Shoulda been here Yesterday

Anybody that fishes knows that there are two universal truths in what we do. You should have been here yesterday and it'll be better tommorrow.

Yesterday still suffering from a bit of the tourista I passed on going north with my friends and instead took the bus to look for the Rooster just a few miles north of our building. They were EVERYWHERE. As I rigged my surf rod I see them chasing bait right in front of me. Finally set I see a school maybe 1/8 a mile up the beach and run up and cast on them. Nodda. I look out to sea and theres schools boiling out of casting range and as I watch they miracleously work right to me. Nodda. Finally I cast right at one that I see kind of lounging in the surf break. He charges my Ranger smacks it so hard it flys 5 feet in the air and is gone....bummer, but exciting. As the morning goes on they seem to move out but there were so many everybody walking the beach would comment, "whats that", "theres roosters in front of the Torres", "how many have you caught?" About 9:00 am I work a school thats the biggest I've ever seen, maybe a hundred fish. Nodda.

I go home knowing that the bad luck will end tommorrow and I rally my friends to go. I tell Slah about the fish and I know he'll be there at sun up as well.

So this morning me and my Alaska friend Mike and our new friend Tony head north to hunt them down. On Tony's 3rd cast he catches a beautiful 10 pound Corvina on a topwater. This is weird as they don't hit topwater, whats even weirder is that its hooked in the side. It starts to become pretty apparent that the Roosters aren't going to show when I see a boil then run and cast. The rooster smashed the Ranger in close and after an exciting 20 minutes I pulled him onto the shore and a fellow took this pic. Pretty ain't he?

So, with no Roosters around we fall back to your basic b.s. session. A casting contest, a knot critique, admiring the hand painted lures, you know the usual stuff. About mid morning a flock of birds arrives right in front of us and Slah caught this nice Toro. As I have Roosterfish fever and not thinking straight I don't have a single castmaster with me or I could have caught many Toro. Oh well. Slah caught this Toro on a topwater which is unusual and goes to prove that he can catch just about anything on anything.

This next pic gives you and idea of what the bird bite looks like. Around 9:30 we pack up and leave. A great day. I was going to stop and get a Tamale at the Scorpio store but my buddy commented that with the bouts of infirma I've had I'd have to be off my rocker to have a tamale this morning. He's right. Our tally for the day, 1 Rooster, 1 Toro, 1 Corvina and our friend Ernie hit a double on the Pelican bite....I know, I know, next time he catches a pelican I'll get a pic. Slah calls them Christmas Turkeys. He says " Ernie you're soooo lucky".