Fishing experts

You know how I feel about those Robalo, they're just the best. so was I ever enthused when Ern caught about the nicest one I've ever seen.....Team X has been kind of languishing. Our ringleader Slah is building a restaurant so he's to busy to fish much and some of the guys aren't here and some aren't fishing because, well, the fishing has been dead dog slow. But if you cast enough and work enough and stay upbeat enough...magic.

Ern said it was a big one and the way things have been going I didn't want any 'schamoozles' so I set down my gear satchel and laid my rod on top of it and grabbed my little gaff hook. This fish took forever and when we finally new what it was we almost in unison said holy @#&##*....So finally it comes time for the coup de gras and Ern picks the right wave and rides him a good ways up the beach. As he comes up the beach I position myself between ol slimey and the water when the inevitable happens.....kerr snap, line breaks. Not really surprised as Ern is fishing with the light gear and just the added tension on being dry makes the hook spit or the line break quite often. Many a time I've seen the fish escape by swimming right back down the beach on the next wave.  I hear Ern let out an OH NO and I tell him I got it Ern and I stabbed him as the next wave pushed him down to me.....duck soup.  You can see where I gaffed him right through the gills and the green rubber swimfish that killed him, an oh Ern says the lure cost 50 cents....Canadian.

Man was I impressed with these fish experts me and MPeasy came across on our early walk on Olas Atlas.  They had a huge Corvina as well as several Skipjacks and Pargo. You can see the elevation we're at and I've often thought the structure would hold fish but the rocks are impossible, right ? Wrong...as I use my Spainglish skills and a good bit of humor I find out they have a rock just a bit lower that they safely get to and then the secret is ,,,,a young guy. You can barely see him on the right but he's equipped with an 6 foot gaff hook and the nimbleness of a Dall Sheep. Here's the rock they fish from.

Fish experts #3.....Holy Moly.....a 125 pound Marlin in a 16 foot boat. These guys are like ' The Old Man and the Sea ' material. Tony had been out the same day and saw Marlin at twelve miles which is actually really close as they are normally at 20 or 25. I was lucky enough to catch them when they showed up to sell the catch and check out their boat, It had a fairly new but well used 40 horse 4-stroke Mercury on it and the gear was all serviceable but far from new and they just seemed real comfortable with what they do...pretty cool....Steady is about the biggest compliment I give to people and you could just tell these guys fit the word ' Steady ' perfectly.

I spotted this guy right in the middle of the day on the roof of an apartment building right on the main drag of the Gold Zone. I only took one pic as I didn't want him to see me seeing him as I take to heart the advice my Mexican friends have given me about safety and that is ' don't get involved in anything here in Mazatlan'. But MP and I watched him from a distance for several minutes and there was no doubt about what he was doing.....looking over the ledge into apartment after apartment with a mirror on a stick, we could even see the reflection of it. Ya sure don't want to rifle a house just to find out they don't have a flat screen t.v. I guess.

People come to Alaska wide eyed with dreams and until I got here I used to think it was a place with more than the  usual amount of  broken dreams. In Alaska you see unfinished houses and stacked logs that never got any further.  Here there are countless buildings in different stages of construction with rebar running wild and things left to fall down. I took this pic of the beach stairs on a high rise Condo building in the Gold Zone....if the rest of the building was put together the same as these stairs it's no wonder the project stopped.....dreams interrupted.

The exchange rate for the American dollar is almost ridiculous. I don't know whats fueling it or even how it could be true but the values here in Mazatlan for Americans is crazy. The Canadian Looney is up as well against the Peso but not like our Dollar. We had some friends coming over so I went to the beer store and this is what ten bucks gets ya. I think it's a wonderful thing for us but I hope it's not lost on anybody that it's probably not so good for our Mexican friends. The Ballena's are about 3 twelve ouncers and a nice bottle of Chardonnay ....or something kinda like it.

We walked 3 miles for this coconut. I guess I'm getting to be a bit local as I eat them the same ways as the locals...squish lime over it entero and then a generous pour of salsa picante...oh baby.

Tonight me and a couple other musicians are going to play in the bar for the building. Somehow somebody thought it would be fun to have a night of  ' easy listening ' music' , mmmmmm,,,,, well 'easy' and my name don't usually collide in the same sentence so it oughta make a good story next week,,,,,,keppee yiiii yeeehhh
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