Fishin 23'

I was unsure what I could do on Tuesday to fulfill my work requirement since I had already gone fishing and put the boats in the water at home. I ended up creating a montage from our fishing trips with Jordan, for him to post on his Instagram. I used editing software to make a one-and-a-half-minute video. It was really fun to make, so when I finished the first one, I threw together a similar one for our presentation at express fest. Jordan posted the first video and was satisfied with the quality of it. When I wrapped up it was time for me to catch the ferry to get back to school. In total, I worked 1 hour on Tuesday. 

On Monday, my dad tasked me with helping him and his business partner to put our two boats in the water. It was very reminiscent of the work we did with Jordan. First, we had to pick up the trailer across town and then bring each boat from the boatyard. I wasn't really needed until we got the boat to the water, which is when I got in the boat as my dad and his friend strategically reversed the trailer. I then drove our boat from the boat ramp to our slip and repeated the process with the other boat. My dad and his friend probably could have done it without me but it was very fun to briefly drive the boats. In total, I worked 1:30 hours today.

We wrapped up working with Jordan on Thursday, though we each continued our projects at home. After staying with Jackson in Marblehead, I went home on Sunday. I was unsure how to continue to fulfill hours for my project, so I watched a couple videos of blue marlin fishing tournaments in Florida. They were very cool videos and their trolling techniques looked very similar to the ones we used. Since I only got one hour of work, I ended up fishing with my friends off the pier at home around sunset. We were just going for scup by dropping lures to the bottom. Unsurprisingly we were unsuccessful because piers are some of the hardest spots to fish. In total, I only worked 2 hours today.

  Second Weekly Reflection We started this week off nicely by fishing with Jordan on Monday. We left the house early, and we were out on the water by 8:30, and once again, we practiced trolling until we reached deeper waters. After the first few fishing trips, Jordan emphasized the filming and social media aspects during this trip. We were intentional about getting good shots of Jordan's sponsored items, like filming the jig dropping into the water or getting a photo of the rod bending with a fish on. It was fun to branch out and switch between filming and fishing, and it was nice to see that our clips were good enough for Jordan to post on his business Instagram account. It was a slow day, and ultimately I only caught one small Benita, and Jordan caught a large Blackfin Tuna. When we returned to his house, we cleaned the boat while he cut up some tuna for us to take home. That night we made tuna sashimi and seared tuna sandwiches with the fresh tuna.  On Tuesday, Mark was unlucky

 Today we met Jordan at 8:00 am and went fishing. The conditions were perfect, with no wind, and it took us just a couple of minutes to get 5 miles offshore. We practiced slow pitch jigging again, and our improvement from day one was significant from when we initially tried it. The wind from the night before had pushed all the sand and sediment offshore, so offshore fishing became far more complex. We tried all the way from 130-foot depth to 700-foot depth, and ultimately we didn't catch anything. When we returned to the house, we cleaned Jordan's boat one last time and debriefed the work we did for him. In total, we worked 6 hours today.

Once again, we met Jordan at his house around 8:30 am and quickly headed to the docks. We brought frozen bags of Benita and Tuna and got to fileting them on the stand at the pier. It was surprisingly tricky because we had to cut it a certain way. If we didn't get an even strip or cut against the grain, it was considered crappy bait, and we'd have to throw it in the water. Locals were fishing off the docks, so it was fun to chum up the waters and watch them try to catch stuff. Eventually, someone fishing at the docks hooked a massive tarpon and handed Mark the rod, though it quickly got away. In total, we worked 3.5 hours today.

 On Tuesday, we all met Jordan at 8:00 am, though we quickly split up. Mark lost rock paper scissors and was assigned to cut the metal from chainlink fences (so they could fit in the dumpster), clean the boat, and salvage some old cushioning pieces from the boat while Jackon and I ran errands with Jordan. First, we went to a reel repair company to service his Accurate reels. Next, we went to a high-end tackle store to look around, and Jordan spoke with a company representative about hosting one of the monthly seminars. Lastly, we went to Costco to get Gatorade and water, as well as a pizza for lunch. When we got back to the house, we took down a rotting tree right next to Jordan's driveway and rigged a couple of rods before enjoying the pizza. In total, we worked 5 hours today.

We woke up early today in order to make breakfast before we met Jordan at 8:00 am to go fishing. By 8:30 we were out on the water, and we started trolling as we cruised to deeper waters. We really prioritized filming for Jordan today, especially making sure to catch his sponsors in the videos. We got to a depth of around 750 feet, or roughly 6 miles from shore. We all tried different methods, having Jackson and Mark cast on the surface for Mahi while Jordan aimed toward bottom for gold tidal and I jigged in the middle for anything. It was slow and in 5 hours I only caught one small Benita and Jordan caught a large blackfin. We got back to Jordan's house and cleaned his boat while he cut up some tuna for us to take home. In total, we worked 7 hours today.

  Weekly Reflection We arrived last Sunday remarkably unaware of what the week ahead had in store for us. When communicating with Jordan, we talked about doing film work and smaller, more tedious tasks like cleaning rods or the boat; however, we’ve done so much more. On the first day, we met Jordan early and were treated to a morning of fishing . He introduced us all to a new form of fishing called slow-pitch jigging. We practiced slow-pitch jigging by putting our hands next to the reel and our elbows on the opposite side of the rod for support, then we pulled the line up and let it flutter down in a similar motion to fly fishing. The fishing was slow, but we ultimately caught three king mackerel. After fishing, we went to home depot with Jordan to gather the supplies to build concrete ramps and move water and electrical closer to the boat. We dug an area for the ramps and set concrete, with dirt evenly surrounding it, and steel pieces to provide support. It was enjoyable and valuable

We slept in and met Jordan at 9:00 am this morning. We quickly got to work taking off the reels from all of his rods to clean them. We used wipes to remove salts and used oils to cause the reel to spin better. After cleaning one rod, I joined Jordan in his kitchen to replace the faucet and learn about basic plumbing. The appliances were old which caused us to face one problem after another. After Jordan and I finished, we helped Mark and Jackson finish cleaning the rods before going over a plan for tomorrow's fishing. In total, we worked 4.5 hours today. 

Today we left early to meet Jordan at 6:15 to go fishing. We trolled for Mahi (also known as dolphin) for about 4 hours though we only caught one, and Jordan reeled it in. It was sunny, but the water was choppy, and the trolling became a little tedious after a couple of hours. We arrived around 10:30 and quickly cleaned off the boat while Jordan picked up his daughter. When we finished, we headed to the beach for a couple of hours with Jordan and his daughter. He had us clean up the trash on the beach for a bit, and afterward, we threw the football around. In total, we worked 8:30 hours today.

This morning, we woke up early to prepare fruit bowls before leaving for Jordan's house at 7:30. We quickly got to work, stripping nails from the wood that we got at his ex-wife's deck a couple of days ago. For the nails or screws that couldn't be removed by hammer, we would use a metal grinder to cut them off. Jordan built a small 8 x 6-foot deck, piece by piece, as we gave him clean strips of wood to use. While we removed nails from the wood, Jackson dug a small hole to move the electrical box closer to the boat. We added piping for water and electricity, using plumbers' glue to attach the pieces. After we finished work outside, we went into the garage to learn about different knots. In total, we worked 5 hours today.

We started off early today, at 5:45 am, and met at Jordan's house to go fishing. We got his boat in the water and left the dock by 6:00, admiring the 50 million-dollar waterfront houses as we left the inlet. For the first hour, we trolled for wahu as we slowly cruised to deep enough waters for tuna at 320-500 feet. We jigged for tuna; Mark and I both caught an adolescent-sized fish, and Jordan caught an adolescent and medium-sized fish. We returned around 12:00 and thoroughly cleaned the boat while Jordan attended a quick meeting. When he returned, he taught us how to filet a fish, and he eventually cut the tuna into raw cubes of sashimi for us to try. He also showed us how to sear it over the stovetop and recipes for cooking it. In total, we worked 8.5 hours today.

 We had a little bit of a sleep-in today and met Jordan at 8:00, ready to take apart a wooden porch. We needed to remove a 16 x 16' porch at his ex-wife's house, so we could get wood to build a platform next to his boat ramp. It required us to cut through the wood and hammer it off piece by piece, and repeat the process. The process was very long and tedious, and ultimately it took us three hours to remove the porch.  We brought the wood back to Jordan's house, and neatly laid it out in his backyard so we could be ready to go tomorrow. We took a break and returned to house his house later, so we could rig the rods for our fishing trip tomorrow. Afterward, we went over the itinerary for fishing tomorrow, making it clear what we will fish for, and what rods we plan to use. In total, we worked 7.5 hours today.

We woke up early again today at 5:30 am and sent Jackson out fishing with Mike and his friend at 6:30 am. Before meeting with Jordan today, Mark and I stopped for breakfast at Krispy Kreme. Jackson fished for mahi and tuna from 6:30 to 11:15, while Mark and I returned to home depot with Jordan to get more concrete. We spent two hours mixing and pouring concrete in the ramp frames we set up yesterday so that his boat could easily access its platform. We returned the excess concrete and a 2 x 4 at home depot and then stopped by the docks to pick Jackson up. On the way home, Jordan bought us pizza for lunch, and we planned what to do tomorrow. We worked 7:00 hours today, bringing our total to 15 hours and 30 minutes.

After starting with a challenging wake-up around 5:15, we made a quick breakfast and drove to Jordan, our mentor's house. We arrived around 6:15 and had a debrief of what the week ahead would look like. By 7:00 am we headed towards the docks to fish with Jordan on his friend Mike's boat, quickly heading offshore staying in between a depth of 150 to 500 feet. We learned how to fish by slow-pitch jigging, pulling the line up, and letting it flutter down in a similar motion to fly fishing. We caught two king macroll before heading inshore at 11:00. When we arrived inshore, we returned to Jordan's house to create a list for home improvement work. At home depot, we got conduit, PVC pipes, and concrete; we then returned to Jordan's to lay the setting for two concrete ramps, so he could properly put his boat in his backyard, which took us three, a couple of hours. In total, we worked 8:30 hours today.