Snook 6, Jeff 2

 It's kinda funny in that when I'm fishing around here and especially over in the Gold Zone people will ask me if we really catch fish right in the middle of town.  I usually respond that the fish don't know that they're in a city, in fact some of the best structure is in town and some of the best fish I've caught or seen caught were in town.....But there's something about the chase when you're alone the beach and can look north and south and see just your fishing team members.

Me, Kiki and Carlos where headed for the 3rd point and decided to stop at point #1 and see how the fishing is in the rocks, it's been slow everywhere so we felt like why go so far if's not going to be very good. It's a bit cool as we tie our leaders in the dark by head lamp and I'm the first to the water and am thinking that those really good days start off first thing in the morning, if you're going to really hit them you  usually hit right off the bat....mmmm.....well I used up a large amount of my casting allotment before the sun came up but I was rewarded with this view of Cerritos with the sun just a glimmering off the huge Peninsula building....I felt good.

We threw for a couple hours and were surprised not to catch a Snapper on the rocks when the commercial guys showed up and wouldn't ya know pulled there net from around the rocks we were casting to . Same old story, first thing they teach you in guide school is take the money, the second thing is don't fish behind a gill net. But I was impressed with these guys boat skills. Being a skiff driver myself I got about half nervous for them as the boat is not only close to bottoming out but it's also sp close to the rocks that any little screw up and the boat is wrecked....maybe it wasn't their boat I don't know....they've done it a million times so it becomes routine, very impressive .

My neck condition has kinda changed so I needed to rest come mid morning. I find a nice shade tree and watch as Kiki throws and Carlos walks away to the south to search. Perseverance pays off and Kiki gets a nice little Cocanaco for supper. He cleans and we share the shade and talk story....great morning, thank you guys.

Somebody planted a little beach art for us....ahhh the creative mind at work.

I used to ride my bike out to oceanica to fish but I kept having flat tires, in fact I had two one morning and stopping to fix them on the fly was just to strange . I mentioned this to a guy at the Bike shop in Helena and he said you need the inner tube liners which I bought and installed and STILL had flat tires. I guess these guys have something to do with that, a pretty knarly plant.

And the title of this post tells the story. I've now hooked 6 or 7 Robalo and all but two earned their freedom . The darn things will pick up your bait right on the shore and you just don't get that good ' wait for the pull ' hook set...then the next wave picks ol slimey up and leaves him high and dry on the beach. And then because he hasn't been played out he thrashes and thrashes around until you see the hooks fly out and then before your 70 year old legs can get you there the next wave grabs him and walla....free at last, the one two days ago weighed 10 kilo or so . I've had that happen 4 times now. So, fighting an incredible run of bad moe-joe I decided to build some good karma and let this one swim off after Curt snapped the pic. Oh, and this one took the teaser and not the Mirrolure that was pulling it, pretty cool.

I'm playing music this weekend and I'll try to get MPeasy to shoot a video, maybe a Christmas song for you all . 

They call it fishing not catching

 and I should be used to that.  Commercial fishing it was called a water haul , my friend Chick once famously said ' we fished  today and they were unaware of it '. So, the fact of the matter is that it's the slowest ever I've seen it on the beach but the good news is that my neck is slowly but sure;y allowing me to wander the beach and do what I love...fish, meet people , talk story ya know. so I feel good enough I've gone from an hour onto close to two if I feel like it and the other day I threw my big rod for a couple hours and went fairly pain free through it. So if you ladies at St. Petes Re Hab see this, thank  you so much, I'm doing the exercises and stretches and here's the results.

My first Robalo of the season. It's about the fourth one I've had on the hook and the darn things just keep escaping. I had one that bit right at the beach and he just didn't have the hook so it came apart with the first jump and head shake....man it's exciting when that happens. Then just a few hours ago I had one hit at the end of my cast and I set right on time and hard , and yup, he jumped so I could clearly see him and the Mirrolure came flying . The pic below is of the sand carbs that are so thick you hook them just pulling your lure through the sand. The snappers love these guys so they should be everywhere the ' cochita's ' are....and maybe they are and don't need what we fishermen are trying to feed them.

The other morning we had to leave the house so Lorena could clean for us so we jumped the green bus and had breakfeast at Mr. Lionso's on Cerritos point. We walked out to the panga fleet to see how the  experts were doing and with  true Jethronian timing watched Jose unload the largest Lobster catch I've ever seen. For the peso equivalent of about 25 bucks I got three gorgeous mid sized lobsters....it was a push but me and MP but we ate it all in one setting , the key to that deal is we ate just Langosta, no pesky ol salad or veggies....maybe a little wine of course. 

After years of Pandemic cancellations The Marathon of the Pacific was back on Sunday. It's one of our favorite things to walk into the Gold Zone as the runners head towards our house. There's lots of energy and cheering and just simple goodwill going around. This years marathon was a bit watered down, no world class Kenyans and we saw no Banda which is one of my favorite things but its on and that was good enough foe us....Here's team Comacho rooting on their guys and typical athletes....the last pic is the leader with about 10 KM more to go.

So we're into the flow of Mexico now that we're a month in....It feels comfortable and I'm a lucky guy to have found this lifestyle and have the health to do it. The last 3 months have been a struggle for me with physical therapy and some heart wrenching  sadness that happens to people in our age group....and although I feel like I've aged 5 years in 3 months I push forward, have to, that's all there is. I've not complained with the everyday pain and MP notices both my resolve as well as when I hurt. The other night I played songs for the building and it was a struggle. I was feeling it when I started and when the set was over so was I....it's kinda changed and that's a good thing I'd say as a tingling itch kind of thing in your face and head and around your ear is easier than spasms that stop you in your tracks...