Subject: a few days reliving old haunts...............the story of Milton "Sam" Jennings

Some months ago I had the opportunity to spend a week or so visiting ol’ colleagues back in a place that is very dear to my heart. A place where years of my life's best memories still reside....................a place where blue marlin plague everyone’s thoughts and has corrupted the minds of many. Some call it the “Rock” others refer to its more familiar name, St. Thomas, nonetheless I used to call it home.

It was, and still is, a place where many would come to hide from reality, lots of interesting folks on this rock for sure. Millionaires, social fugitives, alcoholics, and fisherman to name a few. I witnessed many a man crawl into the bottle to find what they were looking for, while others kept to their game and their eyes on the spread waiting for the next bite. To many, the booze or the marlin numbed the mind temporarily which allowed for the momentary lapse in life’s responsibilities…………….as such it created a rather addicting atmosphere.

I logged quite a few fish while fishing those few years, some truly remarkable fishing days as well………….but it was the always the touchy feely stuff that I missed most, the type of stuff you always took for granted every day until it was no more. It is these things that I enjoy most during my trips back.

the sunrises………………………………….

the sunsets…………………….

idling away from Red Hook with lots of hope………………………………….

the piercing sound of the turbo’s all wound up as we embarked on our daily journey……………………….

the uninhabitable landscape of the barrier islands as they disappear……………….

the salt spray that seemingly covers everything on the lovely rides out to the North Drop……………………

the methodical surges and smoke of the bridge teasers………………………………..

the tackle……some of which is tried and tested with each bill mark telling a unique story………………………….

and of course the fish………….they are always the unexpected bonus with no bite, no battle, no fish ever the same. When folks ask about blue marlin fishing I have never led them astray. It is 99% boring 99% percent of the time…………….but that 1% of excitement is just enough to ruin you for life. You’ll always be looking forward to the next bite no matter how long it might take but sometimes waiting for a blue marlin bite will humble the most patient of men.

and as your eyelids proceed to get heavier and your mind drifts off, the sudden sound of LEFT BRIDGE TEASER!!!!..................hyper speeds you back to reality

Then one of the world’s most unpretentious blue marlin fisherman moves to the transom like he has done for over the last 3 decades. I have found in life there are a few folks in the crowd that never could extinguish the fire, a few that never fit the mold, a few that never cared about what people thought, everything came second to the next blue marlin bite. I had the good fortune of spending two years of my life working with such a man and I still remember some our first days like they were yesterday. The Milton “Sam” Jennings I know is a soft spoken man of superior humor and while his seasoned body leads the uneducated to believe he is a mere marlin hopeful, he is king of his domain, and it just so happens that his domain resides some 20 miles North of St. Thomas in the deep blue.

Sam, yeah he is a legend among the sportfishing community which you commonly heard people grumble about but when I started fishing I barely knew of him and only saw an older fragile man that methodically made his way down the dock.  I only made this misconception once the very first time we were introduced on the transom of his sportfish, because when this ol’ Florida Cracker shakes your hand bones break. No shit……….

You’ll find in this closely knit group of alcoholics & marlin fanatics, especially those new to the fishery, egos are large……………..and while Sam was certainly proud, he never spoke once of past days and always looked to the horizon through the smoggy diesel fumes for the next bite because that is all that mattered to him. One would have never guessed in conversation that in 1979 he boated the largest blue marlin in the Bahamas a record that still stands some 30 years later, nor the countless 100 fish seasons logged in the Virgin Islands, the BBC wins back in the day, or that he had won the Afco blue marlin tag & release award whenever he remembered to turn in the application, or the numerous Boy Scout Tournament wins, and more significant than any other was the vague fact that presumably no other man during his life had caught as many blue marlin as him. The Sam I know is humble man.

On any given day between May and October Sam holds his office meetings in his favorite chair……………………..

At the sound of a good bite all things came second. With good bites limiting themselves to only a few occasions a season, complete commitment is mandatory to make or break a seasons numbers. And don’t let anyone fool you, not even the most unassuming man………….it’s all about the numbers on A dock where the world’s greatest blue marlin anglers and crew commingle 3 to 4 months a year.

Sam’s perseverance for the next bite is beyond anything I have ever witnessed. In his youthful age of 83 he still pushes off the dock an hour before most of the fleet and typically fishes till late in the evening. I’ll never forget one beautiful October day watching him pitch 14 blue marlin, catching 9 with one double header he reeled in from the fighting chair arm rest. Or the day he made us leave the dock with 90% chance of rain and 25 knot winds while the rest of the fleet slept in to only sit in the fighting chair in the pouring rain for 5 hours double gloved with the drag in corner at 44lbs…………only to see a presumed grander float up boat side.

And while a majority of the sportfishing community is campaigning to submit Milton “Sam” Jennings to the 2010 IGFA Hall Of Fame he is more concerned if they’re biting. Is he deserving? By comparison to the rest of the Hall of Fame he is not an extreme conservationist, nor has he donated millions, he even avoids the spotlight particularly if it disrupts any fishing plans. The Sam I know is a simple man that finds absolute pleasure in blue marlin and just as well would rather spend his last breaths in the fighting chair grabbing the spool than sitting on the dock listening to fish stories…………………….…you bet your ass he is deserving.  Now whether he decides to show up for inauguration or go fishing well that’s anybody’s guess.

Needless to say, I learned a lot about blue marlin during my time on the rock, even more about myself, and laid roots in some of the finest friendships I have. I enjoy my visits and wish they came more often but life must go on………………..

Collin (commonly referred to as  “Salad Boy” on the AYH A dock)