The life of a skisher

[DarkSkies]

Let me go on record as saying that "those guys" who swim out to rocks get all the respect in the world in my book. Whether we're talking about Melnyk and Frank Blasko, any of the other hardcore Montauk guys.

Or the guys who do it in other places, like Gunny aka Stripercoast1, Jake, anyone else who's insane enough to do it.

Someone recently mentioned that some were offended by their attitudes. The last I checked, living in the US gives you freedom to have an attitude.

None of that stuff matters to me, all that counts is that they love fishing. Blasko might look like a character from a Steven King movie but he's a helluva fisherman. I fished with him and would fish with him again anytime.

Melnyk is an icon in the fishing community as well. Some call him crazy, some say he has a death wish. Some think he's rude. Most of the guys who really know Paul will tell you that he will talk to anyone about the thing he loves most, skishing.

I got news for fishermen out there, there are characters that are a lot less friendly than these 2, especially if you mug their spot at night.

So to Melnyk and Blasko. They're doing it their way, and don't care if people like it or not. Effumall!

Mr Sid Vicious salutes them too. RIP, Sid.

[DarkSkies]

Here's a link to his site.

He's a great guy with some amazing stories to tell, check it out.

http://www.surfcasting.com/

[nitestrikes]

There is nothing wrong with with either of those guys. I love that video, it's over the top. What about our freedom of expression? They are living their lives to the fullest and if they died tomorrow they would prob have no regrets.

[DarkSkies]

Totally sick. The guy in the video is funny with his comments. He sounds a little psycho, I liked it.

Someone recently mentioned that some were offended by their attitudes. The last I checked, living in the US gives you freedom to have an attitude.

None of that stuff matters to me, all that counts is that they love fishing. Blasko might look like a character from a Steven King movie but he's a helluva fisherman. I fished with him and would fish with him again anytime.

I got news for fishermen out there, there are characters that are a lot less friendly than these 2, especially if you mug their spot at night.

So to Melnyk and Blasko. They're doing it their way, and don't care if people like it or not. Effumall!

I ran into Frank Blasko Sat night. He came down to bust ballz, hang and fish with the Stripers247 crew for a while.

This is the way I described him in the report for that night:
"Blasko is actually a soft-spoken, (semi) well-mannered, and intelligent guy, despite all the internet crybabies who were offended by his awesome language in the skishing documentary...."

We talked about the controversy generated by his comments in that video. It amazes me that people who have never met the guy or don't know one thing about him are so willing to attack a few off the cuff comments he made. Sat night we were all involved in some great discussions, and the usual ball bustin and making fun of each other.

His response to me was the perfect sound bite, and I thought I would share it here. I got permission to post this. It's not a direct quote, I'm paraphrasing what he said. I hope I can do what he said justice, as his response seemed well-thought out, mature, reasonable, and logical to me...





"I skish because it's something I like to do and gravitated to it because of the solitude, the experience, and the challenge. I really like it, but whether someone approves of me doing it, or how I do it, has no bearing on my life.

I thought about going on to that thread and addressing some of the judgements people made about me. Then I re-thought it and said: "Why bother?". The comments I made were made in the moment, one brief segment of what turned out to be a good documentary trailer.

That's what documentaries are supposed to be about, capturing the essence of the experience, without trying to polish that experience for commercial appeal. I think my friend did a good job shooting that footage. Anyone who knows me knows how I am, and how helpful I have been to guys out there. That's really all that matters, and that I'm happy doing what I do."





Well-said, Frank.
Best wishes for the 2010 season, nice to run into ya again.

[plugcrazy]

These guys are psycho!

[baitstealer]

awesome no way I would ever try that.

[DarkSkies]

Let me go on record as saying that "those guys" who swim out to rocks get all the respect in the world in my book. Whether we're talking about Melnyk and Frank Blasko, any of the other hardcore Montauk guys.

Or the guys who do it in other places, like Gunny aka Stripercoast1, Jake Freeman, anyone else who's insane enough to do it.

Someone recently mentioned that some were offended by their attitudes. The last I checked, living in the US gives you freedom to have an attitude.

None of that stuff matters to me, all that counts is that they love fishing. Blasko might look like a character from a Steven King movie but he's a helluva fisherman. I fished with him and would fish with him again anytime.

Melnyk is an icon in the fishing community as well. Some call him crazy, some say he has a death wish. Some think he's rude. Most of the guys who really know Paul will tell you that he will talk to anyone about the thing he loves most, skishing.

I got news for fishermen out there, there are characters that are a lot less friendly than these 2, especially if you mug their spot at night.

So to Melnyk and Blasko. They're doing it their way, and don't care if people like it or not. Effumall!

Thought some would like to see the skishermen videos again.
Frank and Paul






The trailer....dedicated to the exploits of Paul and Frank....
Warning, graphic language...if you are easily offended, don't watch......