For some, Cheves is the rodeo. The weighmaster wants fishing records to be broken, but he says if you ever catch a big one, it may well be the last one you'll ever want to catch. Your arms will feel like dead lead for days after wrangling a winning king mackerel aboard the boat. What he doesn't say is that it will take weeks for the smile to leave your face. As boats pull up, everyone sits up a little straighter and all eyes look forward.
Cheves knows every boat, every captain, and in most cases the mate.
He names them all. Cheves tries to be solemn as he asks for their dead. The fishermen wrestle their catch up onto the dock from the boat to be weighed, hoping their catch might be tops for the day. Some are winners and some are not, but all the fish are determined to be good eating. Other boats dock in their slips, and the sportsmen bring their catch to the weighing station.