EP 56: Annual Tog Trip Recap: Last-Drop Tautog Drama On The Osprey

A sold-out party boat, a weird current, and a deck full of strangers who felt like old friends—this Osprey trip had a little bit of everything. We kick off with a starfish cameo and an early keeper that set the tone, then watch the day shift into a thoughtful grind as wind and swing made structure feel like a moving target. Between moves, we trade stories, compare notes, and soak in why the Osprey crew is so respected: JP’s quick decisions, mates who retie without ego, and a tone that keeps the deck calm and fun when the bite fades.

The stories that stuck are the ones you can’t script. A hard hook set sends a rod butt into its owner’s nose, the combo launches toward the drink, and a neighbor snatches it mid-fall like a shortstop. Kwa’s injured ankle hands his ticket to Billy, who promptly sticks a heavy female early and looks like the pool favorite for hours. As the current twists, we adapt: heavier jigs, stingers, and long drops under the stern to find the structure again. 

Last drop. Kristen dials in a two-ounce boxing-glove jig on a parabolic rod, tweaks drag after a pulled hook, and leans into a bite that folds the rod. The fight is clean, the net quick, and the fish a thick male that looks every bit the spoiler. On a rocking deck with bled fish and digital scales, ounces decide the pool. Billy edges it, smiles wide, and does the classiest thing—slips Kristen a hundred for a fish that could have gone either way, then tips the mates hard. That’s the magic: a boat where generosity travels as fast as the jokes.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And Trip Setup
• 1:09 Sponsors And Community Shoutouts
• 2:57 Guests Join And Audio Hiccups
• 4:15 Selling Out The Boat And Vibes
• 7:00 Early Action: Starfish And First Fish
• 11:15 Flying Rod, Bloody Nose, Quick Save
• 15:20 Billy’s Big Fish And Kwa’s Ticket Twist
• 18:30 Wind, Current, And The Grind
• 22:30 Osprey Crew Praise And Positivity
• 26:00 The Last-Drop Hookup
• 29:30 Ounces Decide The Pool
• 32:30 Gratitude, Tips, And Next Trip Tease

Transcript

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 0:00

Anything I can say is kudos to the environment of people who can be competitive but still be absolutely professional and friendly and just nice people to hang with. There's a cool hang, you know.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 0:17

Hello and welcome back to the Fat Dad Fishing Show. My name is Rich Natoli, your regular host. Tonight we're going to be talking about the recap of the annual TOG fishing trip on the Osprey, New Jersey. And we're going to have Scotty Sevens on, Kristen McKee back on, uh who created quite a bit of drama at the end of the day yesterday. So we're going to talk about that. I'm going to hit real quick. Look, this is going to be a quick hit show, right? We're not going to do in-depth stuff, talk a lot about how to do things in fishing. Today's just going to be about how was it out on the water? That's it. We're not, we're probably not teaching anything. We'll probably just make fun of a bunch of people, including ourselves, and uh and just have fun. And that's it. Then we'll get everybody out of here for the Eagles game. I don't know if you can tell it's green behind me, but it's Eagles Green for the game that's coming up shortly. So I'm going to hit the sponsors real quick and then we're going to jump right into this one. Uh, gotta start off with great day outfitters. Uh, Paul, who was on the trip yesterday, uh, had to make a quick exit because he had a uh dinner and a show that he had to get home to get uh changed, showered, and out for. Uh, but Paul was good seeing the out on the boat. Great day outfitter for all your kayaking needs, Radio Road in Tuckerton, New Jersey, new kayaks, used kayaks, kayak accessories, my home shop should be yours, one of the top-selling kayak shops in the entire region. So uh check them out. Quad State Tune Kevin Driscoll was also on the trip yesterday, uh, along with a whole bunch of people that came along with him. Um, if you're looking for a tune for a Toyota truck, Tacoma Tundra, 4Runner, Lexus, I think it's what, 470, I don't know, Lexus 460 and 470, these engine tunes will work for your trucks, for your SUVs, talk about more horsepower, torque, better mileage, better shifting. Uh and and if you're towing a a boat, just really and you have a Toyota really think about these, call Kevin, he'll talk you through it 484-63-35975. And if you don't need it, he'll just flat out tell you, yeah, you don't need it. It's not gonna help, it's not gonna get you what you want. Then the last one, if you want to buy or sell real estate in southeastern Pennsylvania, I'm your guy. Please reach out. Don't think I'm too busy. I am busy, but I'm not too busy, especially for the fishing family and the fat dad family. So give me a call, give me an email, give me a text, 267-270-1145. And as I say that, let me just double check. My phone is on silent. And with that said, we are going to bring on first Kristen Philly Girl Fishing.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 2:57

Good to see you again.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 2:58

And then we have Scotty Sevens back on. Scotty, good to see you, man.

Capt. Scotty Sevins: 3:03

What's going on, guys?

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 3:05

It was it was fun. I'm gonna, you know what, I'm gonna ask real quick for the chat. Is there an echo that everyone's hearing, or is it just me? So wait ten seconds and we'll see in the chat. There is an echo. Okay. Well, we're gonna battle through it because we don't know why. So why don't we do this? So, Kristen and Scotty, if you can, the three of us will mute ourselves when we're not talking, and that might help a little bit. For those that are listening to the podcast, you may notice nothing because I may be able to clean this up in post. And if that's the case, then maybe I'll even delete this section. But bear with us, guys. You're good, but Kristen's also muted. Who knows what's going on, man? We don't have time to deal with that. We're we're all exhausted. We'll worry about I'll worry about the audio later.

Speaker 1: 3:59

I'll I'm not I'm not hearing uh echo now.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 4:02

No, not now, but you never know how all these things are interacting. Yeah, so I'll just do well. Look, I'm gonna be watching the Eagles game and editing at the same time. It's all good, cool. But but we're gonna jump into this. I want to first of all say to everybody we sold that friggin' boat out yesterday. I think everybody on that boat was there because of the podcast and live stream, and it was great to meet everyone. Now, not everybody knew me, but people that know the show and heard that we were going brought a bunch of friends too. So it's not like they were all like podcast listeners or anything, but we were one big friggin' group, and everybody acted that way, and it was awesome. I had so much fun, man. Yeah, you were having fun in the back.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Oh, I I I was, I was. I was just happy to not drive, but it just felt like one big family, you know, and just the the vibe on on that boat was like that that was enough for me. I my day was already made.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 5:06

Yeah, I want to hear Kristen. Kristen was.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 5:08

I was gonna say, I definitely agree. I mean, I fished, you know, Saturday, I jumped on and filled a spot on a different boat in a different state for a charter. And it's like the the difference in jumping on and filling a spot for people you don't know versus the vibe that we had on Sunday. I didn't like I knew a good chunk of people, but a good chunk of them I didn't. And like I'm more of a like a one-on-one conversation type of girl. So, like to be able to just comfortably jump in and out of conversations, like by the end of the trip, me and Scotty and another gentleman were talking about guitars and music and basses and pedals and everything like that. So I if anything I can say is kudos to the environment of people who can be competitive but still be absolutely professional and friendly and just nice people to hang with. There's a cool hang, you know.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 5:55

Yeah, it it was. And I'll I'll say this it's weird. Like I host a podcast and a live stream, right? And my job is talking in front of people. I am not that guy that is social, I get very uncomfortable. That's one of the reasons that I asked people to introduce themselves to me because I'm very uncomfortable with that kind of stuff. So I kind of like like to to huddle, but it was great because everyone was talking to everyone. What was what I kind of am disappointed in myself for is because of the weather and because of the crew, uh, the I mean the crew on the Osprey is incredible. We'll talk about them in a minute. But JP, who's the captain, he was willing to just pick up and move. If it wasn't happening, he was picking up and moving. So by the time, like, for example, I was near the back starboard side, and as soon as he determined it wasn't great, I'm thinking, oh, maybe I'll move. He's like, pull them up, we're moving. I was like, Oh, cool. So then we go to the next job, and I just drop in the same spot. And and there was really only once where I was like had time to move, and that was only because Scotty stole my spot. I sure did, and and I ran and I took his spot, yeah, but I never made it further around. So there were actually people I really didn't even see except in the cabin between spots, but man, it was it was such a good time. I had a really good time meeting people, talking to people, and there was some crazy crap that went on around that boat at various times throughout the day. Really? You think there were some crazy things. So I'm I'm gonna ask Scotty, what was your favorite part of the day? It could be anything, it doesn't have to be anything crazy. Just what was your favorite part?

Speaker 1: 7:39

My favorite part of the day, okay, was first of all how it ended, but I'm not even gonna go there yet. However, that was my that that was that was my number one favorite part of the day. But aside from that, it was just like my whole season has just been running and gunning and nonstop moving. If I if I'm not on the water, I'm stressing to get bait. Like it's just been nonstop moving. And this was the first time that I was on a boat where I could just relax and I didn't have to be hyper focused on the next move. And you know, just getting to laugh and talk with people and spend time with people that again, I think I put it in my post that you ultimately probably would never have gotten to a chance to spend time with. You know what I mean? Yeah that that that truly was like my my day was made from the start because of all that.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 8:40

Yeah, and I I I agree with that. Kristen, how about you? What was your favorite part? Don't ruin the end of the day.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 8:47

Yeah, not not even in the end of the day. I think that again, I think that would say probably I'm gonna go back to that music conversation because to me, just like you know, Scotty alluded to, there's a whole bunch of people that I probably would never cross paths with in in in life if it weren't for me being on this boat. And I think that there's just so many different fishing is one of those hobbies that allows you to come together with one, you know, starting with general purpose and then you you never know how you're gonna connect on other levels. So, you know, as someone who works from home for all these years, like this is how I get to socialize. It's it's you know, fishing and it's church and playing music. So I really enjoyed meeting some really cool people that I didn't get a chance to really get to know that well before.

Speaker 1: 9:31

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Or or you may have just known from from social media, yeah. You know, yeah.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 9:39

Yeah, there were a lot of that. I I will say that one of my favorite parts was at the very beginning. And if people remember, the last time we did this two years ago, we had a starfish caught and a lobster. And that was it for the boat. And I'm gonna share this this picture right here, the first one. I think it was like the third thing that came over the rail. Oh, wait, oh, is it there? No, let me I'm gonna skip through some of these pictures, but let me look at that picture. Starfish. Starfish was the first thing on the on the bait station. And he kept it. He kept it, but yeah, I was like, oh no, oh no, we're going starfish again. So that that kind of set the tone for the day. The no, no, no starfish today. We're we're doing better.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 10:31

Man, so last time you caught a starfish, but okay, so then that's that's progress because the keepers that we caught more than the starfish, and that makes me feel a little bit better. Yeah, there was any progress in that area.

Speaker 1: 10:42

I I caught the starfish. Do you do you have that picture?

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 10:47

Not from a couple years ago. I just had the pictures from uh I only have a few pictures from this weekend. That's it.

Speaker 1: 10:54

Yeah, the echoes back, it sounds like yeah, I think it's when Kristen's unmuted.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 11:00

Yeah, yeah. So so I only have the picture, and for some reason I couldn't get all of them uploaded. So these are just a few of them, but the starfish was funny. But I will say this the first fish that I am aware of, and it was very, very close because on the very first drop, there were two fish that came up immediately, like as soon as it hit the bottom. Kevin Driscoll actually, as far as I could tell, was and from what I heard, was the first one by seconds. So he had the first fish on the boat, and the starfish did come after that. So we already had a better start. You know, no lobsters came up the entire day. Yeah, but but it it was Kevin Driscoll that had the first fish. And one of the things that I thought was was really funny, and I don't know if he's in here right now. Oh, he is. He just he just posted about it. I'm gonna show this the flying fishing rod with our buddy Benji, crabbing and fishing, his nose hurts bad today, and there's a reason. Now, Kristen, did you see when this happened?

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 12:02

Or did you just see the all I saw was the after. So I saw I turned around when all the commotion happened. I was like, what is going on? So I'd love to hear the background.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 12:12

Scotty, you saw all this too.

Speaker 1: 12:14

I may have captured it on camera.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 12:17

Okay. All right, you you're not sure?

Speaker 1: 12:20

I'm not, I'm not sure. And and I don't I don't want I didn't want to put Ben on the spot with that.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 12:26

Oh, I'm putting Ben on the spot with that. Are you uh okay? Are you because it could because if we don't, Scotty, yeah. Well, you just see it in chat right now. Joe Bills will. Are you kidding? Ben is gonna be begging you for that footage because he's gonna post it. Okay. Um we're breaking the story right now.

Speaker 1: 12:44

Yeah, I I mean, like after that after that happened, I think I told a story of me literally almost getting my ear ripped off uh last week. Yeah, so like don't feel bad. It literally happens to everybody. I don't care how much time how good you think you are, dumb stuff happens on the water and it happens to everybody.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 13:06

Yeah, so I'll I'll set this up. So this is yeah, it's one of those things like something can go sideways really quick, no matter what. And you're thinking so earlier in the day, for full disclosure, I turned around and I saw Joe Bills on the other side, and he had his kayak float on his rod. I said, Look at that. Joe didn't even take the time to take the yellow float off.

Speaker 1: 13:26

I was I was wondering all day what that was for, in case he dropped it in the drink, maybe.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 13:31

Yeah, yeah. And then somebody said, Well, you never know, you could still drop a rod out here. I was like, Yeah, you know, you're right. I was like, maybe I should have put him on my rods. And and the next thing you know, we hear probably 10 minutes later, we hear a commotion uh right near Joe, like right next to Joe. We hear, oh my gosh, whoa, whoa! And we all turn around, we're thinking, big fish. And you see, Benji, he now, by the time we turn around, he has this rod way up in the air. JP the captain makes a really funny comment about what it looks like is going on over there. We cannot say it here, but let's just suffice it to say JP is yeah, we got you, Scotty. Let's just suffice it to say JP is hilarious and inappropriate at times. And it turns out Ben got a bite. Can you guys hear me? Yep.

Speaker 1: 14:20

Because I can't hear anybody.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 14:22

We can hear you. Scotty's gonna battle. Hold on a second, Scotty. Hold on. I gotta take him off stage. Uh Scotty, I'll bring you back in a second. So so Ben sets the hook and you know, the uh rod way up in the air and somehow loses grip on the rod. The rod now, this is a tog setup, it's probably a fairly expensive setup, and it comes out of his hand, the butt flies up because the fish is pulling down, and the butt hits him in the nose and goes flying overboard. So the rod is going overboard. Next to him is Christian Maldonado. He reaches over and catches the rod as it's going overboard, turns around, and within like a half a second has it back in in Benji's hands, and he's now fighting trying to fight the fish. I think the fish came off when all that happened. But man, we had the the rod goes flying. Benji has this knot on his nose. Like he got he clocked himself with that with that rod. But yeah, we almost had that rod overboard on just a missed hook, uh hook set that I get I'm what I'm guessing is when he said it, he set it hard, and he didn't expect the fish to be uh pulling as hard as it did because it it ripped it right out of his hands. So that's that's my guess as to to what happened there, but I will tell you that he had a nod on his nose.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 15:54

That's impressive because at least he got it back. I the one time I lost my rod over more. Yeah.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 16:04

Alright, we're good.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 16:06

But mine went over fluke fishing, and that just was just me having slime on my hands. I'm jigging, jigging, jigging, and just literally flips out. And it was my old that next setup I was telling you about that I've had for so many years. But somebody who was next to me cast it out real quick and wrapped the line around my line, because at least my stuff I usually fish light, and then we were able to get the net. Then by that time, one of the mates came, got a net, and then like scooped it up and brought it up. So it's it's possible, but it's tough. If you lose a ride, you never know.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 16:36

It is tough. I I'll tell you, I've done I've done both. I've I tend to do exactly what Benji did. So I will set, especially fluke fishing in a kayak, I will set hard all the time. People have seen the videos, I overset. And if my hand is wet, it's entirely possible if I'm not wearing gloves, and that's the only reason I wear gloves so I don't drop a rod. I will set it and drop the rod. I've had situations where I just sit there like an idiot and watch it sink. And then I've had some where I've grabbed another rod and snagged it on the way down. I think I think I've only lost one rod that way, but I've lost several rods on the kayak. And most of the time I just go into like idiot mode and I just sit there and like, huh. And then I'm thinking, oh, I should try to get it, and now it's too late. You know, it's either dive in or just watch it sink.

Speaker 1: 17:32

I'll tell you what, I've lost a couple rods in the drink myself, more than I care to publicly admit. Um one of one of my favorite ones, yeah. Long story, but I was out chasing Albies on my old boat, which had no rod holders except for the two clamp bons that was on the tow bar. You know what I mean? And it was rough. And I looked back after like five miles and it was gone. I had another one go in the drink, just just dumb, just dumb stuff. You know what I mean?

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 18:05

It happens. And and Benji's actually saying it was a good rod, it was a dark matter. So yeah, that one would have hurt. That would have hurt. So, Christian, good job, man. You you saved the day over there. And Benji did keep a really good attitude after that, and you could tell that that had to have hurt. I mean, I think it looked like he was punched in the face, like his nose was not doing well.

Speaker 1: 18:29

Yeah, he was he was quiet a lot after that. Well, but I'll I'll tell you this. I saw uh every time I look over, I I swear I saw Ben swinging on something. He was getting a lot of bites, so you know, props to Ben.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 18:46

You know, I will say that was the one time I I I put my skates on for a hot second because I just saw so much swinging over there. I said, let me let me just let me go investigate. Although I don't appreciate it because Rich blew up my spot before I even got on the boat because everybody walked up to me in the beginning, like, oh, so we gotta watch out for you. I'm like, I don't always do that, but I did have to do it just once and just investigate over there. But by the time I made it over to that side, it's when it kind of died down. I got a couple of nibbles, and then we went back to my actual home position. So for all those out there, for full disclosure, I only put skates on and went and mingled once.

Speaker 1: 19:20

So you did, you did. Um, I think I did it twice.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 19:28

Yes. I did it once because you did it to me and I didn't have a spot.

Speaker 1: 19:33

Correct. And the the first time I did it. Well, we we'll get to that part, but Bill Ackerman, he caught a very large fish right next to me.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 19:49

Yeah, let's let's show that. So this is a good story. So Kwa, everybody knows him, Tide Chaser's podcast. He was he was set to go. He's one of the first ones to sign up and he Injured his ankle like pretty bad. And you know, I've seen the picture of it, and it's like it was three times the size of his other ankle. So he's on crutches, so he couldn't go. So he texted me the day before. I don't know why he waited so long. And he's like, Do you have anyone that can take this ticket? I was like, Give me five minutes. And I called Billy first because Billy had reached out and said, I missed it. I I didn't get a ticket. Yeah. So Billy buys it. So Billy is on the boat because Kwa has has injured himself. And once you know he comes in with, and let's let's get Billy's fish on here. Right there on the left. Now, there's a little spoiler on the right. You can see Kristen, but there's Billy's fish on the left. So that's the fish Kwa should have had right there. Now, probably not. Who knows if he would have been fishing right where Billy was, but who knows if he would have been able to hook it and and land it and all that stuff. But that's Qua's fish right there. And Billy just had the biggest smile about it. He's like, I was just happy to be here. That's all he kept saying all day. But he was really happy to have that fish too. It's about I I don't remember the exact weights. I think they're around nine-pounder, right? Yeah. I think it was eight, nine pounders, something like that.

Speaker 1: 21:14

I feel like they weighed them all bled.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 21:18

They did.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Which I'm not a big fan of, but that's how they did things.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 21:24

Yeah. There there was no way around that. JP made it clear, he's like, we bleed everything immediately. Yeah. If it's staying, it's bled. So he he bled it. And that was really early, though. That was one of the first fish over the board. So it was eight pounds six ounces. Eight pounds five ounces is what Billy said. So yeah. So it was it. I mean, it's tough to weigh something out on the water when you're moving with digital scales and everything.

Speaker 1: 21:50

Yeah.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 21:51

So eight and a half, just just side of eight and a half pounds. That was a nice fish. Yeah, and it was just better because he he took a picture of it and texted my call and said, thank you. So I I wanted I want to put up a couple of pictures here because again, we're we're on limited time tonight. We're not going to push into the Eagles game, but I do want to show some of these pictures. We're going to talk about Kristen's fish in a minute. You can see how those two large ones compare to each other. Female that Billy caught, and then Kristen came through with the male. We got the three keepers over there. There's my brother on the left. If you guys haven't seen what he looked like in the chat, the one always making those comments, that's him. You have Shell who's back in the corner doing doing some work. I mean, some some nice fish came over, right? And it was it was a slow day, though. It started off like gangbusters. It did.

Speaker 1: 22:56

I was getting bites every drop.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 23:00

Yep. And the last the last spot, I got zero. I think the last two, I got zero bites. There were still people that caught fish, right, Kristen? But the the vast majority of people weren't even getting tapped on those last those last two pieces. It just kind of died off and it turned very grindy through the day. But as you can see by the fish, they were they're putting us on top of them.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 23:30

Yeah, it was a weird, it was a weird current. I think even from being, I don't like when I flu fish, I normally fish about. So fishing the stern is is different for me. I pretty much only do it when it's talking. And as soon as we got to the first drop, I'm getting bites right away. Rich is making jokes like, oh, here we go. Let me go slide a little closer so I can get them on the bite. And then just like that, it was gone. Like I promised. It took like two minutes. I let them kind of fet it. I wanted to see what the bite was gonna feel like. And I went and put fresh crab on and go back down. And so we were definitely swinging. So at that point, you know, I think even JP got on on the mic, the captain got on and said, Hey, I think we kind of slid a little bit, the wind did something weird, let me readjust. So I would definitely say for me, I uh what was challenging was just how much the wind slash being at the back of the boat and the boat swinging off the anchor a little bit was tough to figure out because in my head I'm trying to almost visualize, okay, so if the boat swung to the left, so it's swinging like behind me, because I was starboard right side, then that means okay, I shipped it this way. I probably need to try and throw, you know, I'm trying to throw under the boat different angles and and move it around to try to get back to where I originally was casting in the first case.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 24:44

Yeah, well, and you could tell uh the wind just wasn't enough at certain times to keep us straight. You know, the current's uh pushing us out of the south, well, it's coming from the southeast. The wind is coming up from the northwest, but the wind's not doing anything. So all you had to do is look up and see how the anchor lines were getting a little slack from time to time. There was not much that he could do to keep us in that spot. So there were times where it's like great hard structure, and next thing you know, you're like, it's soft. Yeah, soft. But then the other side of the boat's like, no, this it's hard structure. And then the next thing you know, they're like, it's soft. And we're like, we're on hard structure, and there's nothing you could do about it.

Speaker 1: 25:24

Yeah, and and and it was that was it was like that for me all day. Like I swear, I would drop down, I'd be like, all right, this is great, you know, good good bottom. And then I'm looking around, seeing who's kind of getting stuck and lifting up. And then I I started, I start, I started asking around. I was asking Kristen.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 25:48

Yeah, it's it's but they I'll tell you what, we we gotta talk about the boat and the crew. Like look, the the there's a reason that we do the osprey when we do these, and it's because look, we could have had a better day. And and look, two years ago, we caught like nothing on the entire boat. Yeah, but the experience that they get, JP is a great, he's a great captain. Yeah, and I I'm gonna say, you know, and I'm gonna say that Ilya, it's the first time that I've met him as mate on the boat. That kid was all over the friggin' place. Like he's I mean, JP was making fun of him, but he was like my nephew, first time out talking. And he's by the end of the trip, a lot of it was because of Ilya. He he was cutting his own crabs, he was trimming his own crabs, he was hooking them, he was dropping it down, he's you know, he's setting the hook, he's really he's doing everything the way that you should. And I am proud to say my nephews were grinding by the end of the day. They were grinding, they were they were on that rail the entire time, pushing through that slow period. Yeah, and a lot of that goes to the mates, and then you had the other mates that were uh at the other parts of the boat, yeah.

Speaker 1: 27:01

And and Ilya just had just such an uh amazing attitude. Yeah, just he just was filled with nothing but positivity that kid. He just radiated positivity, he really did. And and I love that. I love that about people, you know, because a lot a lot of mates tend to a lot of people tend to get like an ego like in this community. And uh he he was he was just such like a fresh energy to be around, you know what I mean?

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 27:34

Yeah, and every every time he's like every time he touched a rod and you know someone snagged, he's like, What do you want me to do? I can break it, I can retie it. One hook, you want two. Usually they just slap something on and hand it back to you.

Speaker 1: 27:46

Right.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 27:47

He's like getting it all set up, he's cutting crabs. I was like, you don't need to do that, man.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 27:52

Yeah, yeah. I think you hit the nail on the head. He did like again the crew is what keeps me coming back. And I know we're gonna get to that at the end, but like it's been four years coming for me going on this boat when I first started learning how to talk, because there wasn't that many party boats that we knew back then that like really were talking that mean the season. A lot of folks kinda wait, like they like to do the strike bass stuff a little bit longer until it gets better in December. And so, like, yeah, it's been every time it's a j like in my head, I'm like, I don't think these guys think I can really talk fish because like I tell them how I go all these other states, and I'm catching, you know, a seven-pounder here, eight-pounder here, nine-pounder here, and every time I get on the aspirate, I'm like, a little shrimp, a little 15-incher, but the short. So it was it was fun to actually kind of finally, finally succeed on his boat when I had such a great experience with the crew and the captain. And again, this he comes down there, cracks jokes next year, you know, brings the dogs down, like you know, I always joke like it is my little emotional support animals keeping me entertained at the rail. So it's awesome that you have that. And the not a lot of boats do that. I will say that. So that's I do like being on the aspect for sure.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 29:04

There were quite a lot of discussions in the cabin about that and comparing to some other boats where captains are high and the mates are yelling at people. That's not most boats. I'm just saying there are a couple that that have that. But that brings us, Kristen, to the drama at the end of the day. And I'll just set it up by saying this Billy's fish was caught first thing in the morning, like first spot. And as soon as it came in, everyone's saying, That's probably the pole fish. I said, Billy, did you even enter the pole? He's like, Yeah, of course. So he's thinking all day, he's not saying anything, he's very quiet and very humble about this fish. And he's very quiet, and he get through, and the captain says, Last drop before we head back. And I'm getting nothing. Scotty, you're not gonna even get my tap.

Speaker 1: 29:56

Most people, but I I did move. I did move, and I chose the spot.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 30:03

Yeah, stole my spot, so I wasn't getting anything in your spot. You weren't getting anything in mine, but right next to mine was Kristen.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 30:12

Yeah.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 30:13

Kristen, you want to take over the story at this point?

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 30:15

Sure, sure. So this is where I mean, anybody who knows me, I really actually struggle with attention span by the end of a fishing trip, regardless of what's going on. Like, you know, it's a especially if it's a slow, a slow time. So I'm sitting here like trying to kind of pump myself up, like, all right, you know, this was day two for me, so I was already tired. And I had noticed the current was, you know, going this crazy, like, sharp angle, kind of under the boat. And you know, at this point, I had gotten so many stags from the boat swinging that like line had to be like I'm re-tying connected lines to my braids to my leaders, all that kind of stuff. So I literally had this one rod like left that hadn't been messed up. There was no, you know, there was still line on it, I saw everything set up. So I said, Well, I'm just gonna throw this out and try the jig because at the end of the day, I'd rather get some little bites and catch shorts than nothing. So I throw the jig out, and it's like going under the stern, kind of almost coming out towards the middle of the back of the stern. And that's when I finally started feeling structure, and I would get a couple little taps. So, you know, I I got a couple little taps. I got, and this is this is the fish before that fish. And so I finally got one. I'm like, oh, okay. So, and it's also a new rod on top of that. And yes, it's also very light, which everybody knows that that's that's just how I fish, you know. I've always said it like I have some injuries and stuff like that. So for me, keeping the lightest gear possible is what's gonna keep the rod in my hand versus me putting it down and just going inside and not fishing. So hook the fish, it's it's very parabolic, the rod, and that's usually how I like to keep it because I'm a little strong. You know, I'm a big girl, so I'm a little strong. Sometimes I pop the hooks out of fish's mouth when I'm doing these hook sets. So having a parabolic bend for me gives me a little more give to kind of figure it out and make sure I'm not pulling, pulling lines. Well, I probably got this fish maybe 20-30 feet from the boat. It popped off. And I didn't have my drag set right. Again, hadn't really fished that set up for togg. So next thing I do is I loosen the drag just a little bit, test it out, and I said, All right, we make sure we have a little bit of give this time, next time it happens. So, you know, I throw the try to throw the jig in the same way. I'm literally like doing geometry in my head. Like, if I throw on this angle, it should approximately lay in there. Trying to get it. I was like hyper focusing, like people were starting to talk to me. I'm like, listen, hold on. Like, I'm trying to let me then I ended up moving back to the stern because I I almost got tangled with somebody, or I did, and then they got me out. So I ended up in the middle back of the stern. So I'm trying from that angle, and I'm like, nope, I'm not at the right spot. This isn't working. So I rotate back over to the spot I originally was in, which was kind of in because I think somebody else was in my spot, my original spot. Because it was like Shelly, me, Jimmy Rich originally. So because I did that whole switch of room and went to the back, we got all like, you know, jungle jumbled up. But whoever was fishing next to me, I went next to him and did the same thing, trying to figure out this angle of how to cast my jig under the boat on that right angle to get into the middle of the boat. So finally I started feeling a couple little taps, little nibbles, and I did have a cheater singer, but in all context, I did get the jig in the fish's mouth. But you know, I feel a couple little taps, and all of a sudden the line's gone. So I'm like, all right, that boom. I set the hook, the rival bends over. And this point, I I almost kind of like out. Like, I'm like not breathing, I'm just like in my head all of 15 minutes ago for the only, I don't know, I think I only had three or four shorts. Like, it wasn't a good day for me in project. And so I'm like, don't mess this up, don't mess this up, Chris. Don't do it, don't let this pop off. So then when it finally kind of I made sure I got it out of the structure, then it started running. So when my drag started going, I'm like, because I know I generally try to set it, it was like 20-pound test, so I kind of started like 50%. So it's probably at least like eight pounds of drag. So I'm like, all right, maybe it's the current. So now I'm like in my head, like now I'm like, all right, don't overthink this. This is it might not be a 10-pounder. You could just have the drag set real loose and just don't lose the fish. So finally it comes up the mate. I remember Elliot. I don't know if it was Elliot. Who grabbed the mate? It was the other guy.

Speaker 3: 34:30

It was the other guy, yeah. Yeah.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 34:32

I call him Jimbo. That's my homie. I he I met him four years ago, so I always tease him like, oh, I don't remember you. But uh, yeah, so he was like, You need me to get the net? And I was like, Yes. Like, I don't even think I said it very loud. Like it was like a quick, like, like head nod because I'm like not breathing and just trying to reel and get the fish up. I remember whoever was next to me tapped me on the shoulder and was like, Let me get out your way. Enjoy it, enjoy the fight. Because I was stressed out.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 34:57

I was so well, it didn't help. It didn't help because you're being very calm and focused. And Scotty is next to you jumping around like he won the lottery.

Speaker 1: 35:10

I was freaking out. Okay, first of all, I saw the hook set and then I saw her rod fold. And as as soon as I saw that, I knew exactly what she had. Yeah, yeah. I I like instant, like I I watch rod tips every day. That's what I do, that's what my job is. And I instantly knew what was going on.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 35:39

Yeah, the whole back of the boat got quiet. Billy got quiet. Yeah. He's like, that could be huge. He's like, and I was like, it's a really small rod though. Yeah, he's like true, but he's like, I think it's big. I was like, I think you're right. And then uh the reaction when it hit the top of the water, now we couldn't see it, but the reaction on that side of the boat all the way up the rail was like oh, there's a there's a decent fish about to come over. And it did. It came over. And I'll put the picture up again for people to see. And I want to point out, so here are the two, uh, sorry, here are the two biggest fish here on the left. So again, look at Billy's and look at Kristen's. Kristen's yours looks so much bigger.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 36:31

It does. And I'll tell you what, except the belly.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 36:35

You pulled it over and Billy gave that smile, like, I'm so happy for her, but I'm out.

unknown: 36:41

Yeah, yeah.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 36:42

And he was like, I'm out. And the and the mates were like, No, we got away and we got away and we'll do it later. And they they immediately bled it. Scotty said, What are you bleeding it for? JP says we bleed everything.

Speaker 3: 36:53

Yeah.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 36:55

And then we waited. And that's where the drama comes in because Billy is so sure that he did not win, that he decides that he's gonna go in the cab, he's gonna he's gonna grab something to eat. So he leaves, and the mates start weighing them, and you can't weigh them individually because it's too close. I mean, it's I mean, they were within a quarter of an inch of each other in length.

Speaker 1: 37:18

They were, and I'll say this that that's not even a good picture of her fish. I I I took a few and edited that I that I said, and dude, that fish was big. Really big.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 37:36

Yeah, so uh Kristen, if you want to talk about the final the final of this thing, because I I'll see if I can find one of those edited picks real quick and get it on here. But why don't you bring us through the weigh-in?

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 37:50

Yeah, so that was uh man, I was like, oh, it's a male. Okay, so the first thought I thought when it came up, first of all, this is me like, I don't know. I was like, uh, maybe it's like, I don't know. I was like, maybe it's smaller. I feel like maybe it's like seven or something like that. I was like completely on the screen. I might have said six or something crazy. And so then at that point, that's when we brought, you know, he got the the metal scale and we started putting him on to balance it. And it was even for a second. And then his fish went down. So I'm like, all right. And I'm looking at it, I'm like, it's a male fish, female fish are usually a little heavier, a little chunkier. So I'm like, well, you know, it is what it is. And I'm like, looking at it, I'm like, it's such a big fish. But if you so the width of the of his fish, of Billy's fish, it being just a little bit fatter in the belly, that's the thing that caught my eye that made me think, okay, yeah, he he probably has this. So then at that point, again, it kept staying pretty close, and then it would kind of tilt down and removing on the boat. So that at that point, I think because Scotty said something, that's when Jimmy took it and literally like put it up against the top of the boat like just to make sure that it was completely starting even. So we're completing starting even, it stays even for a second, and then his fish goes lower. So I said, All right, Billy won. He won fair and square.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 39:07

But um he won by just ounces. The best part of that story is again, everybody in the back is seeing this fish. Billy is being a great sport, he's like, I'm out. So he goes to grab something, he it's done. The fish are back in the in the water. It looks like they didn't do anything. And he walks out and he's just standing there, he's like, Oh, what a great day. And I said, You don't even know, do you? He's like, What? I was like, You won't and he's like, get the and then he said a couple words, yeah. And I said, No, you won. He's like, No, I didn't. I was like, You seriously did. And I think Scotty was who said, Yeah, you won. And he's like, Shut up. And then everyone's quiet, like, no one's gonna help support because now he's like tortured, so everyone's kind of letting it linger, and then finally he's like. No, seriously? I said Kristen, and you said congratulations, you won. He was like, Oh my God. Yeah. So he ended up.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 40:07

I didn't know y'all were messing with him like that. That's hilarious.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 40:10

Like, I wasn't trying to.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 40:12

No, I wasn't either.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 40:13

Everybody else was. Nobody nobody else would say anything. But yeah. He was like doing it to himself because he wouldn't believe it. And then, you know, he ended up winning the pool. It was a nice size pool. I think it was like 700 or so.

Speaker 1: 40:29

And I will say this that literally somebody said it came down to whatever that fish, whatever fish had a bigger lunch. That's what it came down to. And I'll say this. Billy at the end did the coolest thing that anybody could have ever done. And I'm gonna let Chris.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 41:05

And so Billy, you know, at this point, like the same way Billy had kind of conceived, I had sitting down on the corner resting in the day, like, hey, I finally caught a good fish from one of my favorite boats to ever go out. Like I that was it, that was enough for me. Like I was good with that. I'm like, cool. He won. And I was sitting there, he walks by and he slides me a hundred dollars and says, That was a really good fish. You deserve something for that. No one does that. You know what I'm saying? And that's just the kindness of the people on there, but everybody in general, it's it's it's hard to find a larger people that kind of share a similar heart. But that's what I felt like I was in all day, and that's what made that kind of you know, it was such an interesting experience to celebrate. Like if we're honest, like if we were just out there, you know, and it was people that weren't as fun to be around, I might have been in a worse mood. I might have been a little more antisocial and had my headphones going, like not fucking anybody, but just being that type of person, I'll never forget that. Like to me, I'll I'll always remember that. That's that's a good, that's a good dude record.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 42:06

Like, it is and then and then he tipped the hell out of the mates. All right, so listen, we're we're up against the birds game. I made a commitment that we'd end it quick. I am gonna throw this for people before you go. I got two things. First, there's should be a poll coming through in the chat because I've gotten a lot of text messages saying schedule another one. So I don't know if it's actually gonna work and come through. But if we do one in the first two weeks of January, would you sign up and go? Because if you would, I'll we'll do it again. We'll organize it again. And the second thing is again, just vote on that before you go, so I can see that if you would. And the last thing before we sign off, first of all, thanks Scotty and Kristen for coming on. Well, that was awesome. Thanks everybody for showing up for the trip. Next week, we have Stefan Oast owner of sport fishing outlet. He's gonna come on. We're gonna talk some salt and freshwater fishing and what it's like to own a tackle shop and be a local owner, uh, which will be good. And I'll tell you what, if you've never met Stefan Oast and you think because his shop is in Pennsylvania, he doesn't know saltwater, you are smoking crack.

Speaker 1: 43:17

That dude's got an awesome shop, and he's a great dude.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 43:21

Yes, yes, you can buy anything salt water in his shop, but uh more importantly, he can tell you anything saltwater.

Speaker 1: 43:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And uh one last thing, too, that you have a shout-out to give.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 43:38

What? Oh. Is your mom in chat? Say hi to your mom? Hi, Mama Stevens. Yeah, that was nice. That was nice that you that she texted you and said that she would say hi to me. That was nice.

Speaker 1: 43:54

Yeah, she she did. She she loves you, Rich.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 43:58

Yeah. That's awesome.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 44:00

Rich, can I can I answer um one question I think Joe was?

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 44:04

About the jig for Joe.

Kristen McKee - Philly Girl Fishing: 44:05

About the jig. So that's just funny. I was literally having like, it was a uh pin, but I didn't know whose jig it was. Like I literally was sitting up, there's only three people I buy jigs from. I'm like, whose jig is this? Because I normally don't two-ounce jigs. So there was a lot of things that I did different that I don't normally do. I tend to just jig like an ounce or an ounce and a half. But with a two-ounce jig, a salvo's custom jig, he makes rods now. Like he doesn't even make jigs more. So um, yeah, a two-ounce jig did the trick. I I will say the two-ounce boxing glove style jig. So he doesn't make anymore. I'm sure we can find them from some of the other guys that you know we all know and fish with. But uh, yeah, that was that was the profile of the jig network.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 44:46

Yeah, very good.

Speaker 1: 44:48

And Salvo's a really good dude, too. I can bounce to that.

Rich Natoli - Fat Dad Fishing: 44:53

All right, everyone. Thanks for tuning in. I will next week let you know if we're gonna do another trip. So, you know, let me know in chat. Send me an email, text, whatever. Uh, all my information is at the beginning of this show. Guys, thanks again for coming on. Thanks everybody for heading out yesterday. That was a great day. So exhausted, though. So I'm I'm gonna watch the seagulls game get over the tired and sleep late tomorrow. Uh, I see mama sevens now. Yeah. Until next week, everyone. Get out there, get on the water, and get some tight lines.