Captain Gray,
I wanted to thank you once again for the Best Offshore Experience of my life.
I have never ever had a Captain try so hard to meet my every desire, and that you did. In addition, I wish that I had invested in Shimano before you purchased your equipment, it looked like you had $50,000 in new rod and reels alone.
My original goal for the trip was to fight a Mako shark. Never would I expect would we bring up and play for thirty minutes with a 17 foot, over 1000 pound monster Mako. I have videos that I will send you under separate email. You letting us catch and fight and bring onboard a 500 pound hammerhead shark so that we could take good pictures was OVER THE TOP. And we got to release it back into the sea unharmed.
As offcatch, I additionally caught the largest Wahoo I had ever seen, the largest Amberjack I had ever caught, the largest King Mackerel I had ever seen, at least 10 blackfin sharks, 50 or more blackfin tuna, 50 or more Bonita in the process. (Did I mention that on my last outing with you I caught the 9th biggest Tripletail that has ever been caught in Louisiana)
We left the dock an hour before the other charters and returned an hour later. To add icing on the cake, your deck hand, One Eyed Ed, is a Captain himself and what a job he did. If only you had let him blind gaff the monster Mako, we either would have been the cock of the dock for years to come, or would have met our Maker that very day. That shark was almost worth the risk.
I have never before gone on a trip where the Captain was more excited about the trip and the catch than I was. I am a fanatic myself and you make me seem calm. I guess that is because you love to fish and do it because you want to.
Most other offshore trips I have been on, the Captain seemed like he was on autopilot, like driving a bus, wanting to make the daily catch and get back to the dock. They appeared to be there because that is what it took to make their boat payment and provide for their family. Rarely am I on trips where I am allowed to catch anything that I want to , be it a shark or AJ, especially if we were on a tuna trip or swordfish trip....
I can't say enough about what a special fishery that you have in Venice, Louisiana both inshore and offshore.
You can count on it, I will be back and soon. I want to catch my Mako, I want to experience the world class Wahoo bite in February and I want to catch one of those monster Swordfish. I would like to catch Yellowfin on topwater and with suspended baitfish over the top of the water with a kite.
Thank you for making this trip something that I will never forget.I would be pleased to give you an unconditional reference and to talk to any prospective customer that you need me to.
Mark McMillan
979.268.7447
mmcmillan@genemco.com