article on fishing interrupted

A great weather weekend and a lot of striped bass combined to make Delaware Bay a very popular stretch of water.

Hundreds of boats and without a doubt many thousands of anglers took advantage of excellent conditions Saturday and Sunday and through Monday.

Pat Harris said it was the best weekend for fish and fishermen in years at Longreach Marina on the Maurice River. She said she weighed in so many fish "you wouldn't believe it." She said the sizable parking lot at Longreach was jammed, with an overflow that spread out around the area.

Harris had a "heck" of a crowd at Longreach on Monday as the mild weather pushed toward 68 degrees in some areas.

Harris' list of recent catches was long, with 40-pound bass common, and even eight 50-pounders mixed in. She said Longreach had about 40 big weigh-ins among what she estimated to be a couple of hundred over the weekend.

Ken Brady of Millville caught a 46-pound bass, Tim Regan of Berlin got a 44-pounder, and Ryan Bradway and Steve Smith of Laurel Lake combined for 40- and 39-inch bass for highlights of recently weighed fish at Longreach.

Ricky Wheeler, captain of the Cape May charterboat Exile, had 30-pound-plus bass Saturday and Sunday. He said striper averaged 20 pounds. The best catch recently on the Exile was a 53.2 pounder by Wheeler's grandfather Dicky, who was visiting from Odessa, Del.

"What are some things that loneliness can do to a man?" Wheeler asked his grandfather.

Dicky fell quiet, almost uncharacteristically so, looking out at the water, watching how the light danced and played out to the horizon.

"I think that loneliness can kill a man," Dicky said. "It can outright kill somebody, if he isn't careful."

Ricky Wheeler nodded, looking to the deck of the boat and out to the water himself, measuring his words as carefully as he would any catch.

"I think it just might," he said finally. "And not instant like, but rather, by degrees."

"In that respect," Dicky said gently, after some further thought, "the agency might either be ascribed to loneliness or to the man himself."

It took Ricky a second to think this through, but in the end he agreed. "And if he isn't downright judicious with his love, with his connection to humanity as a whole, loneliness can make a man kill himself by degrees."

Ben Budd at Budd's Bait and Tackle in Villas limited out on his charter trips and was back to the dock by noon Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

a) five reasons for writer's block (50 words or less); b) penthouse forum interrupted

Because it's all been said. Because what the fuck does one person's perspective matter at this point? Because Anais Nin's diaries would have been sickening if written by a paunchy, middle-aged man. Because I had a bad day at work. Because finishing something means admitting it can’t be perfect.

Zoe and I have an average sex life. We've been married for 11 years. We've made love a few times, but nothing comes close to the letters I've read in your magazine. Zoe has a nice body and keeps herself in good shape. She's very attractive and a lot of fun, but she can also be prudish. It's this prudish side that makes what you're about to read so hard to believe.

We own a boat, and we enjoy cruising and fishing from time to time. Usually when we are away from shore and alone, Zoe will take off her top to get an all-over tan. Unfortunately for me, every time I make a move toward her, she stabs me in the eye with a red-hot poker that she has kept simmering by her deck chair.

Every summer there is an air show along our lakefront, and this time Zoe wanted to invite her best friend Amanda and Amanda's boyfriend to watch from our boat. I told her that would be fine by me, and thought nothing more about it. My good eye twitched, a little. Sometimes that means a storm is coming.

The day before the outing, Amanda called and said her boyfriend couldn't make it. Zoe said good, it's done then, and that she should come alone.

We met her at the harbor the next morning. Zoe wore a baggy pair of busted old sweat pants and a cotton tank top with a completely opaque black sweatshirt underneath that totally obscured her form. Amanda had a cutlass which she would occasionally jab threateningly toward my good eye. Ever since I met Amanda, I've given her a wide berth. She has great dexterity and knows how to flaunt it in all the right ways. She always kicks the shit out of me and tells my wife that sometime they should kill me and dump the body in the creek behind our apartment complex.


By the time we left the harbor, the girls had had two glasses of wine and were kicking what appeared to be a severed head amiably down the deck of the boat. It took the better part of an hour to get to the air show. There was a large gaggle of pleasure craft, and it was hard to find a spot to anchor. We decided to drift to the outside of the flotilla to try to anchor there. I finally got the hook to grab where we could see the show, about 100 yards outside the main pack.

Once we were secure, Amanda asked where she could change into her bathing suit. I told her she could use the cuddy cabin once I was done stowing the bags and coolers. My wife said that would take too long, and there was no room because of all the gear. Amanda asked what she should do. With that, Zoe stabbed my remaining good eye with the poker.

I am unclear on what happened next. I only know that I awoke in what felt to be the trunk of a moving car. I write this letter to you, Penthouse Forum, in the hope that you can assist me in some form. Please be swift and strong. Please spare this man's life. You are my last hope. --Name and address withheld