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View Full Version : **NOT 2009** A Blitz Tale part 1



SharkHart
10-02-2009, 06:25 PM
I have long considered the idea of doing a book to tell our Fishing stories, both good and bad and some of the crazy stuff that has happened to us.

It's unlikely it will ever make it to a book. I got the stories, writing it is semi easy. The distribution or Interest is the question. At any rate here is a sample story of a memorable surf fishing day that i think was back in the fall of 2004. I might have to break this up into a few parts due to the length.

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Boat Bluefish Bonanza!
The fall had been fairly warm and off to a slow start for bass. I was fishing a three day weekend into Monday hoping for that first good wave of bass to come through. Just as the weekend hit we got more weather I didn't want, warm with sun and SW winds. I also planned to be fishing on the boat the following day and the forecast was nearly the same.

I started fishing Manasquan on Saturday. I spent time fishing all around the various beaches and a few rock piles and only a few small blues racing in and out of the inlet before dusk. But hey it was something at least until the bass show up.

The following morning we cleared the inlet around 7 am and even early on you could see it was going to be a nice very mild fall day. We started to troll trying to locate schools of game fish by dropping trolling plugs and bunker spoons. It was not long before the rods started to bend. The only thing was they were 6-12 lb blues on the other end. Sometimes two blues at a time was how the day started. We went right through the middle and fished... all blues all day long at all stops.

My uncle, as he often is, was intent on dragging the spoons in hopes of finding big bass, but they were like a bluefish magnets. Mid day temperatures pressed into the high 60s. Between the warm temps and the 300 foot wire line workout I kept taking off jackets and sweatshirts. I was down to just a shirt.

I normally don't mind the fight of a big bluefish, but dragging them with the boat on wire line quickly lost its appeal. It wasn't long before it was obvious the striped ones weren't there or weren't willing to cooperate.

After about the 30th blue I could really start to feel it in my back and forearm. It was one of the very few times where I literally couldn't handle much more. My uncle worked the helm while George and myself started to go into "you take this one" arguments. "No way isn't it your turn I think i had the last one" :lookhappy:

George and I, totally worn out, finally came to the agreement that enough was enough and time to head in. That morning I had looked at Mondays weather and saw exactly what I was looking for. Coming a day later then I really wanted, low 50 with a 15 mph North West wind, a little cold front was coming through.

The whole time Sunday on the boat I kept saying we are a day early. As the boat approached the inlet I saw a little more birds at the mouth than usual and not the tiny scrap picking birds, these looked like a few terns in the mix. After washing down and cleaning the boat I grabbed my surf stick and headed to the Jetty at the inlet.

As I walked up there about an hour later, the inlet was now engulfed in birds, and I could tell by fishermen's postures something was going on. There was definitely a lot of fish on both sides of the jetty but they were all blue. Mostly midsized 4-5 lb blue fish came in and all the rods were bent. I used what little energy and strength I had left to get into the mix.

After taking a few, the highlight was one of the blues biting or breaking my cordell plastic pencil in two. :eek:

I switched to a shad I happened to have handy in my pocket and a 5lber was quickly on it. A couple was taking a leisurely walk out onto the Jetty just as I was about to pump the blue up the rocks.

On the first hard pump the blue shook the hook and what was left of the shad including the lead and hook went flying like a pendulum. I could hear the shrieks from the couple behind me with the projectile headed their way. :scared:

Well I've seen this move before. I had to keep my rod high the whole time and flipped it forward in mid flight protecting the civilians in the process. Little did I know then an accident was in fact waiting to happen this weekend and it involved no civilians. After that I had enough. I left the blues and went back and passed out about 7:30 PM, totally unaware that one of best and worst days would soon follow.


Blitz day - Game on!
I woke up about 4 am. As soon as I opened the door I felt the cool winds and colder air. High tide was going to be right around day break, perfect conditions... this is it I thought to myself! I went back to the big jetty to already find 2 others working it in the darkness. I fished all along the jetty and surrounding beach area for an hour and a half without a hit, I couldn't believe it. :huh:

Now I suddenly would have loved to have a nice bluefish hit me. My fingers were chilly. I was painfully bored getting that feeling that I don't even remember what a hit feels like. I kept thinking "no big deal" so many times I don't get them in darkness and at that first crack of light the fish show up to feed.

Well dawn came and still no fish. After about an hour it seemed hopeless. I had taken the day off so I continued to try. Now fully light out a good hour and a half into light, I was about to make a move walking off the far end of the big jetty. I started to see some birds a few hundred yards north. I didn't think too much of it at first but they continued to linger.

This is where I made a mistake I don't plan to make again too often. I had just gone 3 hours without a strike and I was being lazy watching a few birds get increasingly thicker. I could have easily walked there in 5 minutes or even better yet, ran there in 2 mins. I stepped down to the pocket to have a chat with a Fly fisherman who was doing equally as bad as myself. "There's a few birds up there, might be something, probably some blues" I said.

Here was where I made another mistake, took some bad advice. The Fly fisherman said "they are coming this way, the current will bring them right to us" For about two minutes the birds definitely looked closer but then as I looked again they were moving north away from us, and they were now too thick to ignore.

After waiting with the Fly guy for a little too long I said " I think we have to go after them" He seemed disinterested in moving with me. I finally got my lazy butt up the beach solo. As I started to get closer to the birds a few anglers were coming down directly toward them from the street too. I hadn't gotten to the birds totally just yet but I was close enough to take a cast and catch my wind from my double time pace.

I went with a 2 oz pencil and a few pops it got taken down, finally! As I reeled it to the wash I was thinking please please have stripes. As I slide the fish up the sand I was very disappointed to see it was a mid size blue. Again I was thinking "oh well its something" and I don't mind catching them from the surf.

I repositioned about 30 yards north, now directly with the birds and two fisherman who came down from the street. Within seconds all three of us were hooked up at about the same time. The blitz was definately on and things suddenly got very interesting as all three of us simultaneously slide stripers onto the beach. YES they are bass!:dribble:

Although there was no surface activity there was a good body of bass right outside the wash, with seemingly that one lone blue just to throw me off mentally. Another angler now joined the action to our left, the fly guy still casting into dead water down the beach. For the first 10 casts it was hard not to get a hit on the popper and I took about 5 bass in no time at all, this is what I had been waiting for! After releasing one I went about a 5 hitless casts and I noticed the birds slide a little more north but not too much, the newest angler to the blitz was on them and hooked up.

I repositioned again about another 30 yards. Soon as the pencil started to pop a bass took it down. After a quick release the next cast produced the same result another nice bass immediately smacked it. Only this time when I landed it I immediately could see just the tip of the pencil sticking out its mouth.

If I could do it over I would have unsnapped the lure, threw the fish on the beach and kept fishing. However in a blitz you look to your right and left and see bent rods birds diving fish flopping on the beach. Every moment you aren't casting into the water feels like an eternity and it seems like the only thought on your mind is I MUST CATCH TONS OF BASS RIGHT NOW!

The mistakes were already starting to pile up for the day and I was about to make my biggest one yet.

The pliers I chose to use that day were pretty much basic household needle nose type, not the extended needle version ones. The fish had the plug straight down its mouth and the trailer hook was hooked pretty far down. I lipped the bass with the boga and braced the metal part of pliers with my index finger for leverage because I knew I was about to stick them way down there. The only thought on my mind being get back into the blitz, need to get back into the water pronto.

I clenched the trailer hook with the pliers and started to shake it up and down and side to side. In my haste I totally neglected the fact that I was shaking that braced index finger near the middle hook which was free. I felt the tip of that hook lightly poke my index finger and I went to move point away from my finger.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing the barb was straight down into my index finger! I tried to remove it but I was quickly clear that it wasn't going anywhere.

Panic quickly started to set in, I'm hooked the bass is hooked to the lure I'm hooked to the lure and the bass can easily be bouncing around on the boga. I quickly took it to the sand and put a death grip on it. A near-by fisherman had just released a bass when I approached him. "Hey do you think you could do me a really big favor and unhook this bass, I sorta hooked myself"

Now what happened next had to be amazing odds of all the potential people I could have fished next to and chose to ask for help. This gentleman pulled out his pliers complete with split ring and in about 30 seconds flat removed the treble from lure and even unhooked my bass, I was stunned and quite pleased. Now I only had a 6/0 treble going straight down my index finger. He was a master with those pliers and a true savior.

Again if I could have done things all over I would have stayed with that blitz and just fished with my impaled index finger sticking out. However there is just something freaky about a piece of stainless steel impaled in your finger... I panicked and headed off the beach.

I pulled on the hook some but it was clearly not coming out. I didn't get far before I passed a lady out for a morning walk, note to self moving forward, "Don't ask people which hospital is closest, it tends to make them panic". Back at the truck I directed two anglers to the blitz and they couldn't understand why I was leaving until I showed them my finger. They took a quick look thanked me and high tailed it up the beach.

SharkHart
10-02-2009, 06:26 PM
Pulling into the hospital I started to already think "oh man this is going to take long in the ER, I don't think I am going to get back there any time soon". http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.gif

I walked in with my hand hid under my sweatshirt, as I didn't want to alarm any women and children. Checking in you have to eventually say why you are in the ER, and I sheepishly told her I had a hook in me I need removed.

She made me show her and she instantly hit me with "now you know how the fish feel!"

She went on to tell me I was 6th person to come in for such an issue since the weekend and explained how the last guy had a pretty gold lure dangling from his hand. Looking out over the waiting area I saw maybe 3 other people, and 2 appeared to be together, "well maybe this won't take long" as I started to watch Al Roker and Matt Lauer.

About 30 to 40 minutes later they called my name and took me into the real ER area. It looked like a MASH unit back there, people were everywhere! They put me behind a curtained area where I waited close to 2 hours before the doctor came to see me. He took a look at the treble sticking straight down the tip of my index finger and asked the nurse to find some wire cutters. He came back with two needles -- one a tetanus shot for my arm and the other was to numb my index finger. The numbing shot turned out to be the worst part as it wasn't just a prick under the skin as I thought it would be. :scared: Half the needle did a disappearing act straight down into my finger and burned like hell. This made my already hooked finger feel about 10 times worse until he pulled that needle out. "Great now pull out the hook and I am out of here". I had to wait another 15 minutes for the finger to go numb.

The doctor didn't seem want to tell me the plan, but I was pretty sure what was next. He grabbed the hook with some pliers and began to push rather then pull. I had to look... I saw another area on the tip of my finger go white before seeing the barb come pushing out the other side.

He grabbed the wire cutters and he tried but was unable to clip the barb off. He muttered something about stainless steel and the size of the hook and asked me reposition and lay my arm flat across the table. He called a nurse in to help and said to me "I need you to use your good hand to help hold your arm down good"

"WHAT!" I have to hold my own arm down! :kooky: When I seen how much strain and pressure the Doc put on those pliers I couldn't help but to think with a slip of those pliers or my arm could lead to much pain and me squealing like a pig. I just about cut off the circulation pressing down on arm to prevent any slips, the doctor said: "close your eyes".

"great, now I have to close my eyes too" :)

The barb finally gave way and shot across the room like a bullet. The doctor pulled the hook back through the entry spot and quickly left to attend to others. Another short wait went by before a nurse appeared with a tray of various bandages,gauze, and plastic wraps. Looking at this tray it was clear she intended to wrap me up like Tutankhamen. ;)

Before she could get started I stopped her with a special request, " I can't bandage this up because I won't be able to fish with one hand!" She asked me if I was serious and started to lecture me about a fresh wound being susceptible to bacteria, and I shouldn't risk getting it dirty for a day or two.

Obviously not understanding the allure of a blitz, she still seemed intent on wrapping me up good. She said: " I'll be right back I am going to make something for your finger if you really have to go fishing again." After she left the curtain area she ran into another nurse and I immediately heard "he wants to go back to the beach" :don't know why:

A few minutes later the nurse reappeared with what was calling a padded finger condom. She made a contraption of gauze and some tape, slid it over my entire finger, and then applied a rubber finger over the whole mess.

It was huge! It looked like a had giant cartoon finger. The numbing medicine had spread to most of my hand but my thumb and pinkie were good enough to pencil pop, I figured. She gave me some larger type band aids and antiseptic for later in the week... ha! big mistake for that nurse.

After checking out of there I found a nice trash can in the parking garage to toss the finger contraption into and began to do my own post op work on my finger with the extra bandages she gave me. I cut down the tip of the rubber finger she gave me and using some scotch tape put the finishing touches on a much smaller finger tip only wrap.

SharkHart
10-02-2009, 06:26 PM
The only problem was it was now noon and I needed lunch and some 8 inch needle nose pliers. After a few stops I got back to beach about 1:30 with new pliers and the feeling coming back into my hand. It was near low water and quiet looking Monday afternoon.

I saw a familiar face that I sometimes see on the beach fishing. He was also in look out mode. We stopped to have a chat and he quickly informed he got into the morning action too. "How did you do?" "Oh man I stopped counting but I suspect it was somewhere near 35 fish to about 12 lbs" exactly the answer I didn't want to hear. The bad part about sitting in the ER waiting room watching Rosie and the Today Show is knowing what you're missing.... getting a confirmation later hurt double

The water was starting to come in so I geared back up and took a walk out onto the beach where the lightening struck in the morning. Not much was going on and it wasn't long before a struck a conversation with a near-by fisherman. I told him of the morning action and my trip to hospital. Once I got to the part about impaling myself he looked at me like he suddenly found his long lost cousin and rolled up his sleeve to show a large bandage on his wrist area, " I took one in the wrist last week!" Suddenly my new friend and I were like long lost hooked brothers!

As we traded our war stories we started to notice a massive concentration of birds about a half mile out, and about 2 boats on them. The birds were thick and they were not breaking up any time soon. All we could do was watch and hope they came in.

Over the course of an hour or so the birds did slowly come in closer but still over 3 casts away. Then somewhere inside the birds we started to see big slashes, a sure sign of big blues working. Casting and working pencils with my index finger sticking straight out, I wouldn't mind some big blues on top water. The slashes were random and very sporadic. They stayed in front of us sometimes about 2 casts out but we just couldn't reach them.

My new friend hoped on a small finger jetty to get some extra distance and within his first few casts he struck pay dirt with a hit but lost the fish. Next cast he hooked up again, landed a nice blue and waved me over. Was a classy move and was enough room on the small jetty for us to get a little extra distance. Long casts were still needed and if we got off a good one 6-9 LB blues would take down our pencil.

Bent rods have a way of attracting crowds, as other guys started to gather on the sand. I took a couple of blues. I then had a hit close to the rocks and the fish instantly went down, "this one has stripes" Sure enough I was soon sliding a 28" bass to the side of the rocks.

A few casts later I got to witness a truly remarkable visual. Again as my popper got close I saw a back with stripes come clear out of the water and close on the popper only to blast it going sideways half of the water, "he missed he missed!" My new friend soon had a bass on of his own.

I didn't see one angler on the beach hook up. A few started to get happy feet and cast from behind me on the rocks and attempt to angle to the same water. :kooky:

In a blitz I want everyone to catch fish but I started to hear this possibly non English speaking angler's popper whiz by my ear. He finally got a cast off into the zone and hooked up with a sizable blue. All I could do was bob and weave from his taut mono over my shoulder until he could get his blue under control. Like you often see in a situation like this, there was just way too much drag spinning going on as he let the blue get around the tip of the jetty. We instructed him to just get up front and center already to get control of his fish.

Two other anglers were also fishing behind us at straight out angles and it was just getting a little silly. Then I noticed a large pod of nervous peanuts erupt in the trough. That was all I needed to see. I conceded the tiny jetty to happy footed fisherman and took to the sand.

By now more anglers were hooking up in a spread out area and the finger jetty was no longer an advantage anyway. The last 45 minutes of light provided solid action with a mix of blues and bass with about a 75% ratio of blues. I think I ended the evening shift with 3 bass and about 8 or 9 blues all reeled it without the use of an index finger, which I poured alcohol on to keep any bluefish germs off me.

The evening wasn't as gonzo with bass as the morning but it was somewhat of a nice second chance. It turned out to be one my most memorable days surf fishing in NJ. It had the potential to be one of the best if I had not sat in the ER so long.

The tip of my finger felt numb for about 2 weeks and took another 2 weeks to get back to normal. I have since vowed to always be more careful with trebles, but once the fish blitz all rules might be off.

I left to go back to work Tuesday with a numb finger, nicked up hands, dead shoulder from casting, my right forearm aching from the wire reels and a very sore back from trolled up blues. Again I crashed out super early with only one thought on my mind as I hit the pillow, when can I get back out there...... :dribble:

DarkSkies
10-03-2009, 12:27 AM
Dude it was great but my eyes hurt reading those huge blocks of text at 12:30 AM. :wow:

I broke it up into paragraphs and did some editing, hope ya don't mind. ;) :HappyWave:

Really enjoyed the story, felt like I was there. :thumbsup:

basshunter
10-03-2009, 02:38 PM
. The numbing shot turned out to be the worst part as it wasn't just a prick under the skin as I thought it would be. :scared: Half the needle did a disappearing act straight down into my finger and burned like hell. This made my already hooked finger feel about 10 times worse until he pulled that needle out. "Great now pull out the hook and I am out of here". I had to wait another 15 minutes for the finger to go numb.

The doctor didn't seem want to tell me the plan, but I was pretty sure what was next. He grabbed the hook with some pliers and began to push rather then pull. I had to look... I saw another area on the tip of my finger go white before seeing the barb come pushing out the other side.

He grabbed the wire cutters and he tried but was unable to clip the barb off. He muttered something about stainless steel and the size of the hook and asked me reposition and lay my arm flat across the table. He called a nurse in to help and said to me "I need you to use your good hand to help hold your arm down good"

"WHAT!" I have to hold my own arm down! :kooky: When I seen how much strain and pressure the Doc put on those pliers I couldn't help but to think with a slip of those pliers or my arm could lead to much pain and me squealing like a pig. I just about cut off the circulation pressing down on arm to prevent any slips, the doctor said: "close your eyes".

"great, now I have to close my eyes too" :)

The barb finally gave way and shot across the room like a bullet. The doctor pulled the hook back through the entry spot and quickly left to attend to others. Another short wait went by before a nurse appeared with a tray of various bandages,gauze, and plastic wraps. Looking at this tray it was clear she intended to wrap me up like Tutankhamen. ;)

Before she could get started I stopped her with a special request, " I can't bandage this up because I won't be able to fish with one hand!" She asked me if I was serious and started to lecture me about a fresh wound being susceptible to bacteria, and I shouldn't risk getting it dirty for a day or two.

Obviously not understanding the allure of a blitz, she still seemed intent on wrapping me up good. She said: " I'll be right back I am going to make something for your finger if you really have to go fishing again." After she left the curtain area she ran into another nurse and I immediately heard "he wants to go back to the beach" :don't know why:

A few minutes later the nurse reappeared with what was calling a padded finger condom. She made a contraption of gauze and some tape, slid it over my entire finger, and then applied a rubber finger over the whole mess.

It was huge! It looked like a had giant cartoon finger. The numbing medicine had spread to most of my hand but my thumb and pinkie were good enough to pencil pop, I figured. She gave me some larger type band aids and antiseptic for later in the week... ha! big mistake for that nurse.

After checking out of there I found a nice trash can in the parking garage to toss the finger contraption into and began to do my own post op work on my finger with the extra bandages she gave me. I cut down the tip of the rubber finger she gave me and using some scotch tape put the finishing touches on a much smaller finger tip only wrap.

:clapping:Rotflmao, Shark! The part about getting back to the bite is classic. thanks for sharing.

bababooey
10-03-2009, 02:45 PM
:clapping::clapping::clapping:Phenomenal story, SH, just the right amount of suspense, drama, and excitement. btw were any of the nurses in the ER hot?:naughty:

cowherder
10-03-2009, 04:42 PM
Wow was that great! Sharkhart if you ever wrote a book, I would buy it.:thumbsup::fishing:

7deadlyplugs
10-03-2009, 04:55 PM
, note to self moving forward, "Don't ask people which hospital is closest, it tends to make them panic".

Ha ha great quote!

porgy75
10-03-2009, 05:19 PM
I never fish on the jetties but always wanted to try. Thanks for sharing that story with us, it was very colorful.:clapping:

SharkHart
10-03-2009, 06:53 PM
Thanks guys! yeah the paragraph breaks make it look better, it didnt paste too well

No hot nurses just some frumpy ones

Im praying we get some kind of decent surf season, those blitz days are special.

rockhopper
10-04-2009, 01:07 PM
Im praying we get some kind of decent surf season, those blitz days are special.


I'm praying that we can have any blitz days at all this fall. So far I doubt it. But that was a great story, like reading in On the Water magazine. Thanks!:clapping::clapping:

surfwalker
10-04-2009, 03:19 PM
SharkHart, I finally got a chance to read your post, thanks for posting that story. I have always enjoyed others tales from the wetline. I especially enjoy the areas you mention, for I have great memories of them from the '50's/60's, when I fished with my father there. Thanks again and keep 'em coming.

vpass
10-04-2009, 03:56 PM
Shark, Great story. I felt like I was there with you. I could relate to the treble hook in Index finger with fish still hooked. I was never the same unhooking fish again when fish are taken on Plugs. A book with collective stories could sell, go for it.

clamchucker
10-04-2009, 06:44 PM
Very nice effort, Sharkheart. As mentioned, it could be a good idea to put stories like that in a collection about the NJ surf. Zeno did it in his last book, with a New York focus, using stories collected from notable surfcasters. Why not have one with a Jersey focus?

buckethead
10-04-2009, 06:57 PM
:clapping: Thanks guy, I really enjoyed that.

skinner
10-04-2009, 07:09 PM
Shark, Great story. I felt like I was there with you.

What he said, good read, thanks for sharing.:thumbsup:

nitestrikes
10-06-2009, 01:46 PM
I liked that even though you had a plug stuck in you, you still stopped to give those guys the head's up about where the fish were. Cool story, nice of you to share it with us.:cool:

BassBuddah
10-06-2009, 09:30 PM
I repositioned again about another 30 yards. Soon as the pencil started to pop a bass took it down. After a quick release the next cast produced the same result another nice bass immediately smacked it. Only this time when I landed it I immediately could see just the tip of the pencil sticking out its mouth.

If I could do it over I would have unsnapped the lure, threw the fish on the beach and kept fishing. However in a blitz you look to your right and left and see bent rods birds diving fish flopping on the beach. Every moment you aren't casting into the water feels like an eternity and it seems like the only thought on your mind is I MUST CATCH TONS OF BASS RIGHT NOW!



That's the thing about good action in the day. It can last for 5 minutes or 5 hours. If you believe the 5 hour scenario is common, you are slightly foolish. Each cast may be your last fish for that day, and then the long drawn out wait until the next time when conditions are right. Fish until you drop, or in shark's case, until you impale yourself with a hook.;) Great story and details, thanks for posting it.

lostatsea
10-10-2009, 04:08 PM
No hot nurses just some frumpy ones



Nurses don't understand us fishing folks. However, the hot ones I can make an exception for.:naughty: Great story, I really enjoyed it. Thanks for posting it up.:clapping:

storminsteve
10-10-2009, 04:54 PM
Action packed and filled with excitement, fish, and blood. Great story shark.:clapping::clapping::clapping:

Monty
10-10-2009, 08:31 PM
Shark, excellent story.
Very enjoyable, that was one action packed day.

plugginpete
10-12-2009, 01:46 PM
After checking out of there I found a nice trash can in the parking garage to toss the finger contraption into and began to do my own post op work on my finger with the extra bandages she gave me. I cut down the tip of the rubber finger she gave me and using some scotch tape put the finishing touches on a much smaller finger tip only wrap.


Aah, what do hospitals know about medicine and bandages anyway. Nurses only go to school for 4 years to learn stuff like that! :ROFLMAO If you were living in Alaska, the secondary patch would have been good to go. Great story.:thumbsup:

dogfish
10-29-2009, 03:05 PM
Before she could get started I stopped her with a special request, " I can't bandage this up because I won't be able to fish with one hand!" She asked me if I was serious and started to lecture me about a fresh wound being susceptible to bacteria, and I shouldn't risk getting it dirty for a day or two.



:laugh: :clapping: Best part of the whole post. Obviously the nurse never experienced the thrill of eating a sandwitch accidently soaked in dirty clam juice. Compared to that, your wound site was a silicon chip clean room.:D

bluesdude71
01-22-2010, 04:08 PM
Wow what a story sharkhart.:clapping:

baitstealer
06-30-2012, 11:10 AM
I didn't hear of any monster blitzes this year so I searched anf found this. Thought it was pretty neat. Sharkheart you are lucky to have seen it.

CharlieTuna
01-25-2013, 03:31 PM
Nice read sharkhart thanks for sharing.

cowherder
09-03-2017, 11:51 AM
blast from the past!