Excerpts

Curious about what the hype is all about? Get a taste of The Dueling Dragos from these featured samples of writing! Included is a glossary of terms, for those unfamiliar with the lingo!

THE DUELING DRAGOS

An Italian Family’s Heritage – Hunting, Fishing & Cooking “Secrets” are Revealed!

Introduction

  Every parent or grandparent has a mission to provide their children and grandchildren what they will need to succeed socially, academically and professionally in life.  Today, there are many “avenues” that can lead to the realization of those goals. For well over forty years and three generations, the Drago family has taken many different fun-filled and adventurous “avenues” to attain the goals of raising responsible young adults.

  Those Drago “avenues” are long walks upon beaten trails throughout the New England woodlands in search of game.  Venturing out on a foraging trip to harvest wild foods and spending quality time with family and friends.  Flat calm boat rides upon the ocean waterways stretching from Cape Cod Bay to southern Maine in search of codfish and other seafood delicacies. Inviting many friends along, and training all in the wise, ethical and safe use of the natural resources found in our great outdoors. In the process, the Drago family has created a lasting heritage of success.

  You do not have to hunt or fish to enjoy the tales chronicled within The Dueling Dragos, however, aspiring to be a gourmet cook would help!

  Within the pages of The Dueling Dragos, the first book of its kind, you will find these “avenues” to a new heritage within your own family.  And you will certainly gain an enhanced appreciation for the bounty of the land and seas.

  The Dueling Dragos DVD contains recent action footage of hunting, fishing and foraging trips and the preparation of the “catch” for the family feasts that follow. The Dueling Dragos seminar allows you to personally “meet and greet” the original Cod Father and the Woodsman themselves. At the seminars, you may ask “how to” questions concerning hunting various types of game, fishing for many species, along with foraging techniques & scouting tactics. Also at the seminars, your questions are answered regarding “game” preparation and you may take notes.

  Additionally, you will meet many of our sponsors and you may participate in the explanations provided personally by the Dragos.

 The entire three part series takes you through the many years of outdoor success that has helped shape all of the members of the Cod Father’s extended “famiglia.” You will learn many long standing hunting “secrets” from the Woodsman.  You will be presented with the “keys” to the preparation of the many recipes that will allow you to share nature’s bounty with family and friends, even if you or they are not now hunters, gatherers or fishermen.

  When you have completed your many journeys with the “players” in this series, you will have already begun to create fun experiences, good times with friends and a true outdoor family hunting, fishing and foraging heritage of your own.

 All the best from your new “famiglia” The Dueling Dragos!

 Bob Drago – your new “Cod Father” swears to you –

“The secrets contained within The Dueling Dragos series, are the trout,

the whole trout and nothing but the trout – so help me Cod!”

 

The Italian Who Didn’t Like Garlic?

This is a story about garlic. Grandfather Rosario although a true “Sicilian” from Palermo was not, in any way, a fan of garlic at all. There was never any garlic in use in the Drago home, no old-world standards which usually contain fresh garlic, such as frutti di mare fra diavelo or warm roasted cloves to spread on hard “bastone” bread. This seems pretty surprising from an old-time Italian family man, especially one who was both born & raised in Sicily!

There was just one time, when Grandmother Mary Drago snuck some garlic into the house to use in a “secret” recipe. Rosario walked into the house after being out wild mushroom picking and immediately shouted “Mary, Where’s the garlic – I smell garlic!” It was amazing how quickly he was able to figure that out! Rosario raced around the house looking in the cabinets and in the cold cellar (a dispensa – a room for storing the wheels of Romano cheese imported from Italy, any wines for cooking, and of course the homemade cannolis and blueberry pies were stored or cooled there as well).

She yelled in Italian – “piccolo pezzo!”– “It’s only a small piece!” He proclaimed “No, get that out of this house pronto!”

 

 

And A Cloud of Dust

Mike Drago was shocked when he pulled a moose permit for the coveted Zone 8 in northern Maine, it was his first time entering the lottery and he was 15 years old. His dad, “The Woodsman” lived in Guilford, Maine at that time.

The Woodsman and his son Mike started out early in the morning at “0345” (3:45am) on October 9th 2006 in the hopes of seeing a bull moose. They had been joking with the Cod Father all week long, saying, “We aren’t going to shoot anything less than a 60 inch bull.” They had no idea that the joke would become a reality!

On the opening morning of their hunt, they found themselves in one of the “spots” that they had scouted together at an earlier date. At first light, Vinny began to call and almost instantly they got a response – a loud crash followed by the sounds of a large animal walking towards them. After a few intense moments, that moose ran off at the disappointing sound of another hunter riding the roads, hauling a rather noisy trailer.

They headed for their truck and had traveled only 100 yards or so, when they spotted a cow and calf stepping out into the logging road. Vinny turned off the truck ignition. The cow seemed very interested in something back behind in the cuttings. Vinny said, “OK, Mike now quietly get out of the truck and load your rifle.” Mikie cautioned, “Dad, those are cows!” The Woodsman proclaimed, “I know, but whatever they are looking at could be a bull.” Watching for only three or four minutes which seemed like an hour, they then heard a loud crack from a broken branch. Vinny whispered, “Get ready!”

Just a few moments later, they were looking at the biggest bull they had ever seen. The Woodsman grunted causing the bull to stop momentarily and then he whispered “Take em” to Mikie who then took the shot!

Surprisingly, the bull just started walking like nothing had happened and Mike fired both a second and third time. Mike was about to fire a final time, when suddenly the bull stopped in the middle of the logging road and fell over with a loud thud and a cloud of dust! They ran over and both shouted “Holy Bull Moose, he now belongs to Us!”

 

 
The Tryout

“Hey you fish? I’m always looking for help on my boat. That is – if you’re any good. My name is Bob Drago and I am The Original Cod Father.”

“You can call me Mark, I’m a successful bottom fisherman and I fill my freezer every year!”

The Codfather replied, “Well, you’d have to prove yourself to become a member of my Team.” “We regularly bring back 80 -100 lbs of filets each time I take my Team ‘outside’.”

Mark stated, ‘Hey, give me a try, I’ll bring the sandwiches.”

 The Cod Father agreed as he headed back to work, “OK, be at the Marina at 0600 this Saturday, there will be a total of four of us on the boat.” “Oh and by the way Mark, I like an Italian sub!”

Mark shouted, “Of course! See you on Saturday.”

The crewmates aboard the CFV (Cod Father Vessel) for the 30 mile trip offshore were The Cod Father his son The True Fisherman Randy, and brother Vinny Boombatz! Mark did not feel intimidated in the least. He knew his capabilities. He was ready to show off his fishing skills.  He even brought along his custom boat rod & reel combo to prove a point!

The CFV was anchored in the morning but set up for drift fishing in the early afternoon. The mood and camaraderie on the boat was great, everyone was hauling in fish left and right and the beautiful weather set a great tone! It seemed that Mark really fit right- in with the Dueling Drago famiglia!

Mark stated, “Hey Bobby think I earned my red, white & green stripes as a new member of your Team?”

The Cod Father replied, “Not so fast Mark.  First of all, I caught the two biggest fish, that 20 lb Codfish in the cooler right there and the 15 lb Pollock.”

“You never told me that to become a Team member I needed to put the largest fish in the boat?” complained Mark

Bob exclaimed, “That’s right!”

Mark exclaimed, “OK Bob, I’ll show you!” “I will earn my stripes and you will have to give me the gear!”

The Tryout Part 2

Down went his bait, 230 ft below to the muddy bottom, the first one in.  Just as Mark set his line, his rod bent so far over, it appeared as if he had hooked bottom! Instantly, the first mate stopped by and declared, “Please, nobody else drop any lines yet – we have a big fish on! Mark thought, “Holy Cod – my 16 oz weight must have hit this lunker square between the eyes!”

The first mate was hanging over the gunwale and yelling for a longer gaff! Mark dropped his rod and ran to the first mate. A second mate sprinted for the long gaff. No time to wait. Mark and the first mate were staring at a monster cod in the water alongside the body of the boat!

Mark exclaimed, “Man, Look at the Size of this Cod!”  Then the captain showed up and immediately began snapping pictures for the boat’s fishing blog and bragging rights.

The first mate attempted to weigh the cod on the vessel but the scale pegged and topped out at 50lbs. This fish was way over 50 pounds! Needless to say, Mark was the winner of the head boat deep sea pool again! Once ashore, they carted the fish to the office scale for proper weigh- in. The official poundage was 55 lbs, but the mate claims the fish may have lost another 2 -3 lbs of water weight while traveling to port.