THE LES WHITTEN FISHING TEAM
Inshore - Bluefish Trip
Capt. John Meyer put 'em on them. Caught Blues up to 18 lbs. and several Skipjacks. Looks like they had a good time.
We'd like to thank Capt. John for helping us out, he and Capt. Roger Meekins have joined the rotation. Both are excellent captains. Thanks for all your emails expressing your best wishes and support for Capt. Rick. I'm not sure what is hurting him more, his back or his lack of fishing.
6 BIG clicks to our mate, Jack! He finally took a picture with a fish in it! Hopefully, the website will be back on track with daily pictures, since he finally mastered pressing a button. (We can't help but love him though...)
Our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Capt. Billy Verbanas of the Reelistic, out of Indian River, DE. (about 30 miles up the beach). Capt. Billy was considered as one of the greatest fisherman on the east coast. Some of you, may have heard about his death on the Paul Harvey News. A true legend. Even in death, his legend will continue. Below is the chilling account of his death, that was sent to us.
...I have been contacted by one of the men that were on the boat the
night
Bill Verbanas died. He was hoping to talk to someone about the event,
especially if it would help the family.
My name is Nate Beiler and this was the first time I had ever gone on
a shark fishing trip. My friends had all chartered Captain Billy before and told me he was the best. On the way out Captain Billy cooked us a Tuna platter and I thought that this guy was really cool. He explained all that was going on and how to handle things. We started catching blue fish almost right away and we caught about 30
to 40 of them. We then went further out and about 3:30 to 4:00 we hooked up to a 60 Lb Tuna and we caught some Dolphin. A little later we caught a 200 Lb Blue Shark.
It was about 11:00 PM when we hooked into the big Mako. The fight
lasted a while and then on the second run the Mako hit the boat. It was then that I realized the awesome power of these sharks. All the time Captain Billy was telling us how strong these sharks are and how careful you must be. He handed me the gun in preparation of the third run. Billy said it's blowing up and we have to get out of here. Captain Billy was telling me that these sharks can pull a man right out of the boat. On the third run to the boat Captain Billy wired the beast, it lifted it's head and shook it and took off with Billy. I thought he just said this and it's happening, this can't be
real. Captain Billy sufaced about 150 to 200 feet from the boat and he
hollered to Captain Chris "Start the motors". The wind was howling and
Captain Chris jockeyed the boat near to Billy and we threw the life ring to him but it just blew away. At that point my friend Mike stripped his clothes and dove into the water with no regard to his own safety or thoughts of the shark nearby. The seas were now 7 to 8 feet and we saw Billy watching when his head just went under. Mike had him within seconds and we hauled him into
the boat and began CPR. All six of us took turns pumping , for two hours we never gave up.
The Coast Guard helocopter arrived overhead with wind howling they
dropped a basket and lowered an aircrewman toward the boat. I think the chopper lurched and the boat lurched but whatever happened the aircrewman was slammed hard against the bridge making a horrible noise. They raised him back to the chopper and took off. The second chopper arrived and we retrieved the basket, they dropped a rope and we attached it to the basket. With all of us holding the basket above our heads so it wouldn't hit anything with Captain Billy in it, the chopper raised him up and took off.
Suddenly the silence was deafening! It was a long silent ride back to
port. It was a long drive back to Pa. There is no news up here about
this.I
am back to work the next day as if nothing happened and I can't
concentrate.
This is one night that I will never forget. How is the Coast Guard
Aircrewman
and please tell Captain Chris and Billy's family that they are in our
prayers.
The Aircrewman is being released from the Hospital on Thursday July
11. He
is recuperating from a broken collar bone and a fractured rib. The Chief of Atlantic City Eastern Shore Group sincerely appreciated the concern and was very thankful that people had inquired about his welfare. "We risk our lives to save lives and appreciate it when we hear from them".
A note from a family friend:
I wanted to let everyone know that it was a tragic accident. Capt.
Billy died from accidental drowning. There was no, I repeat NO heart trouble. I
was at the Verbanas house when the call came in. Please keep on praying for The family and Chris.
Billy & family belonged to Resurrection Parish in Newark, DE. The info
on the service has been posted on the cafe locale forum. Sunday at 6pm
viewing at Doherty Funeral Homes (302) 999-8277 3200 Limestone Rd. Wilmington, DE and the mass is 10 am on monday at St John the beloved on miltown rd. an account is set up at Wilmington Trust in the name of
"funds for capt
billys kids".
NOTE: Capt. Billy left behind six children, ages 9 months to 10 years.
