing and you can see itwas like somebody's handwriting
like you know the way the phoneso for grins and giggles I uh
typed into to Google who wasdolphin 56 so I found out that
(48:30):
this dolphin was was kind ofworld famous it was tagged and
it was it was branded and gotcaught in in the uh Indian river
down in Florida.
SPEAKER_03 (48:39):
Oh wow and the it had traveled as far north as
Georgia and then they lost sightof it they said you know oh it's
it's gone and that was the onlyuh dolphin that had gone up that
far so we were out at the BarnumEngland New Jersey right wow as
yeah my son actually trackeddown the research scientist who
(49:00):
was in Germany at the time saidhey we saw dolphin 56 and he
said oh no way he'd be he it'sbeyond his life expectancy he'd
be like 46 now and they onlylived 30 years at all he said
there's no way so he sent him apicture of it where he could see
it was him that inspired in 56wasn't a little broken jaw and
(49:21):
the jaw and he could see he goesoh my god that is dolphin 56 so
it reset the record we again wasanother time we got written up
in the paper because we we founddolphin 56 you never ever know
what you're gonna see it is sothat is so cool that is so
incredible you guys must i meanyou just must have stories for
(49:44):
days and days and days and daysyeah i want to lots of mirror
bases like that wave on you knowi mean lots of different things
like that i remember one time wewent out and we ran in between
two thunderstorms with we wereshark fish and we we got out
there it's like two o'clock inthe morning the wind was blowing
and Brandon my buddy goes thankgod we can't see these seas oh
(50:11):
yeah you're right yeahabsolutely oh my goodness all
right so for someone watching uhwho has never followed sport the
sport closely what is the firstTaylor Jean video that they
should go and find uh that willcapture your vibe so to speak
(50:32):
that's a good one uh guys haveany I mean I'm not sure I don't
know if the video is anywherebut like when we caught that
blue marlin in uh Walker's K towin the SFC and win the S the
SFC open right that was a prettydope jumping around I don't know
(50:53):
if that surfaced anywhere Igotta figure that out but if it
hasn't we gotta get it up there.
Yeah yeah absolutely and theblue marlin that we caught in
the on the Monday of this year'smid-Atlantic with the seas being
like what they were and there'sthere are some videos out there
I think I I I I I forget what Iposted oh sport fishing gets a
little sporty I think was it wasthe title of the video that one
(51:18):
close to a couple thousand viewsor it was there was one of the
one of my videos got over twomillion views um well yeah I was
got viral big i tuner yeah wewent viral because like 500
people shared I couldn't believeit wow yeah just one but it was
yeah funny yeah you gotta youneed to be making reels out of
(51:39):
all these uh videos that youguys I just started really
getting into that this year Ihad never done that before you
know I post up like differentvideos and photos and stuff like
that but yeah I just started themy daughter's been teaching oh
yeah you'll go you'll go virallike so many times because I am
that person anytime I comeacross like any kind of ocean
(52:00):
videos after what it is whateverit is if it's if it's ocean I I
will just sit and watch all ofthem so you can create a whole
page I will be your first andmost viewer don't call me a
stalker I I I will totally stalkbut that's okay that's okay
we'll tag in the videos from nowon yes please do so I can watch
(52:21):
them all it's like it justrelaxes me a little bit more
relaxing all right I want to askyou guys one last question I
want to know what does Taylorjeans stand for well it's very
simple Taylor is my daughterJean is my wife I love it I love
it I love it I love it so sothat first 28 foot boat that I
(52:44):
had I wanted the name of TaylorJean my wife's ah I don't want
my name on the boat so it wasthe tailor V.
SPEAKER_06 (52:50):
So for the first four years of my fishing career
uh even with the wellcraft itwas the Taylor V.
V-E-E because it's the deep Vboat and my daughter's middle
name is V also so it was a playon that you know yeah and then
when I got to Viking my wife'slike oh I got my name's on the
boat I said what part of I don'twant my name on the boat she
(53:10):
goes this is a nice boat andthen we had to I had to create a
whole new career from the tailorV to the Taylor D.
SPEAKER_03 (53:16):
Oh that's funny is that some kind of rule that it
they always have to be named forlike yeah they always have to
like that's the rule isconsidered unlucky just like
fishmen believe it's consideredunlucky to bring bananas on the
boat.
Really?
SPEAKER_06 (53:31):
Yeah oh yeah yeah which we're gonna have a hard
time with guys because my bananatree just started producing
bananas this week and they'regonna be right just as the time
we're leaving to to gotournament fishing so don't do
it don't do it take why don'tyou do why don't you send those
to the lights out Ken there wego some some fresh some fresh
(53:52):
homegrown fruit for you everyproblem has its own solution so
lights out is a is one of the uhcompetitors in the sports
championship with us and andthere are a bunch of good guys
the bunch good fishermen similarto us but they got more family
than than we have we just haveuh Blaine his brother and his
cousin they got father daughtermother um who else the there's a
(54:14):
whole family cousins it seemslike they're all related those
panels and and and and there area bunch of good guys so we love
you so one of the good thingsabout sports fishing when you
get to know boats and you getfriendly with them you start
pulling pranks on them you knowand uh so they pranked us and we
pranked them before one of thetournaments we snuck on the boat
at two o'clock in the morning wehad we had a little uh face
(54:36):
decals of each of us and westuck it all over their boat on
their rides and stuff like thatand you know little things oh I
then they tied somebody to theto the top of our the to the top
of our boat and we didn't knowit so there was a blow up down
on top of our boat.
SPEAKER_03 (54:51):
We're out there fishing the people who are
taking pictures of us oh youguys sound like a lot of but I
love that it's that it's like areally friendly competition
going on out there.
SPEAKER_06 (55:02):
It is it is it's nice it should be you know
sometimes the people aren't sofriendly but they get cut out
pretty quickly.
SPEAKER_03 (55:09):
Yeah I bet I bet there's no room for that right
yeah yeah I love that all rightguys tell everybody where they
can find you where they can findmore information about you
guysenefishing.com is our ourwebsite and there's a link to
our social uh media which istelegansport fishing both on
(55:29):
Facebook Instagram and TikTok umit's all telegansport fishing
nice I love it guys go followlike stalk their videos make
them go viral can we do that Ithink we can band together and
make them go viral like a bunchof times I think that would be
really fun and completelyworthwhile so thank you guys for
(55:51):
taking time out of your day touh spend with me and my audience
we appreciate it very much anduh I look forward to seeing all
the incredibly cool things youguys are going to keep doing so
thank you thank you thank youit's been a pleasure here
absolutely all right guys thanksfor watching we'll see you in
the next episode take care fromsmall town love stories to
(56:13):
battles of truth and loyaltyElsa Kurt's books follow the
same heartbeat ordinary peoplefacing extraordinary moments
you'll find romance drama secondchances even a feet behind the
microphone in her newest releasemultiple genres of different
worlds and the same thread boldtruth real faith and no
(56:33):
authorities
Every conversation tells a story, and the best ones
(00:03):
begin with honesty, courage, anda little curiosity.
That's where Elsa Kurt comes in.
She's an author, podcaster, andindependent media personality,
and this is where she bringsreal life to the table.
Authors, thinkers, creators,leaders, everyday folks with
extraordinary journeys.
We sit down, we dig in, and wetalk about what matters, what's
(00:26):
messy, what's beautiful, andwhat just might inspire you to
look at the world a littledifferently.
So pour a cup of something good.
Settle back and join me.
This is Elsa Kurt Interviews,where truth has a stake and
everyone's welcome.
SPEAKER_03 (00:42):
Well, hello, friends.
Welcome back for another episodeof Elsa Kurt Interviews.
I am Elsa Kurt, and I have todaythe crew of the Taylor Jean.
And if you don't know who thatis, you are about to find out.
So buckle up and stay tunedright after this.
SPEAKER_00 (01:02):
Out on open water, there's nowhere to hide.
Every decision matters, everysecond counts.
For over a decade, the TaylorJean team has been competing at
the highest level of offshoresport fishing, earning respect
through skill, strategy, andconsistency on the tournament
circuit.
From record-breaking catches tohigh-stakes weight, this crew
knows what it takes to performwhen the pressure is on and the
ocean makes the rules.
(01:23):
Today, we go behind the sceneswith the people who built one of
the most respected vessels incompetitive sport fishing.
The winds, the losses.
The moment you don't see fromshore.
This is Taylor Jean, and this istheir story.
SPEAKER_03 (01:35):
All right, guys, I'm gonna bring them on one at a
time here.
We have got Jay, we've gotBlaine, and we've got Ken.
And this is not the whole crew,this is part of the crew.
So, first and foremost, thankyou guys for joining me tonight.
How are you?
SPEAKER_06 (01:52):
Doing fabulous.
Thank you for having us.
Looking forward to having alittle fun and getting to share
some fun stories with you.
SPEAKER_03 (02:00):
Excellent.
I love it.
So uh Ken, I am going to uhstart with you.
You guys have built one of themost decorated sport fishing
programs on the circuit.
So uh I think I would like tolearn a little bit about how the
Taylor Jean team first cametogether.
What keeps you guys passionateabout competitive fishing?
(02:21):
And we're gonna start with you,Ken.
So so give me a little bit ofthe how and why for you.
SPEAKER_06 (02:27):
So it's funny that you use that word passionate
because that's exactly how Idescribe it.
This is not something I like todo, it's not something I love to
do, it's my passion.
Absolutely love it.
And um, so it started back in2005 when I bought a house next
door to this guy who had been anavid fisherman.
I was an avid fisherman, but Iwas a freshwater fisherman, he
(02:48):
was the average salt water.
And uh I didn't do that becauseI got seasick.
And you know, I tried a bunch oftimes and got drugs and stuff,
you know, the all the differentpatch and everything else, and
it just didn't work for me.
So he bought a boat and he said,Can I need help?
I need to bring the boat back.
And I said, Well, I said, ifwe're close to shore, it
(03:09):
shouldn't be too bad.
You know, I'll give you a hand.
Where is it?
I'm thinking maybe Cape May.
And he goes, town in NorthCarolina.
I go, North Carolina, are younuts?
So he told me to find something.
I did.
I found this medicine calledBone.
I keep it on my boat.
If you open up any jar in myboat, there's a blister pack of
bonine everywhere to this day.
(03:30):
I have it there and and uh and Itake it as uh as needed.
So um that's what got me intoboating.
And he took me out on my firstuh tuna trip, and we're out in
the canyons, and and for thoseof you audience that don't know
what the canyons are, that's umthat the canyons underwater,
about 80 miles offshore.
(03:52):
It's the tip of it from uh wherewe are in New Jersey.
So you're out in the canyons,it's nighttime.
You actually see the whole MilkyWay, all the stars, there's no
noise, it's so calming, sorelaxing.
I couldn't believe it.
I remember as a kid laying on ahill in my backyard and looking
up and being able to see starsand stuff because I'm old, you
(04:13):
know, and there wasn't all thatlight pollution back then.
No, yeah.
And uh and so when I saw it, Iwas like taken aback, and then
all of a sudden I heard thisnoise.
I jump up because it's deadquiet out there.
I go, what the heck is that?
And then he goes, Oh, it's awhale.
So I could start freaking.
I go, well, well, he goes,Hager, it's not Moby Dick.
(04:34):
Sit down, we'll be okay.
And so, you know, we we caughtsome tuna, we saw some turtles,
we saw a bunch of different, youknow, uh wildlife out there, and
it was just it was just sodifferent from you know, fishing
in the lake and fishing and thepond and what have you that I
immediately fell in love.
(04:55):
And uh and and so Dave and Ibecame fast buddies and and
started fishing together.
SPEAKER_03 (05:01):
Wow.
I so am I understandingcorrectly that you you still
battle the seasickness and ithasn't stopped you.
That is that is a passion rightthere.
That that you know, because Imean if anybody's ever been
seasick who who hasn't had thatsensation at some point, right?
I mean, if you know what thatfeels like, that it's really
(05:23):
unpleasant to say the least.
No, it's not fun at all.
So that tells you the love anddedication for for the ocean and
for the sport and being out onthe water like that.
And yeah, that sounded yourdescription just sounded like a
a slice of heaven right there.
So how amazing to get toexperience that on a regular
basis.
(05:44):
Um yeah, Blaine, how about you?
Give me a little bit of yourbackstory there, how how this
came about for you.
SPEAKER_05 (05:53):
So, I mean, I've been fishing since about we were
going to the canyon when I wasabout three years old.
Um, been fishing my whole life,uh, met Ken through a mutual
friend back in 200 maybe 12 or13, somewhere around there.
And um, you know, we've beenfishing together since
periodically.
(06:13):
And then um, you know, a coupleof years ago, I want to say it
was maybe late teens, you know,Ken asked me to start fishing
with him um for the tournamentsand going back and forth.
And then uh around 2020, um, youknow, we started doing full time
with uh all the the tournamentslike during COVID and just been
you know driven ever since, youknow, Ken described this is
(06:35):
passion, it this is my passionas well.
And you know, we share that bondtogether and you know we've been
full steam ever since.
SPEAKER_03 (06:42):
I love it.
Jay, how about you?
SPEAKER_04 (06:45):
Um I started sport fishing in um 2012-ish, getting
into the tournaments.
Uh my ex-wife's family was uhpretty into it, um, got me
connected.
I was uh hooked the first time,first trip out there.
We caught a bunch of tuna,caught a blue marlin, and I
said, This is the coolest thingI could ever be doing.
(07:07):
I think being out on the water,um it's it's surreal.
You're out in the middle, youcan't see anything for for
miles, and you're trollingaround, and then all of a sudden
you pull some sea monster out,and it's uh you're like, I can't
believe this is real life.
And uh it's a good release forme.
(07:28):
You know, like um all of us workfull-time and and this is our
our hobby and our passion.
And you know, this is this keepsmy mind going.
You're washing the water, you'reprepping, you're working
together as a team.
All the things that you knowmake you successful in life will
make you successful in fishingtoo.
SPEAKER_03 (07:47):
Yeah, I you know, I would think that, and correct me
if I'm wrong, that you eitherlove it or you hate it.
Like I don't feel like there canbe an in-between for sport
fishing.
SPEAKER_04 (08:01):
Totally agree.
SPEAKER_03 (08:01):
Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_04 (08:02):
Yeah, the time and money and the commitment, yeah,
it's really and the work.
SPEAKER_06 (08:06):
There's a lot, you know, people don't understand
the amount of work.
You say you're going out for atournament, you're out there for
eight hours, but there's 30hours of preparation ahead of
that for that one eight-hourtrip, you know.
And that's and that's what takesit takes a lot of time.
Making sure that you have youryour baits tied, you want to
make sure that they swim right,you want to make sure that your
(08:27):
lines are c are uh have no nickson them.
Uh, whenever we go outtournament fishing, we change
the lines on every rod, everysingle time, right?
For every tournament, becausewhen you're fighting big fish
and they start stretching theline, or you can get a nick on
it, you don't know it.
You you don't want to lose afish because of equipment
failure.
unknown (08:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_06 (08:46):
You want to lose a fish because it pulled the hook,
or basically because it pulledthe hook, you don't want to lose
a fish for pretty much any otherthing.
You know, yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:57):
Yeah, and you guys have, you know, obviously built
a heck of a reputation, uh greatstanding.
And uh, you know, I I think it'sreally cool that uh Ken, you
specifically you didn't start bypretending that you were like a
tournament legend.
You tested it with uh a 28-footwalk around.
That's right.
Then you leveled up, yes.
(09:19):
And so what did that proof ofconcept season teach you about
captaining?
Captaining?
Did I even say it felt like Isaid that wrong?
And and you know, and aboutyourself too.
Like the you're getting reallykind of you're jumping in,
basically.
SPEAKER_06 (09:35):
I mean, you know, so most people don't start off with
the first boat at 20 feet.
Everyone said, Well, that's apretty big boat.
And I said, Yeah, but I'm apretty big guy, and you know,
and I go out with pretty bigguys, and so you know, I think
I'm comfortable with that.
It taught me a lot about what Ididn't know, right?
And there was a lot, like, youknow, how to adjust the trim
tab.
So there's a lot of times I wasrunning like this, you know, at
(09:57):
an angle instead of because Ididn't have the trim tabs
properly adjusted.
So that first year, it taught mehow to dock a boat.
It taught me that, you know,that uh we went out basically.
Um, when we went out on my boat,we went out fluke fishing, we
went out um for strike bass.
We didn't go out to the canyonswith with that.
We would take Dave's boat.
(10:17):
Dave's nickname is cowboy 35because that's what he had.
He had a cobble 35.
And uh after that, I said, okay,let me let me know move up.
Uh and so I went through theboat show with my wife, and we
looked at a 33 and a 36, and shesaid, you know, 33 is a lot
bigger than the 28.
Why don't we just get the 33?
Right, why the 36?
(10:37):
I said, honey, I'll get the 33.
Yeah, and it's gonna be anotherproof of concept year.
And then the year after, I'mgetting to 36.
Or we can get the 36 today, andI'll keep that for at least four
years, five years before I eventhink about getting uh another
boat.
And she said, I believe you,let's get the 36.
And so that's a good woman rightthere.
(10:58):
Yes, yes, very good woman.
She also knew I was gonna I wasgonna get one or the other.
So yes, why why take thedepreciation hit twice?
SPEAKER_03 (11:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, isn't there a thing wherethey say like the minute the
boat hits the water?
SPEAKER_06 (11:13):
Yeah, well, you know, they say the the the day
that you buy your your yourcurrent boat is the day that you
start thinking about what's yournext boat gonna be.
And there's a lot of truth tothat, you know.
Yeah, oh you know what, Ithought this could do this, but
it can't, or it's not bigenough, or it's not and it was
(11:34):
funny.
Every time I upsize my boat, Igo you know to the marina say,
okay, I got a big boat now.
You pull in, you know, and I hada 45 and I pour and they put me
next to a 70 and a 60.
I'm like, oh come on, you youcouldn't put me next to the 30s,
you know?
Uh that that type of thing.
So there's a lot of big boatsout there uh in in the water.
SPEAKER_03 (11:56):
Yeah.
And when you made those changes,um, your you saw your success
rate change too, right?
SPEAKER_06 (12:02):
Yeah, so here's the interesting thing, right?
There's always been a battle outthere.
Um, do boats raise fish?
And what what that means is doesthis particular type of boat
attract more fish for fishermento catch than uh a different
model?
So when I had the 36, it was thesame group of guys.
We were going out using the sametechniques, the same gear, going
to the same fishing spots, and70% of the time we would come
(12:26):
home with zero, you know, or onefish, nothing.
Once I switched to the Viking,we went to probably 75 to 80% of
the time coming home with fishand multiple fish.
So there's something about theharmonics, the engine noise.
You know, all boats make anoise.
I remember playing used to gonuts when I would put on an
autopilot.
He goes, yo, you know, uh,people don't use autopilot when
(12:50):
they're fishing, you know, itscares away the fish.
They go, Yeah, how come wealready have six in the boat?
You know, but that was the wayhe he was brought up.
So it was bad weather, and youhave to turn into the sea the
boat pitches, you know, and it'shard when you're trying to, you
know, stand there and and andsteer it to maintain control.
So sometimes uh put onautopilot, you just move it a
(13:11):
little bit at a time to make ita little gender of a turn, it
makes it uh it makes it easier.
But we we we found once Iswitched to the 45 Viking,
everybody've had since it hasbeen a Viking because they raise
fish.
SPEAKER_03 (13:26):
You know, it's fascinating to me that there's
all these, there's all thisnuance to it all.
So it's not like you know, youjust open up a manual or a
textbook of you know uh how tosport fish, how to be a
champion.
It it's there's a lot ofintuitiveness that is happening
(13:47):
here.
That's uh I it never would haveeven crossed my mind, you know.
I I think I honestly I think Iwould have thought, like, yeah,
you you you you you read aboutit, you know, you read about it.
SPEAKER_06 (13:58):
So I did do a lot of reading.
I mean, it gives you the basics,you know.
Sure, you know.
So I mean, I subscribed to everysaltwater fishing magazine when
I first got into it, you know,for like seven years.
I read every magazine, uh coverto cover, because you would
learn new techniques and learntechniques that I shouldn't
know, but I hadn't known becauseI wasn't in it.
I go to Dave.
(14:19):
That's like five years old.
What are you talking about?
Like, oh well, it's new to me.
SPEAKER_02 (14:23):
Oh, that's funny.
Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_03 (14:26):
Uh let's see.
So in 2011, you got your firsttournament check at the South
Jersey tuna tournament.
Uh Blaine, or whoever wants toanswer really, whoever remembers
it best, what did that win dopsychologically for the team?
SPEAKER_06 (14:41):
So unfortunately, Blaine wasn't there, right?
SPEAKER_03 (14:44):
Oh, I'm sorry, Blaine.
SPEAKER_06 (14:45):
We were, I didn't start.
I think I was, I think I startedlike 2012.
Maybe 2015.
SPEAKER_02 (14:52):
Okay.
SPEAKER_06 (14:53):
Yeah, yeah.
So Blaine wasn't there.
Dave, Dave was there.
Okay.
Um, and and and it's funny, whenI look at that picture, you
know, I still fished with allthose guys that uh that were in
that picture.
Uh Brandon is one of our regularcrew members.
He couldn't be here tonight.
Uh, he was there.
Uh what it did was, you know, weknew that we were pretty good
tuna fishermen.
(15:15):
Um, and so it cemented the factthat not only were we good tuna
fishermen, but we could winmoney in it.
We could be competitive in it.
We're all very, very competitiveof people.
It's not about the money,because in the long run, you're
not going to make money.
I can't retire off of the moneywe make uh, you know, on the
boat.
But it's the competitiveness,right?
You want to finish that, youknow.
(15:36):
My goal was always to finish inthe top 10%, then the top 5%,
then the top 3%, and then thetop one.
You know, is always what youwhat you try to do.
So that made a a world ofdifference.
And we said, you know what?
Let's do more of this.
And so the following year iswhen we we entered the big boy
tournaments, and that was theMid-Atlantic and the uh and the
(15:57):
White Mall went open.
And in fact, here's a funnystory.
On day one of the umMid-Atlantic, we were in the
tent, and so Mid-Alantic hasthis huge tank down in Cape May,
and all the people are in there,they have a dinner, they have a
captain's meeting and stuff likethat.
You have to turn in with whatthey call a late-eight form,
meaning I'm not fishingtomorrow.
So the weather was horrendous,and we were turning in our late
(16:19):
form.
And I'm sitting in there and I'mwalking around the tent, and I'm
hearing everybody going, Yeah,we're not fishing tomorrow.
We're not fishing tomorrow,we're not fishing tomorrow.
So I go, hey guys, captain'smeeting back at the boat, let's
go.
So we go back to the boat.
I said, Guess what?
They said, Why is no fishingtomorrow?
They said, Are you nuts?
Have you seen the seas outthere?
I said, I'm following theweather.
I'm looking at the apps.
(16:41):
When we leave, it's gonna benasty.
But every hour it's gettingbetter and better and better.
You know, and we can leave attwo o'clock in the morning and
fishing doesn't start to eight.
So it gives us six hours.
We could go three hours out andcome back if it's really bad,
and still turn it on late forhim because you have to turn it
in by nine o'clock and there'snothing to rules.
(17:01):
I say you can't do that.
So we did.
We're actually written up in thepaper because we're the only
boat that went out that day.
SPEAKER_07 (17:08):
Really?
SPEAKER_06 (17:08):
60 foot boats, 75-foot boat, 80-foot boats.
So everybody is sitting back atthe dock and laughing and
saying, Can you believe thatsmall boat went out?
I can't believe those idiots.
And then suddenly they realizedthat if we caught a fish that we
could weigh in, it was a$50,000payday because we'd win first,
second, and third for the day.
SPEAKER_07 (17:27):
Right.
SPEAKER_06 (17:27):
There was nobody else out there, you know.
And that was my thinking behindit is hey, listen, if we can get
a a good fish, you know, we'llpay for the tournament.
We're already ahead of the game,and then we get the rest of the
week to, you know, to to make ituh happen.
And so yeah, it was it was uh itwas pretty funny.
That again chose thecompetitiveness.
SPEAKER_03 (17:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
How um uh how many like for anygiven tournament, how many
competitors are there typically?
Is there a a wide range?
SPEAKER_06 (17:57):
So local tournaments, you have 50 boats,
you have 60 boats, sometimes youhave 15 or 20 boats, right?
But the big tournaments you'retalking about hundreds of boats,
you know.
Um what what's what's the bigrecord playing?
About uh about 275, 300?
SPEAKER_05 (18:14):
Yeah, uh I think it was just under 200 this year, or
just about 200, somewhere underYeah, that was because of the
weather, right?
SPEAKER_06 (18:22):
Yeah, so also the weather makes the big factor.
So if you're in a small boat,you know, you don't sign up into
the captain's meeting becauseyou want to see what the
weather's like.
But if you're on a bigger boat,you're gonna sign up because you
know that you're gonna go outbecause you you can hand
overseas, you know.
Yeah, and uh but like the whitemall on the open, that's 400
boats.
400 plus boats.
SPEAKER_02 (18:41):
Yeah, wow, yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_04 (18:43):
Nine million in prize money, it's it's big time.
Yeah, crazy.
SPEAKER_03 (18:49):
No kidding.
I I did not realize I can I jointhe crew because you don't you
don't want me on this crew,trust me.
We already we all already knowthis.
I I'm stating the obvious.
SPEAKER_06 (19:02):
Listen, we love taking out guest languages all
the time, but we do it, and wedo it in the tournaments uh all
the time.
Because it's fun, because youknow, to experience that it
there's nothing like it.
SPEAKER_03 (19:12):
You know, I'm glad you said that because I was
gonna get around to asking youthat, not for myself.
I mean, maybe, but but yeah, soyou do.
So you do take out guests outthere, uh complete novices, or
do they have to they gotta havesome skills?
SPEAKER_06 (19:25):
So on a complete novice, as we say a mahi mahi,
you know, like that we caught,right?
That could be worth 20 grand,you know.
Um we'll let them reel that onein, right?
But if it's a if it's a a whitemall or a blue lawn, that could
be worth three million or or amillion.
We're gonna reel it.
SPEAKER_03 (19:43):
Yeah, yeah.
But that that feels pretty fairto tell you.
Yeah, I listen, I'm actuallyjust really impressed that you
you would even be willing to letpeople come on who don't have
the level experience that youguys do because it is
competitive fishing.
I mean, it is kind.
Of a big deal that you know youreally don't want to be the guy
(20:05):
or woman to mess that up.
That's painful.
Does anybody have one of thosestories?
SPEAKER_04 (20:14):
Probably yes.
Luckily, um, you know, touchwood.
You know, you you try not to uhuh you aim small, you miss
small, right?
You do what the captain tellsyou, you do what the mate tells
you.
You know, I'm an angler on theboat, and um, you know, it's my
job is to get that fish in andnot disappoint, you know,
(20:35):
Blaine, who spent, you know,tens of hours researching where
we're going, prepping the boat,Ken, who's spent uh millions
making all that this cometogether, you know, Blaine's
brother and cousin are mates,and you know, always putting us
in the right position.
And, you know, everybody hastheir their role on the boat.
(20:57):
And yeah, you don't want todisappoint your your friend, and
there's a lot of money on theline and a lot of pressure, and
you know, you don't make bigmoves so that you don't you
don't mess up big.
SPEAKER_03 (21:07):
Yeah, yeah.
You know, I'm so glad youbrought that up too, because I
am really curious about whateverybody's you know very
specific role is.
Uh, you mentioned Blaine's role.
So, Blaine, tell me a little bitabout what you do.
I I didn't realize like reallyhow much prep.
I knew there would be prep, ofcourse, but um tell me a little
(21:27):
bit about the the scope of thepreparation for any one of these
tournaments that you have to do.
SPEAKER_05 (21:34):
So, I mean, going in before the season, we kind of
have a schedule of what we'regoing to do, what tournaments
we're gonna be at, where we'refishing, what kind of fish we're
fishing for.
So we have to, you know, startprepping the tackle.
I think I started back in Marchand I just knew it was gonna be
like a heavy season.
Our first tournament was at theend of May.
And it's just acquiring all thetackle, rigging all the tackle,
you know, making sure everythingis ready to go at any given
(21:55):
point.
Make sure there's, you know, itcould be a thousand hooks ready
to go for the season.
You know, you want to make sureyour leaders are ready to go,
you know, baits on the boat,obviously ready to go, you know,
all the teasers, you havebackups for every single thing
that happens.
So a lot of preparation goesinto it.
And you know, there's days I'llspend eight to ten hours on the
boat, you know, just Saturday,Sunday, eight to ten hours a
day, just making sure thatthings ready to go.
(22:17):
So when we do start tournamentfishing, it's just everything is
quick and easy because time ismoney in these tournaments.
Right.
So you know, we got everythingready to go um before
tournament, you know, we'remaking sure the lines are ready,
um, the boat's looking good,everything's firing all
cylinders, everyone's ready,boat's prepped.
Um, you know, there's enoughfood on the boat, everyone's,
(22:37):
you know, sleeping arrangementsare ready to go, and just every
single piece has to be dialedin.
Motors, um, you know, every partof the boat's ready to go.
So refrigeration long time.
Um everything's you know, has tobe top-notch before you finish
these tournaments.
Is you know, there's so manythings that happen when you're
out there and you got to be ableto pivot at any given moment.
(22:59):
So, you know, coming down to thetournaments or say like the
White Moran Open, you know,we'll spend you know days
looking at the water, we'llspend days prepping the boat.
Um you know, it's that first dayand the practice day.
And so, I mean, there's a lot.
And then with my duties isrunning the boat now, it's you
know, just figuring out wherewe're going, you know, making,
like I said, and uh, you know,just it's it there's endless
(23:23):
amount of time that goes intothese things.
Like you can say, oh, there'sonly a couple hours, you know,
it's a couple weeks and if not acouple months.
SPEAKER_03 (23:29):
Yeah, sure.
And all the way up until thelast minute because there's
everything is so changeable,right?
Weather in particular, I mean,you're so you're watching
everything at all times.
That's a lot.
SPEAKER_05 (23:41):
Yeah, I mean, there's times we have to pivot
during the day where weather'scoming.
For example, in the was it thefirst day of the minute there we
are, you know, we knew there wasweather coming.
So we had to get and then weknew where the fish were, and
they were way up to thenortheast.
So we had to make like a120-mile run the first day to
get up there where the fish werebefore the wind came in.
Because if once that wind comesin, we weren't going anywhere.
(24:03):
So we had to fish all the way upthere, catch the fish, and start
making our way home as that windcame throughout the day.
So, you know, it changes anygiven moment, you gotta be ready
for everything's at all time,and you know, something can
happen.
And like, for example, make sureall the safety's gear is there
because if you know big wavecomes, rolls the boat over, and
everyone's in the water, youknow, yeah stuff happens quick
(24:24):
and it gets real real fast.
SPEAKER_04 (24:25):
Yes, real quick.
That was uh absolutely that wasdefinitely the uh scariest day
on the water for me uh in in myfishing uh career.
SPEAKER_02 (24:35):
Tell me about it.
SPEAKER_04 (24:37):
Um it was the mid-Atlantic.
We we knew I knew it was gonnabe rough, and we thought it
would get rough around midday.
And um, you know, Blaine took usout 100 plus 120-ish miles from
Ocean City, Maryland.
And I was like, Oh, all right,you know, the my mom texted me,
we have Starlink on there,right?
(24:59):
My mom's always concerned if I'mgonna be safe.
And it was uh seven in themorning.
I said, Mom, it's flatcom,right?
And uh by 750, that wind wasblowing 40 miles an hour, and
you know, one foot turned to twoto four, and then it was a solid
(25:19):
12 foot during the day.
And you know, uh the the TaylorJean has a a seakeeper, so a
gyro stabilizer to keep youthere, but okay, it was rocking
a lot, and um, you know, waveswere crashing over the back, and
uh, you know, we were throwingup the cockpit, yeah, catching a
few white marlin, which was fun,and it was getting rougher and
rougher.
(25:40):
You know, we fish on the sportfishing championship series, so
we have a cameraman.
The cameraman was not doing sowell that day with the rough
scenes, yeah.
And uh all of a sudden we're youknow, we're sitting in the back
watching the rods, and I hearBlaine yelling something, and he
turns the boat, and this roguewave that was over 15 feet broke
(26:06):
over the the top of the TaylorGene.
And this is a big boat.
This boat weighs 125,000 poundswith no fuel in it, and the
whole cockpit fills up withwater.
We lost a rod.
Um, you know, the boat has a uhwhat's the uh thing?
SPEAKER_05 (26:26):
The sonar.
SPEAKER_04 (26:28):
Yeah, sonar.
And it's designed so if you soif it's deployed below the boat
and the boat starts moving, itgoes back in so it doesn't break
itself.
Okay we were sliding down thismassive wave in 125,000 pound
boat so fast that the gyrostabilizer went back in.
(26:49):
So we're all a little frazzledto say that we just lost a rod
that's cost three thousanddollars.
SPEAKER_03 (26:57):
Yeah, this isn't your Walmart fishing rod that's
hanging out on the fishing holeguy.
SPEAKER_04 (27:01):
This is this is big tongue fishing, and uh Ken goes,
that's it.
This is this is unsafe.
We gotta go, we gotta go in.
SPEAKER_06 (27:09):
I don't care the tournament's not over.
SPEAKER_04 (27:11):
We gotta go.
unknown (27:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (27:13):
That's a minute.
We hook into a blue marlin.
Come on, and unfortunately, Ihad to reel it in, and there's
video.
And the funny thing is, is itwas so rough, and we're trying
to back down on this fishbecause you know, there's a you
know, 250, 300 pound blue marlinon the other end of it, and I
can barely stand up because itwas so rough.
(27:35):
So I sat in the chair, thefighting chair, mostly because I
I couldn't stand because it wasrough.
And then we got the we got therelease, you know, Blaine's
brother Jared is is hands downthe best mate I've ever I've
ever fished with in my life.
And you know, we released thatfish, and then we had the the
long journey in, and it wasrough, but you know, catching
(27:58):
that fish in those conditions,um you know, I see the video
because we had a a videographer,and I couldn't believe it was
you know, seeing it on video,replaying it again.
I was like, oh boy, oh my god,yeah.
SPEAKER_06 (28:14):
I know I I was I was sitting inside, you know, with
my back to like this, and thewings hit us, and all of a
sudden I started going back andback and back, and I was like,
Oh my god, we're going over.
And uh and and and Lane, youknow, he handled the boat
perfect.
I got us, you know, back back onpitch.
So that's why I said, that's it,we're out of here.
(28:36):
So they can catch a fish, wecan't back down on it anyhow.
And bang we did, and bang, wewere able to back down on it.
And there was another boat outthere that said that they were
watching us, they saw us get thehit by the wave, and they said
they figured, all right, we'reout of here.
And so next thing we know, youwere backing down on the face.
And we said, I can't believe it.
And they ended up staying towatch the whole fight, which
(28:58):
took about 45 minutes, an hour,right?
Because um, it was after linesout.
So, you know, you you have linesin going at a certain time.
A lot of times it's eight tothree or eight thirty to three.
But if you have something on,you just gotta notify the that
you know the other boats thatyou have something on, and you
can fight it till you till youget it.
So we had to fight it till aboutfour o'clock, I think about an
(29:20):
hour after um lines out.
And uh it was it it wassomething.
SPEAKER_03 (29:28):
I can tell by all of your smiles that like you're
just living the dream.
Like I'm sure in the moment youdid not feel like you were
living the dream, but like whatstories that you guys have to
tell.
It's just incredible.
And I'm sure those those kind ofmoments are like the ones that
(29:52):
solidify that this is truly sucha a passion for you guys because
you know there's there'scertainly people that that would
happen to, and they'd be like,and I'm done.
That's it.
Um I am over it.
That the you know the bug isgone and never again.
And you guys are like, when whenare we going out again?
All right, wait, let me let meask that.
(30:13):
After an incident like that,after an experience like that,
did anybody have that feeling oflike, I think I want to be done
for a little while?
SPEAKER_06 (30:21):
Or was it like, nope, not oh we that was Monday
of the tournament, so we hadWednesday and Friday to fish.
We had two more days, you know.
You fish like every other daywhen you can, and uh so
everybody was there for the forthe next two days.
Yeah, even the cameraman.
SPEAKER_03 (30:37):
Even the cameraman.
All right, good on good on goodon him, good on him for toughing
that out.
That's uh good on him, and I'mso glad he got video of that for
you because that's incredible.
Oh my goodness.
Tell me a little bit, you saiduh like two, three days there.
How long is it?
I'm sorry I don't know thesethings.
Um, how long is the actualtournament duration?
SPEAKER_06 (31:00):
So the major ones are are five, and you fish three
out of five days.
SPEAKER_03 (31:06):
Yeah, and how far out do you guys go from the
base, so to speak?
SPEAKER_06 (31:12):
So there each tournament has its own limit.
Um, most of them are 100 miles.
Um, I think the Mid Atlantic's125, the Marlin's 100.
Um, some of the more localtournaments are like 70 miles,
you know.
So uh it depends on thetournament.
Anywhere from 50 on the on theshallow side to 125 on the
(31:33):
outside.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (31:34):
And so so for each for me, each day of the
tournament, like there's aspecific start time and a
specific end time, and theneverybody has to come in and
like weigh in whatever theycaught essentially.
SPEAKER_04 (31:45):
Okay.
Or there's release fishing,which you know, uh Taylor Gene
is is a lot of release boats,you know, on that circuit.
SPEAKER_03 (31:54):
Yeah, I really love that because those there's those
are like one of you, I think itwas you, Jay, that said, you
know, like these prehistoricmonsters coming out of the
ocean.
And they are they, you know,there's something so uh
enthralling and at the same timeterrifying about the ocean and
what's in it.
And when you see, you know, Iwas looking over your pictures
(32:16):
and and videos and everything,and just you know, kind of like
zooming in on these theseprehistoric, insane looking
creatures.
And it's like these thingsexist, and you guys get to like
hold them and and see them upclose.
And uh that to me is soincredible.
I I am I have always been sofascinated by what lives in the
(32:39):
ocean.
So I I think it's so cool thatyou guys just uh get up close
with them like that is isincredible.
SPEAKER_06 (32:49):
They might not have thought about it in the ocean.
SPEAKER_03 (32:52):
Yeah, I I think like I said, it's yeah, it's like
fascinating and absolutelyterrifying at the same time.
Like I don't think I'd want tojump in there and be in the
water with you.
SPEAKER_06 (33:04):
That's a funny thing.
If you came out fishing with usand you caught your first bill
fish, there's a there's a apractice or a rule or a
tradition.
Tradition that's what I was thatwe have.
You must jump in right where youcaught that fish.
SPEAKER_02 (33:19):
Oh, okay.
Fair enough.
SPEAKER_06 (33:22):
I have all over my chart pod is Vinny swim, Tom
swims, Michael swims, and Imarked the spots, yeah.
And there's a reason for thatbecause I knew I caught a big
fish there, right?
And somebody had to go goswimming.
SPEAKER_03 (33:36):
Oh, that's so cool.
Yeah, I love that.
Oh, okay.
I don't know.
I I think I might be chickeningout on joining you guys because
I was pretty sure I was gonnaask you, beg you like to let me
come out one time.
We didn't have a little skimmer.
SPEAKER_04 (33:50):
You gotta come to a fun location like uh, you know,
the Bahamas or one of the othertournament places.
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (33:58):
I got nothing against Jersey whatsoever, but I
I want to be I'm gonna besomewhere really Walker's Cave
Bahamas is a much better spot.
SPEAKER_04 (34:06):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (34:07):
Yeah, there you go.
Um, let's see.
I wanted to ask you guys aboutwe mentioned COVID.
I I want to talk about that timeperiod for you guys.
Um, so let's see.
So during the 2022, 2022, youknow what I mean.
Just was not sounding right tome.
Um, but you guys, you guys keptfishing uh through all of that
(34:30):
chaos, and you basically adaptedwith the sport.
So what did the ocean give youguys?
And I I feel like I already knowthe answer, but what did the
ocean give you guys in thoseyears that the rest of the world
um just wasn't offering?
SPEAKER_06 (34:45):
It was very weird, like you know, so you have a
boat in a bay, right?
And and you know, with all theboat trap, you don't realize
that it kicks up a lot ofsediment.
And so the bay isn't as clear aswhen you're out in the, you
know, out in the deep blue.
In the beginning of COVID, Icould walk out my backyard, I
could actually see the bottomfor the first time since I moved
(35:06):
here in 2005.
I was like, oh my God.
And the same thing at themarina, I could see the bottom,
I could see all over.
It was incredible because nobodywas taking their boats out.
And then, you know, first ofall, it was March, April, you
know.
But uh, but around May, whenwhen it first happened, we
started taking our boats out.
And um, and it was funny becausepeople suddenly realized, hey,
(35:30):
listen, I can I can get themskirt around these roofs and get
out in a boat and have fun andnot be contained.
And so the prices of boat wentlike through the roof.
All these huge boats priceswent, you know, way, way up, and
you couldn't even get a boat.
And um and and and thetournaments adapted.
Like a lot of tournaments weretalking about do we have to
cancel, you know, and so um whatsome did is a lot of them, it's
(35:52):
the hospitality of it that theythat they enjoy and and that
they're known for.
So instead of having a big youknow, dinner under the tent,
they delivered the dinner toeverybody, to the boat.
SPEAKER_02 (36:02):
And you're gonna boat, yeah.
And then with it, too.
SPEAKER_06 (36:06):
So it wasn't just food, yeah.
You know, so they there weredifferent things like that that
I remember playing.
You remember anything elsedifferent about now?
SPEAKER_05 (36:15):
It's just doing the you know, it's usually with the
tournaments, it's all about thecamaraderie with everybody,
right?
It just wasn't the camaraderie,but we still had the thrill
going out there.
Um I think COVID really kind ofkickstart our successful
tournament careers.
So I think we'll come back atthat.
Let's say it's ever happened.
SPEAKER_03 (36:33):
Yeah.
Um, let's see.
Oh, um, I think correct me ifI'm wrong, you guys actually
just had a recent tournament,yes, last week.
SPEAKER_04 (36:44):
Yes, he did.
SPEAKER_03 (36:45):
Okay, tell me a little bit about that-star
Blaine Burst.
SPEAKER_05 (36:49):
Yeah, the all-star tournament.
SPEAKER_02 (36:52):
The all-star tournament.
SPEAKER_04 (36:53):
Tell her how well you did.
SPEAKER_05 (36:55):
Yeah, I guess you know, we had a we started out in
uh on Friday, had a great timewith everybody, had a blast.
You know, we had too much funfish Saturday, and I started
feeling a little ill um aboutmidday, and I knew something was
(37:17):
wrong.
And by four o'clock, I was inbed, and I didn't get up till
the next day around 11.
And I had probably almost thrownup and had a fever and all that
mess.
So I got to enjoy the fun, butit wasn't very fun for me.
So we all his teammates werevery supportive of him.
SPEAKER_04 (37:36):
Yes, you know, Ken and I'm where they go.
We flew down there, took timeaway to support all-star Blaine
Birch.
He missed day two, and what dowe do?
We start making memes on um chatGBT saving save Blaine, pray for
Blaine.
(37:57):
It got so out of hand thatcalled me, who knows Blaine
well.
Right, yeah, said, Oh my god, isBlaine hurt?
What happened?
And I said, No, no, he's he'snot feeling well, he's not
fishing, we're giving him a hardtime.
Then Blaine's parents called himright and like, oh my god,
what's wrong?
And it was uh it was prettyfunny.
(38:18):
So it it shows the camaraderiethat we all have of you know,
we're working hard together, um,there's a lot of fun, you know,
playing around with each other.
And and Blaine talked about thatcamaraderie.
And you know, now in the digitalage, and you know, there's a
production team that's part ofthe sport fishing championship
series.
We're we're messaging them andsending them these things, and
(38:41):
they're they're doing an injuryreport on uh all-star captain
Blaine Birch isn't feeling well.
Uh it was it was pretty funny.
SPEAKER_06 (38:50):
Yeah, it was.
I don't think Blaine laughed asmuch as everybody else did, but
you know, but he he he took thejoke very well.
SPEAKER_05 (38:56):
If if I was feeling better, I'd be laughing.
But I was just like, I was justyou know, I hate being sick, and
I was in bed until Sunday.
You know, yeah, it was it wasbad.
SPEAKER_03 (39:09):
But are you I want to know I want to know, Blaine,
are you plotting your revenge?
Are you just waiting for thenext one to get sick so you can
uh no?
SPEAKER_06 (39:21):
Well I have a potential.
Yeah, you potential combat work,right?
You don't tell them what it is,but you you you you you do have
a little a a little video thatmight be posted.
SPEAKER_03 (39:35):
I okay.
I wouldn't I'm I wouldn't say noto a little advanced copy of
that video.
I mean, I'm not saying, youknow, I I might have a few
followers that that they mightenjoy that.
(40:00):
uh rebuttal yes rebuttal backyeah because that would be that
would be something oh that's soawesome yeah it's you know i
what's really clear is that youguys really truly and you
mentioned this the camaraderieuh that you really truly deeply
enjoy not only what you do butdoing these things together
(40:22):
there's a uh you know stronglevel of trust that you have
with each other that you'vebuilt over the years i mean you
know these are these are nowlike long established uh
relationships that you guys haveand i and i think that's really
special is that common oruncommon for that's uncommon
right so we're just a bunch offriends really you know um
(40:43):
there's two insurance guys uhtwo financial guys a cabinet
builder uh a retired electricianyou know blaine uh vp at a bank
and just a bunch of people thatmet became friends sharing the
pasture and just started fishingtogether and you know there's a
bottle of dozen of us that fishtogether so that I always know
(41:03):
that when I want to go fishingI'm gonna have people to go
fishing with you know which iswhich is key and we all bust
each other's chops and and youknow sometimes people get
offended like if you like webring on the guest we're busting
the chops and say hey listen ifnobody's busting your chops we
don't like you that's rightthat's and listen I I tell my
(41:26):
husband that all the time I'mlike honey if I'm not making fun
of you then we have a problemlike if I'm not making on you
exactly I'll tell you howwelcoming uh you know the
industry is right like one Ithink you know I I'm I live a
pretty blessed life right that Iget to do this and have fun
friends and you know um one ofthe guys who fishes uh with us
(41:50):
Steve Melchiori buddy of mine uhhe literally we all got together
in you know me on this this thispodcast now he slid into
Blaine's DMs to ask him sportfishing questions right Blaine
calls him they start talking toeach other right shows who
(42:10):
Blaine is and like you know he'slike hey I got this boat I want
to do this uh Blaine Steve and Iend up like fishing a tournament
in December sailfish tournamentuh we caught a fish or two hung
out you know had Blaine's phonenumber uh fast forward it's
April and Blaine's like hey comemeet me at this uh bar we're in
(42:32):
Key West for the Viking Key Westchallenge and that's where I met
Ken.
SPEAKER_04 (42:36):
So I meet Ken and his wife and you know we talked
for a couple minutes and uh Daveuh McKendrick was right in front
of me on the flight and I saw ithe was like wearing all this uh
Viking shirts and I was like ohhe must be there for that don't
think anything of it then twohours later I'm at a bar and you
know I get Ken's number andKen's like hey we should fish
(42:56):
together this this summer youknow and you're thinking I've
had a couple drinks I'm at a barin Key West this guy tells me
he's gonna take me fishing onhis uh 62 Viking you know I'll
never hear from the guy againand then a couple months later
I'm on Ken's plane I'm flying toMars's vineyard and we're
fishing this massive tournamenteveryone everybody you know it
(43:18):
just shows you you know you gotto be out there in life you know
doing fun things talking topeople interacting and and
that's where I think thisyounger generation is just too
glued to their phone and theiriPad or you know that's why I
tell my son like hey you youcan't have a good time sitting
at home on the couch.
Right?
You got to be out there and youknow I've I've taken my son you
(43:39):
know fishing and you knowhopefully he likes it as much as
I do and uh either way he'scoming with me.
SPEAKER_03 (43:46):
Yeah so if he doesn't he will he will learn to
love it if he doesn't already II am sure as a kid what he's
like 10 right is that yeah yeahyeah just just hanging out with
his dad what's cooler than thatas a 10 year old so that's
awesome and boy oh boy did youreally hit on the head there Jay
I I agree with you so much thatyou know this this not even just
(44:08):
this younger generation like theadults too I mean how often do
you walk around and you see whentheir their faces are in their
phone and they're not talking toeach other not engaging they're
not out in fresh air touchinggrass or in this case smelling
the salt right yeah you know andI I was thinking about that as
(44:29):
you were talking about it I'mlike oh just what what we're all
missing you know by not doingand I know not everybody can get
out you know on thesemagnificent boats and and do
what you're doing but mygoodness if you get a chance to
get out there and in the freshair and and just talk with
people.
Yes just unplug and I I I go torestaurants and I see everybody
(44:52):
sitting at the table and they'reall looking at the phones and a
restaurant having dinnertogether and I'm like you know I
don't get it I always had a ruleyou put your phone in the middle
of the table the first one thatreaches for it pays the bill I
like that I like that yes yesyeah and I and I tell you and I
you know to to not be ahypocrite I have to admit I
(45:12):
because of what I do is yes I II am forever this stupid thing
is like I I got the death clawyou know half the time because
it's like oh wait your phone'snot in your hand calm down and
you know and and I I feel it tooI'm like oh why is you know why
is why do I feel like I havemonkey brain right now well it's
because you've been you knowjust in all of this stuff and
(45:34):
you're not just getting out inthe world a little bit so I set
it all aside.
Now the rule is you knowSaturday and Sunday is uh no
social media.
Good yeah yeah good well youknow what the world won't end
because you didn't answer a textwithin 45 seconds or 45 minutes
you know yeah absolutely you getit within 24 hours that should
(45:54):
be respectable you know yeah andpeople too they expect it of you
they're like I tried I tried toget a hold of you and it's like
been five minutes it's been fiveminutes that I didn't answer.
SPEAKER_04 (46:03):
Then you know sport fishing might be for you because
you can just tell everybodythere's no internet out there.
And until until Starlink um youknow there there was no internet
out there.
Right.
And it's it's completely changedthings you know we're we're all
working and and sometimes youknow we'll be on the boat and
having to take uh you know callvideo calls on teams and and and
(46:27):
doing things it's really openedthings up materially but I can
also say hey Starlink's notworking uh I couldn't reach you
yeah so it's nice to have thatbreak.
SPEAKER_03 (46:37):
It's so nice and it's so just everything about it
I I think really just soundsabsolutely magnificent.
I I have I have some I'm walkingaway from this conversation
feeling some envy definitelybecause what a what a life what
a great life to be able to getout and do that on a regular
basis and and just engage withnature and be with people that
(47:00):
you really like being around andyou have that teamwork.
SPEAKER_06 (47:04):
Yeah what an amazing I mean we we one time caught a
thousand pound lager head tartoff the coast of New Jersey here
which is normally not here atropical strong I call in and
and we caught it I got a pictureof it and the turtle's head is
bigger than the angular head theonly reason that we fought it
(47:26):
because we had a big float on itbecause we were shark fishing
right and they went after ashark and had this big float on
it and I was afraid that if itcut it behind the float that
might kill the turtle it mightnot be able to you know dive and
and what have you so we had toget it to cut it in in front of
the float another real quickstory is one day we're out there
on on the boat and we went outto the inlet and we're doing a
(47:47):
little wine and cheese we'rehaving some wine and cheese and
and there's this dolphin outthere that's swimming around by
us and stuff and it was reallyfriendly and we're on on the way
back my son said Dan was thatsomebody's pet I said no brain
there's a dolphin in the wildwhy would you think it was
somebody's pet he said becauseof the number I said what number
he said they had a number on itI said what are you talking
(48:08):
about so this is back in the daybefore iPhones and stuff so I
got my digital camera I pluggedit into my computer I looked at
the picture and sure enoughthere was a 56 cogged into the
dorsal thing and you can see itwas like somebody's handwriting
like you know the way the phoneso for grins and giggles I uh
typed into to Google who wasdolphin 56 so I found out that
(48:30):
this dolphin was was kind ofworld famous it was tagged and
it was it was branded and gotcaught in in the uh Indian river
down in Florida.
SPEAKER_03 (48:39):
Oh wow and the it had traveled as far north as
Georgia and then they lost sightof it they said you know oh it's
it's gone and that was the onlyuh dolphin that had gone up that
far so we were out at the BarnumEngland New Jersey right wow as
yeah my son actually trackeddown the research scientist who
(49:00):
was in Germany at the time saidhey we saw dolphin 56 and he
said oh no way he'd be he it'sbeyond his life expectancy he'd
be like 46 now and they onlylived 30 years at all he said
there's no way so he sent him apicture of it where he could see
it was him that inspired in 56wasn't a little broken jaw and
(49:21):
the jaw and he could see he goesoh my god that is dolphin 56 so
it reset the record we again wasanother time we got written up
in the paper because we we founddolphin 56 you never ever know
what you're gonna see it is sothat is so cool that is so
incredible you guys must i meanyou just must have stories for
(49:44):
days and days and days and daysyeah i want to lots of mirror
bases like that wave on you knowi mean lots of different things
like that i remember one time wewent out and we ran in between
two thunderstorms with we wereshark fish and we we got out
there it's like two o'clock inthe morning the wind was blowing
and Brandon my buddy goes thankgod we can't see these seas oh
(50:11):
yeah you're right yeahabsolutely oh my goodness all
right so for someone watching uhwho has never followed sport the
sport closely what is the firstTaylor Jean video that they
should go and find uh that willcapture your vibe so to speak
(50:32):
that's a good one uh guys haveany I mean I'm not sure I don't
know if the video is anywherebut like when we caught that
blue marlin in uh Walker's K towin the SFC and win the S the
SFC open right that was a prettydope jumping around I don't know
(50:53):
if that surfaced anywhere Igotta figure that out but if it
hasn't we gotta get it up there.
Yeah yeah absolutely and theblue marlin that we caught in
the on the Monday of this year'smid-Atlantic with the seas being
like what they were and there'sthere are some videos out there
I think I I I I I forget what Iposted oh sport fishing gets a
little sporty I think was it wasthe title of the video that one
(51:18):
close to a couple thousand viewsor it was there was one of the
one of my videos got over twomillion views um well yeah I was
got viral big i tuner yeah wewent viral because like 500
people shared I couldn't believeit wow yeah just one but it was
yeah funny yeah you gotta youneed to be making reels out of
(51:39):
all these uh videos that youguys I just started really
getting into that this year Ihad never done that before you
know I post up like differentvideos and photos and stuff like
that but yeah I just started themy daughter's been teaching oh
yeah you'll go you'll go virallike so many times because I am
that person anytime I comeacross like any kind of ocean
(52:00):
videos after what it is whateverit is if it's if it's ocean I I
will just sit and watch all ofthem so you can create a whole
page I will be your first andmost viewer don't call me a
stalker I I I will totally stalkbut that's okay that's okay
we'll tag in the videos from nowon yes please do so I can watch
(52:21):
them all it's like it justrelaxes me a little bit more
relaxing all right I want to askyou guys one last question I
want to know what does Taylorjeans stand for well it's very
simple Taylor is my daughterJean is my wife I love it I love
it I love it I love it so sothat first 28 foot boat that I
(52:44):
had I wanted the name of TaylorJean my wife's ah I don't want
my name on the boat so it wasthe tailor V.
SPEAKER_06 (52:50):
So for the first four years of my fishing career
uh even with the wellcraft itwas the Taylor V.
V-E-E because it's the deep Vboat and my daughter's middle
name is V also so it was a playon that you know yeah and then
when I got to Viking my wife'slike oh I got my name's on the
boat I said what part of I don'twant my name on the boat she
(53:10):
goes this is a nice boat andthen we had to I had to create a
whole new career from the tailorV to the Taylor D.
SPEAKER_03 (53:16):
Oh that's funny is that some kind of rule that it
they always have to be named forlike yeah they always have to
like that's the rule isconsidered unlucky just like
fishmen believe it's consideredunlucky to bring bananas on the
boat.
Really?
SPEAKER_06 (53:31):
Yeah oh yeah yeah which we're gonna have a hard
time with guys because my bananatree just started producing
bananas this week and they'regonna be right just as the time
we're leaving to to gotournament fishing so don't do
it don't do it take why don'tyou do why don't you send those
to the lights out Ken there wego some some fresh some fresh
(53:52):
homegrown fruit for you everyproblem has its own solution so
lights out is a is one of the uhcompetitors in the sports
championship with us and andthere are a bunch of good guys
the bunch good fishermen similarto us but they got more family
than than we have we just haveuh Blaine his brother and his
cousin they got father daughtermother um who else the there's a
(54:14):
whole family cousins it seemslike they're all related those
panels and and and and there area bunch of good guys so we love
you so one of the good thingsabout sports fishing when you
get to know boats and you getfriendly with them you start
pulling pranks on them you knowand uh so they pranked us and we
pranked them before one of thetournaments we snuck on the boat
at two o'clock in the morning wehad we had a little uh face
(54:36):
decals of each of us and westuck it all over their boat on
their rides and stuff like thatand you know little things oh I
then they tied somebody to theto the top of our the to the top
of our boat and we didn't knowit so there was a blow up down
on top of our boat.
SPEAKER_03 (54:51):
We're out there fishing the people who are
taking pictures of us oh youguys sound like a lot of but I
love that it's that it's like areally friendly competition
going on out there.
SPEAKER_06 (55:02):
It is it is it's nice it should be you know
sometimes the people aren't sofriendly but they get cut out
pretty quickly.
SPEAKER_03 (55:09):
Yeah I bet I bet there's no room for that right
yeah yeah I love that all rightguys tell everybody where they
can find you where they can findmore information about you
guysenefishing.com is our ourwebsite and there's a link to
our social uh media which istelegansport fishing both on
(55:29):
Facebook Instagram and TikTok umit's all telegansport fishing
nice I love it guys go followlike stalk their videos make
them go viral can we do that Ithink we can band together and
make them go viral like a bunchof times I think that would be
really fun and completelyworthwhile so thank you guys for
(55:51):
taking time out of your day touh spend with me and my audience
we appreciate it very much anduh I look forward to seeing all
the incredibly cool things youguys are going to keep doing so
thank you thank you thank youit's been a pleasure here
absolutely all right guys thanksfor watching we'll see you in
the next episode take care fromsmall town love stories to
(56:13):
battles of truth and loyaltyElsa Kurt's books follow the
same heartbeat ordinary peoplefacing extraordinary moments
you'll find romance drama secondchances even a feet behind the
microphone in her newest releasemultiple genres of different
worlds and the same thread boldtruth real faith and no
(56:33):
authorities
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