Rollover Pass attracts people with diversified fishing interests from all over this country of ours, and often from far beyond our shores as well. And on this past Thanksgiving day of 03, my meanderings around the pass in search of fishing photo opportunities, found me mingling with a group of anglers who were as a bizarre mix of anglers as any group that I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet up with. One group, French speaking anglers from Quebec, were relaxing at the pass while trying to catch a flounder or two. And just a few feet down the bank from them were a German speaking couple from Munich who were conversing with a Transylvanian from Romania, and Fishing next to them was a couple from Greece. Then, as the Romanian hooked a flounder, a group of Japanese tourists suddenly popped out from nowhere to excitedly hover around him as he landed a big flounder of about four pounds. A very interesting scene with an international flare indeed, and after spotting what the Romanian angler was fishing with my curiosity suddenly ruled the moment as I moved in for some serious edification.
A former forestry engineer for the Romanian Government, John Scurtu, of Transylvania, was an avid angler who’s fishing expertise soon elevated him to the level of a European pro-angler, from which landed him the position as fishing coach for the Romanian fishing team where he honed their skills in the European style of competitive fishing. “We beat the American Fishing Team at the 1991 World Championship games in Szejhe, Hungary, stated the former coach of the Romanian Fishing Team, and I moved to the United States of America soon after that.
Settling in Houston, TX, John spent his free time fishing the various lakes, rivers, and ponds in the area pursuing carp and gar, as well as other favorite European species, with his European style of sport-fishing. Last October , after reading several reports about fishing Rollover Pass, John tried his luck at catching flounder, and within just a short time was able to figure out how to catch them on a regular basis, filling his stringer with some exceptional “saddle blanket” sized flatfish.
Using telescopic type rods (Bolognese style fishing ) of high modulus carbon ( graphite reinforced with a Kevlar coil) John fishes Triana Special Competition GRANDSLAM VHS 140 rods Made in Italy by Gabriele Tubertini. These rods telescope to 16.4 feet and close down to 4.59 feet that weigh only 6.7-oz. “I bought the rod blanks and installed higher frame match guides of silicon carbide rings with titanium carbide frames, John informed, explaining that the higher frame reduces line contact with the blanks for increased casting distances. My reels are Abu-Garcia Cardinal model 600-U with stamina drag systems, which are mounted on Fuji reel-seats. I spool these reels with 4 lb test Berkley Fire-Line and rig them with abrasion resistant leaders of 25 lb test Stren – with XPS Fluorocarbon 14 -Lb test monofilament for snelling my jig-hooks. Rigging with 1/8 -oz Gamakatsu jig-hooks and 1/16 -oz Eagle jig-hooks in either white, chartreuse, or pink lead-head colors, John then tips his jigs with flounder belly, piggy perch, or croaker strips. He also slip-rigs his line with small ¼ oz egg weights ringed with small chartreuse and pink colored beads for color flash and sound clicks. “I’ll slowly work my jigs on the bottom against the tide, John informed, and will immediately set the hook with the slightest “tic” of a bite that can be felt by this special ultra-lite fishing rig. “I’ve learned to fish with jigs like these after fishing below the Lake Livingston dam for white bass, John stated, and after making some minor changes with my slip-weights, bead colors, jig styles, and line adjustments I was able to start catching flounder at the Pass in but a very short time.
Flounder, being a bottom hugging flatfish who settle into sand or mud to ambush baitfish, will hit anything that moves to within 2 feet of where they’re hiding. When John bumps his baits across the bottom the clicking sounds and color-flash of his slip-rig beads and the scent of his fish tipped jigs helps to attract the feeding impulse of hungry flounder. But unlike live minnows or shrimp used by most flounder anglers who usualy have to wait for the flounder to swallow the bait before setting their hooks, John doesn’t have to wait as he sets the jig-hook immediately upon feeling the bite to catch his fish.
I watched John Scurtu as he finessed his unusual European style fishing system over the bottom of Rollover Pass, where, after fishing from noon to about 3:30pm, he was able to tether an impressive limit of flounder that included several “saddle-blankets”. “I lost a couple of really large flounder, John informed me, as he packed up to leave for home, but I’ll be back tomorrow to try for them again.
A tap on my shoulder found me chatting with the couple from Greece who were fishing next to John. Their conversation about John’s ability at catching flounder was impressive enough, especially after the Greek anglers, who were fishing the same area, informed that they couldn’t catch any themselves. “But, the admiring anglers enthusiastically avowed, “this guy really knew what he was doing!
Working as a dishwasher during his earlier periods of becoming a US Citizen, John soon upgraded his work status by becoming a restaurant manager. “But, John informed with sad news, new owners took over the restaurant and I’m now without employment. But with the type of expertise that John has for catching fish with such high grade tackle I can honestly see the possibility of a tackle manufacturer latching onto John for employment, either as an adviser on European style fishing techniques, or a designer for fishing rod research on improved rod blanks. For those possible interests, as well as others, I’ve attached John Scurtu’s very impressive resume to this fishing article.
John Scurtu Resume;
3409 Benfield Dr., Houston, Texas 77082 – 281-497-8835 (home phone), Cell : 713-412-9356 — Education: Master of Science in Silviculture, University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania. Areas of study: silviculture, entomology, botany, meteorology, climatologic, topography, pedology (forest soils), forest hydrology, afforestation, silvicultural enhancements, etc. Computer- Skills: Microsoft Office software (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) Work Experience: Managing Secretary (full-time) at County Association of Hunting and Fishing (A.J.V.P.S.), Oradea, Bihor, Romania. Duties: responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of forest reserves set aside for recreational hunting and fishing; determined appropriate use levels to ensure sustained resources ; granted licenses for recreational use of land and streams in the forest reserve. Principle Forester and Forestry Engineer (full-time) at the Institute of Forest Research and Forest Management, Oradea, Bihor, Romania. Duties: forest management and silviculture, scheduling, mapping of the forest by ground aerial methods, silvicultural prescriptions, yield/growth forecasting, evaluation of forest by-products. A two-stage project was completed. The first stage involved analyzing and collecting data from the field. Forest types described and classified, forest soils and climatology were classified and mapped, and preliminary forest management plans were inventoried and drafted. The second stage involved analyzing parcel descriptions in their final form. Final forest plans/designs were drafted that detailed recommendations for future use, recommendations for multiple forest use, forest protection, harvesting operations, and stages of aforestation and regeneration, among other things.
Languages: Romanian (fluent), English, Italian, French, German, Russian, Hungarian.
Before leaving, I had to ask John the haunting question that needed a serious answer to. His smiling response to my question was an emphatic “NO” he was NOT a vampire, nor was he related to Count Dracula of Transylvania!”……………….NUFF-SAID!
This article sponsored by Fishingworld.com and Hazel’s RV Park on Rollover (409)286-2553.
