A Pink Flamingo for Thanksgiving - A
True Fishing Story by Chuck Handy
Photo L-R: Ross “Flash” Clark - Chuck Handy – Capt. Ron Hamlin
A lot of strange and wonderful things happen out there on
the ocean and this is a true story about an event that occurred when I was
working for Captain Ron Hamlin back in the early to mid 1980's...
Let me set the background for this story:
Ron Hamlin has always been and still is considered one of
the top billfishing captains in the world. He has caught over 25,000 billfish
in his career and is still setting records to this day in his homeport in
At this time Ron was still in what I call his “Big Fish”
phase. While the other boats were racking up the numbers on the bank Ron was
more interested in quality over quantity. As far as he was concerned the other
boats acted like a bunch of Pelicans going round and round over the bank and
picking off the small fish. He had already caught one 1,000 pounder Blue Marlin
in this area and he wanted another. We would fish well off the bank using big
130 lb. tackle and Blue Marlin lures whereas the rest of the fleet would go
round and round the bank with light tackle and ballyhoo baits. We did succeed
in catching the biggest Blue Marlin of the year that season but this story is
not about that but about something much more spectacular... catching (and
releasing alive and well ) a Pink Flamingo. I s…t you not...
The charter guest that we had on board, a single guy, was also more interested in big fish than small so we
wandered away from the bank and the fleet in hopes of finding the Yellowfin
Tuna schools which the big Blue Marlin liked to eat off of. It was one of those
calm days offshore when it was just nice to be out there. We could have been 40
or 50 miles offshore as I recall being out of sight of the South American
mainland. We were having a few strikes on the big lures, a couple of Sailfish,
maybe a White Marlin, but nothing especially outstanding. Ronnie decided to go
up to the top of the
Ronnie shouted down from the top of the tower “Here it comes
on the right rigger!” (At this point let me just say that the view from the
tower is a much more encompassing view than the view from the deck and from
that vantage point one has the ability to see deeply into the dark blue deep
ocean waters.) Well the sound of his voice from up on the tower was like the
voice of God from above. Flash and I leapt to our feet to get ready for the
strike. Our charter guest bolted out from the salon. “Here it comes, here it comes!”
Ronnie shouted again. In the cockpit the adrenaline was pumping. Then a huge
splash occurred at the lure on the right outrigger. “It's a Pink Flamingo!” he
shouted.
A Pink Flamingo had crashed the lure from above!!! It was
not trying to eat the lure as Pink Flamingo's don't do that sort of thing. It
was an exhausted bird that had been blown far offshore from its flock by a
storm and it wanted to land on something to rest! The big Marlin lure was the
only thing it saw on that expanse of empty ocean to
land on! And this is just the beginning of the story.....
The bird was turned topsy-turvy in the water as it had been
snagged by one of the large hooks. It was not severely injured but was
definitely disoriented. Ronnie turned in a big circle and slowed down and Flash
got out the dip net. The bird was just sitting on the surface like a large pink
swan or something and eyeing us suspiciously. Ronnie stopped the boat alongside
the bird and Flash scooped it up. “Wring its neck” the Captain yelled down.”Pink Flamingo's are excellent eating if you cook them
breast side down so they stay moist.” Flash was being viciously attacked by the
beak wielding bird and I reached for its neck. “Chuck, I was just joking! Belay
that last order!” Ronnie yelled down with laughter. Flash looked at me with
horror (he is a bird lover) and said “You would have done it, wouldn't you? You
would have wrung its neck!” “Of course”, I replied, “It's nearly Thanksgiving,
after all!”
The 4 foot tall Pink Flamingo took up quarters on our
cockpit deck after being released from the dip net. We became accustomed to one
another through the rest of the day. Flash and I would move to one side of the
cockpit to do something and the big bird would move to the other side. We would
cut up bait and crumble crackers and throw it on the teakwood cockpit sole for
the bird and it would ignore our offerings of food. But Ronnie didn't ignore
it... “If you guys so much as get one stain on that teak deck I will have you
scrubbing the whole cockpit with a toothbrush” he yelled down from the fly
bridge. He was joking again, I think.
If any of you have been around professional guides or
fishermen you know that they remain in radio contact all day long bragging and
telling lies to one another to pass the time of day. Captains will report their
catches to one another because everyday is like a mini-tournament to them, each
one hoping to out fish the other. Ronnie got on the radio and broadcast to the
fleet that he had just put one in the boat. Now, if Ronnie said he put “one in
the boat” the fleet was very interested indeed because everyone knew that we
were fishing for Granders (to the uninitiated that means a fish over one
thousand pounds). “No” he said, “It's not a Grander, it's a Pink Flamingo!” The
radio went silent for several seconds then another Captain came on and said
“Ronnie? Are you all right? You haven't been hitting the rum this early have
you” “No. I'm sober and dead serious. We got a Pink Flamingo.” The other
Captain's just laughed it off. That Ronnie is such a jokester!
The fact of the matter was that we did have the enormous
bird in the boat!!!
All day long we were traveling at 9-10 knots, trolling speed
for Blue Marlin using plastic lures. At this speed the deck of the cockpit
remains relatively level. At the end of the day we picked up the baits to run
home at about 25-30 knots at which speed the boat gets up on a plane and the
deck becomes inclined at a pretty good angle with the bow high and the stern
low. A big “rooster tail” forms in the boats wake about 10 feet behind the boat
and is akin to a beautiful salt water fountain.
The bird had rested now for several hours and it was ready
to part-company with us, thank you very much. With a look of determination on
its face (it really did look determined) it backed up to the companionway
doors. It shuffled its feet a couple of times and then ran downhill towards the
transom and flapped its wings. Unfortunately it did not get much lift. It
crashed into the back of the boat in a heap. It was not hurt. It gathered
itself together and backed up again to the companionway this time more
determined than ever to leave us. With a great flapping of wings and
accelerating as much as it could in the ten feet of deck it tried again... It
gained altitude... It looked as though it might make it... But,
no... It's feet caught on the edge of the covering board and it tumbled
out of the boat and into the swirling white water of the propellers only to to be thrown up and out of the top of the rooster tail with
wings, legs and feathers flailing. The bird got itself together as Ron slowed
the boat and circled back for it. This time when Flash dipped it up in the net
it did not peck at him at all. It seemed thankful to be back on board.
We opened up the companionway sliding doors and let the bird
inside the salon when we approached the marina and closed the doors again
The sportfishing rigs down there that year were a really
nice collection of Merrit's, Rybovich's,
Hatteras's and the like. Beautiful and very expensive glistening fishing
machines with tall tuna towers and gorgeous brightwork.
We were all lined up at the dock side by side and stern to. As Ronnie backed
into our slip it seemed like all the Captain's, crews and charter guests from
all the other boats were there to greet us. I'm sure that they thought that we
had all gone crazy out there and more than likely needed psychological
assistance. After all, who ever heard of a marlin fisherman catching a Pink
Flamingo?
“Hey you guys... What about the Pink
Flamingo?” someone shouted as we tied off the boat. Ronnie just smiled
his famous smile as Flash casually slid open the companionway door and there,
standing and facing the crowd, was the 4 foot tall and very Pink Flamingo
looking out at them. Needless to say, everyone was blown away. We really had
caught a Pink Flamingo. It was a new world record. No, the story doesn't end
here...
We had a driver who picked us up each day to take us to and
from the boat. During the day he would take Ronnie and Flash's wife shopping.
His name was Omar and he was a very pleasant fellow. Leaving the boat after
scrubbing it down Flash, the bird lover, covered the Flamingo with a big towel,
tucked it under his arm, (they become pretty small once you fold their legs
underneath them) and slid into the front passenger seat next to Omar. “How'd
you guys do today?” he asked. “Pretty slow day, Omar, but we did catch a Pink
Flamingo.” Omar laughed. “You guys are very funny” he said. At which point
Flash lifted the towel off the bird's head and it extended its neck and pecked
Omar on the shoulder. Then it was our turn to laugh as Omar shrieked.
Coming back to our rented villa after a hard day of fishing
the women always had a nice dinner prepared for us. Flash had entered the back
kitchen of the villa and left the bird in there without showing it to the
girls. At the dinner table we were asked about the days fishing and Ronnie said
that we had had a slow day but that we did catch a Pink Flamingo. Being used to
our b.s. the girls just laughed
it off and we continued on with dinner. Then Flash's wife walked back to the
back kitchen to get something or other . When she
opened the door, there looking at her almost face to face was the giant bird.
She screamed. We laughed.
The next morning Ronnie was out in the yard very early with
the hose making puddles in the lawn for the bird to stick its beak in. The bird
seemed appreciative but didn't stay around for long. It flew away that morning
and we hope it found its friends and family.
Happy Thanksgiving!