On Bill Poole

I've read "Fish Or Cut Bait," the new book about Bill Poole written by Chuck Garrison, mostly as it was told by Poole. As you might expect, it's a read with many interesting stories. Here are just a few:

Bill commenced his "long range" trips to Guadalupe Island in the early 50's. The Polaris, the boat he took down there was small and narrow (62 x 15 feet), and it wallowed in a beam sea. Because it only packed 800 gallons of fuel, Poole loaded the decks with eight drums of diesel to supplement. Soon, he learned the weather near the island could "?Ķkick up and be just horrible at times."

"You could really take a beating," noted Poole. "I had guys practically begging to stay in a wind-protected spot?ĶSometimes it took 36 hours (instead of 22 hours) to get back and the water would be flying everywhere. All the instruments on the bridge would be drowned out."

To get passengers from the boat to the shoreline at Guadalupe's abandoned prison camp, Poole and second skipper Guy Smith used a couple of 9/0 outfits with 130-pound line. Then they could "winch" their charges back and forth in small skiffs.

In the early 90's Poole's Excel was headed to Clipperton Atoll. When passenger Jim Wade got to the dock, he discovered he was a few hours late, and the boat had departed. Desperate to get aboard, Wade called Poole by radio. He was told he could get picked up (by water only; Poole wasn't papered to make a landing) at Cedros Island the next day, if he could find a way down there.

Wade booked a $1500 flight on Jim's Air, got off the plane and took a taxi to the water, where he met an old Mexican who was wearing an Excel hat. With his Excel brochure, Wade created understanding he needed a panga ride into the channel on the island's lee side.

"As sunset approached," said Wade, "I saw this superstructure off in the distance. It kept coming closer and closer?Ķthe Excel!

Poole told his passengers they were going in close to Cedros for a look at the bait-catching situation. When they saw it was for Wade, he got some strong kidding. But even that worked out.

"?Ķas it turned out," said Wade, "I won $1600 in the boat's jackpots for landing a 263-pound tuna, and that more than paid for my trip to Cedros."

At Alijos Rocks, Poole once lost an anchor and chain and line because an angler was slow to follow a hooked shark, which then sawed off the anchor line with the man's 50-pound mono.

"Three trips later," said Poole, "we put our anchor down on the same spot and ther tuna were biting. When we finally went to move, skipper Steve Loomis could get the anchor to break loose from the bottom. Finally, we got it unstuck; and it brought up the old anchor we'd lost three trips prior!

"How's that for anchoring?" Poole said to Loomis. Poole's sense of humor is as legendary as his fishing and hunting exploits. When another angler failed to follow his hooked albacore, the fish became tangled with many lines. As Bill and his crew undid the mess, they slipped the angler's albie in over the side unnoticed. Poole took the fish and put it head down in the starboard head. Then they showed the angler where his line ran in under the door and opened it.

"Jesus, I can't believe it," Poole told him, "That fish must've swam right up the outflow tube!" So get a copy of "Fish Or Cut Bait," and read it. Poole will be at the Del Mar show starting March 21, and you can have him sign your copy there. Or you can get it right here at FishingVideos.com. Just get it.