The one that got away

Frittmann · **Joined:** Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:12 am **Posts:** 17

When Zane Grey came to our coastal waters off New Zealand in 1926, looking for some legendary huge game fish, he didn't encounter anything like we've seen here lately! A whole new species has been discovered here, and while marine biologists are hard pressed to classify it as a mammal or a fish by taxonomy, reports are coming in of many sightings of these strange new ocean-dwelling behemoths that fight a fishing line like some sort of demented giant stingray, in one instance taking over 1,000 metres of line off a Penn International 12/0 so fast that it melted the whole chassis of the reel from the friction! No amount of drag would stop it.

Less sporting-like anglers around the Bay of Plenty (the BOP, where I'm from) have tried harpooning the animals and attaching flotation barrels to them, but there have been no reports of success yet with this technique either. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) recently tagged one of these creatures while on a routine inspection of the BOP-end of the Kermadec Trench. Satellite tracking apparently lost the signal from the tag somewhere near Tonga less than 8 hours later, a distance of over 2,000km! That's over 250km/h, or almost 135 knots!

Local scientists have been speculating that these creatures may be a mutated subspecies of torpediniformes which may have resulted from plutonium seepage from the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) of the Apollo 13 rocket, which crash-landed in the Tonga Trench back in 1970. The creatures sure give a good kick, better than any electric eel.

Hi, I'm Robert Frittmann, from Waihi Beach in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. I'm hoping to become the first Kiwi fisherman to land one of these giant creatures. I'm here to find out more about the feeding habits of these sea monsters, the best type of bait to use, and maybe some tips on sportsmanlike angling techniques and tackle that will give me an advantage while still having a fair fight. I am hoping to maybe get an IGFA record, but our marine biologists will have to finish identifying the species first. That gives me time to put together a boat and a crew equipped to take on one of these beasts.

DISCLAIMER: This post is a work of fan fiction, utilizing some artistic license on my part, some historical factual information that I don't think anybody owns, and some copyrighted content from the television series Surface and the movie Jaws, which I don't own the rights to either, and never will.

nimsgirl · **Posted:** Sat Jan 09, 2010 10:02 pm

I love your introduction! Welcome to our wonderful world!

Frittmann · **Joined:** Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:12 am **Posts:** 17

Hehe, thanks, I enjoyed doing it. I'm really disappointed that they killed off this awesome television series, when there was so much more of the story to be told. I'm looking forward to reading some of the other fanfic stories you have here on the SaveSurface forums, and maybe even contributing some of my own. Through fanfic, this great storyline can live on, I believe. But I'm still crossing my fingers that the official story, the canon of Surface lore, will be picked up again one day by the Pate brothers, or someone else with the appropriate rights and original script.

Jstn · **Posted:** Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:41 am

Just so everyone knows, Mr Frittmann had some trouble getting signed up here, but persisted (as all true Surface fans would do, eh?) and now here he is. After reading several of his posts, it's clear he will be an asset to this board, so let me say...

Welcome Sir - You should know that I am an Englishman, who spent a few of my early years living in New Zealand (I know, lucky me), but now live in So. Calif. (Don't bother asking about my time there, as I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, let alone that far back. LOL)

I will have to converse with you more later. I haven't been feeling too well this weekend (a blood sugar issue, I think), but I've been enjoying your posts, very much, even if I haven't felt up to responding. Be sure to look up Buck's posts (usually in The Environment forum) He's from Australia, right next door to you (as you know LOLOL) and I suspect you guys would get along well. Actually, this board is pretty much invitation only, so I can assure you that you'll like everyone here, even if you disagree with some.

I'll leave you with a couple of links...

This is the Newbie Guide and Site Rules thread. Please be sure to give it a thorough reading as soon as possible...

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=6762

You may notice that a lot of posts you run across, are not in compliance. That's because many of these rules are new, and many of the posts are far older. In fact, a lot of folks have come and gone, so if you address somebody's comments, you may wish to check the posting date. They may be "gone"

This thread is full of tips on using the site's various features...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=206

I can see from your posts that you are more tech-wise than I am, but you still might find some of the info handy.

Again, welcome to the #1 Surface fan site on the web. - Jstn

MercuryBlues · **Joined:** Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:06 pm **Posts:** 6604

Welcome to the board. I hope you find that Americans are not as dumb as the media portrays us. We don't need no stinking media, to show how dumb we are, we do that well enough on our own.

In all seriousness, the majority of Americans are smart. It is the very vocal minority that gives us a bad rap. You know the type, if I say it often and loud enough, people will believe me. The best way I can describe it is... We attempt to have intelligent conversations and find ourselves dragged into nonsense land. There isn't any logical conversation you can have with crazy.

Then again, maybe if they were screaming against the cancelation of Surface as much as they are screaming against our President, Surface would still be on the air.

graze · **Joined:** Sat May 27, 2006 11:29 pm **Posts:** 15395

Hello Robert,

Welcome to Surface. Good luck in landing one of those sea creatures and making history as one of the first Kiwi fishermen to do so. We all hope you are successful in your endeaver - perhaps Surface will be in the spotlight so much then that the interest in continuing this great show will be renewed from a network. That would be just awesome.

Enjoy reading and posting here with all of the other Surface fans who know how great the show was - just like you.

graze~

Frittmann · **Joined:** Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:12 am **Posts:** 17

Jstn wrote:

Welcome Sir - You should know that I am an Englishman, who spent a few of my early years living in New Zealand (I know, lucky me), but now live in So. Calif.

Thanks for the welcome, Jstn, and for all the informational links. An Englishman who lived in NZ, but now lives in the USA. Quite the globetrotter eh?

Jstn wrote:

Be sure to look up Buck's posts (usually in The Environment forum) He's from Australia, right next door to you (as you know LOLOL) and I suspect you guys would get along well.

Yep, probably as well as any American and Canadian would. Aussies and Kiwi's have the same love/hate relationship that you Northerner's have.

MercuryBlues wrote:

Welcome to the board. I hope you find that Americans are not as dumb as the media portrays us...

Thanks for the welcome, MercuryBlues. I've met many Americans online in the past, and have never yet met one that is the same as they are portrayed in the media. However, we have Hillary Clinton visiting New Zealand this week, so I may be speaking too soon! Not that I'm likely to meet her though.

graze wrote:

Hello Robert, welcome to Surface.

Hi there graze, nice to meet you. Thanks for the welcome.

graze wrote:

Good luck in landing one of those sea creatures and making history as one of the first Kiwi fishermen to do so. We all hope you are successful in your endeaver - perhaps Surface will be in the spotlight so much then that the interest in continuing this great show will be renewed from a network. That would be just awesome.

Yeah, if I have some spare time, I hope to develop a bit of a fanfic storyline about this. I've written a bit of fanfic before (LotR-based, as you can imagine, being from NZ and all), but haven't done anything in the Surfaceverse before (hey, did I just create a trope there?)

I see that you people have already done a lot to try and get Surface back on air, and get all the loose ends finished off properly. From what I've been reading here, it looks like that is unlikely to happen. I don't think anything that I could do would have any more impact than what has already been tried before. But if enough of us keep trying, then maybe the tide will turn. There is strength in numbers, and I'm happy to add whatever I can contribute freely in fanfic writing (or using my very limited graphic abilities) to add to the already existing efforts of all other disappointed Surface fans around the world.

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The one that got away

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