A hungry hunter hunts best

When I was a young guide just figuring this deal out I would start every guide season flat broke. And I came to find out that being broke was a powerful motivational tool.....but also a kinda stress invoking one as well. But now in my 60's we're a little more ....ah...fluid than we were as kids so I keep a list of goals on my wet chalkboard in the gear shed that I create every year for motivation.  It keeps me on task and although I have life's goals as well these are the things that I try to remind myself of everyday and stay focused on being the best guide/person/husband I can be....So lets see how we did in 2016.

1. Love MP...well that's an easy one. Anybody that can live with their wife for 4 months in a 720 square ft. condo and still see that twinkle in her eyes every now and then must be doing something right. Love is when you think you've got the best part of the deal.

2. 185...Fail....the elusive 185. I've chased it for years and now that we go to Mexico only a month after the fishing season I just didn't have time to lean down enough. I went south at 187 and came home at 195 so this year the plan is to keep the weight down through the summer and then top it off with a hard 6 weeks of training from mid Sept. to Nov 1st and maybe....hit the 185 or less.

3. Get along....pass...After suffering through and pushing back with a couple of the neighbors in Mexico I realized it just wasn't worth it....ya know the old saying ' don't wrestle with pigs because you both get dirty and the pig likes it '.....so this year I just ignored them and life was good.

4. Write...pass...Although I'm not doing as good as I think I can I've been writing quite a bit and finished the first song in a long time that I really like. As of this addition of Mile 14 goes to press I'm working on two others and of course I really enjoy doing this blog and hope you enjoy reading it.

5. PV-MZT...fail...I screwed this deal all up. We intended to bus it again to Puerto Vallartta and stay at one of two Mexican Hotels I researched. Well who'd a guessed that by Christmas they were all booked up into spring and we decided to wait a year rather than go stay in a tourist resort.

6. 20 lb Pargo....fail...Well if you were to weigh them in aggregate I easily hit 20 pounds as I caught many of them like the ones below. But I did hook him I think. One day I was chatting with my friend Stan as I cast a Mirrolure around and got hit really hard in the rocks close to shore where these Snappers like it . I told Stan that I can't catch this fish on my 20 pound outfit, it was just to strong. He swam into the rocks and I pulled him out and for a minute thought maybe it could work but then he headed to sea and there was nothing to do but tighten up on him until the line broke....darn.

How about the trick photography on this next one. And to think I was skeptical about learning anything when the government made me go to Guide school a few years back.

7.  Guitar Fund....pass....I got er done. If you go back just a few Mile 14 posts you'll see me playing a beautiful Godin Ultra A-6, made in Canada. This baby is a weapon. It's a hybrid guitar that is thin and although hollow it's shaped like an electric so you get a good acoustic sound with ease of play. It has two output jacks so you can blend the Humbucker and Piezo pick-ups anyway you want for a crazy array of sounds. Plug that baby into Sam's Line 6 modeling amp it's an absolute thing of beauty. I could get some work done if I had this set up in Mazatlan.

Now the other stuff on the right of the board my life coach and lover wrote down. I never really did figure out the 'get outside your head ' deal but I have a theory. So,  yup I'm trying to not be so self centered and egotistical as some people through the years have taken me to be....even if they might have been wrong, maybe.

And lastly she's right on with this one...a secret to happiness is to expect more of yourself and less from others...it keeps you from being  disappointed and underlines a simple philosophy...you're in charge of your own life.

AND....big news. Jeff King's Budget Charters has turned it's first $$$. A really nice new generation Blue Fox Pixie worth about 3 bucks . I spotted him laying offshore just a glistening in the sun like a giant DeBeers Diamond. It's going to be a great salvage / fishing / catching season.