Flying the Skunk

By Jon Kitchen (only guy in photo)

In the early 1980s, my wife introduced me to Tim Mazol, the husband of her friend (and teacher). Tim and I instantly found that we had very much in common. We were both honing our skills as archery hunters, competitive archery tournament shooters, turkey hunters, trout fisherman, and any other activity that would fill in the gaps between seasons in North Central Pennsylvania. Since our significant others had a passion for the water and sun, and Tim’s parents owned a place at Rehoboth Beach, we decided to add saltwater fishing to our resumes.

The Mazol family happened to own a fishing boat that was perfect for drifting around the Delaware Bay. Tim and I had always been good talkers, so we headed to the local tackle shop to find out the hot baits for the current fishing conditions. With gear, bait, and cooler in place, we pushed off from the Lewes public launch. A short time later we arrived at Brown Shoal in the Delaware Bay. The anticipation was high, but after twelve hours of drifting we returned to the dock empty handed.

Always the optimists, we decided to regroup to try one more trip. We found that some other boats were catching fish. In search of better local knowledge, we talked to more fisherman and more tackle shops. Now with more secret baits, and some general directions to fish hot spots, we set out from same launch the following day. Eleven sunny and hot hours later we returned to the dock with the same result – the SKUNK was born.

Tim and I joked about occasionally getting skunked over the next 25 years, but deep inside we both took it very hard. After our annual fishing trip in June 2007, Tim presented me with a gift of a skunk flag to fly from my outriggers - the SKUNK now had a face. I laughed it off at first, but I later tossed it in the trash in protest. Prior to taking the trash to the curb, I retrieved the gift knowing that one day I would find a use for it.

In June 2009, I was unable to control my enthusiasm for the coming tuna season. I started fishing before the fish arrived in my area. As a result... you guessed it...I had several consecutive SKUNKS. Although I refused to fly the flag (hidden in my electronics box), my lack of success was a constant and painful reminder of it's hiding place.

On June 15th 2009, Tim, his daughter Jen, and her husband Jason accompanied me to the Ham Bone. Tim took the helm, while I deployed the baits. After setting the last rod, I looked up to the east to see the sky full of birds. After trolling for a total of 8 minutes, we hooked our first two bluefin of 2009. Jason's fish was the first one to the boat, so it was gaffed and placed on ice. Jen's fish, being tail-wrapped, took a bit longer and was released.

During the celebration, I dug through my electronics box to find a tuna flag to fly upright, signifying the bluefin in the canyon bag. A second tuna flag fell to the floor, so it was hung up-side-down to signify the released bluefin Finally, the SKUNK flag was hung up-side-down to signify releasing the SKUNK from my boat - the SKUNK now had a place.