20 years ago.... my first fish story

And what makes this a fish story ? I guess it's because they all are really. You see we fish for new experiences, new friends, new tastes and new stories....new fish, new weather and the same sunsets and sun ups but through a new view, a fresh view.

It was all sooooo new to us, we were just starting our love affair with Mazatlan . I'm sure everyone knows that feeling when you first fall , it's all so new and so exciting and you can't believe that you're really there or that she really loves you and .....it's magic . These guys listening while I poach a free beer or so are still friends today. Danny " the Hatman " Lizzaraga who invited us to our first Mexican wedding where his uncle unsuccessfully tried to out drink me . Jimmy Mendoza who had us to his Casa where his wife Maria started our fixation with real Mexican Chili Relanos . Jimmy has passed but now 20 years later his son Juan is my fishing / guitar / genuine friend. Jimmy showed us so much . Then there's Mike who I don't see as much but his brother Mario and I have stayed together . And Allan there was the Mayan Palace guy who took care of us....

It was spring break for both our guys in college Sam came from Northern Arizona and Max came from U of A, Alaska .  It rained one day and we all ended up in the pool hall waiting for the sun to return . As I commented to Sam about his 8-ball skills I had to ask the obvious question " you are going to class aren't you " ?  The four of us had a wonderful week , we called a cab and got them both on the way to the airport and me and MP went shopping to get the makings of a celebration. Getting back to the Mayan Palace with a couple steaks and a bottle of Chardonnay we run into Sam.....yikes,' what are you doing here ' ? Well we had all put our passports in a pile and he ended up with the wrong one. It was a bittersweet ,  we got another day with Sam but the steaks had to wait.  There's my crew on rocks on the rocks of Playa Olas Altas.

This was the era in my life where I was winging just about everything. Why  buy expensive tackle and gear when I had tons of it in Alaska, surely I had things in the garage that would catch these new fish. I met Daniel the lifeguard and we were immediate friends. Now Daniel and I also shared a common trait, neither of us had one single iota of the other persons language. I had a little battery powered translator that didn't survive my 1st swim in the ocean so me and Danny used sign language and laughing to get things done. He showed me how to wiggle your feet at the surf zone to feel for the little cochita's  (sand crabs ) that make excellent bait. He showed me that if you can't feel for them so well all you really have to do is watch the shore birds who pluck at them as the surf raises and falls right at the water. Danny took me to the rocks and showed me how to chisel off the oysters with a rock and butter knife and now 20 years later I'm a pretty good water man, maybe an expert.

So there I am with my first ever Mazatlan fish. All my Mazatlateco friends will notice the view north from the Mayan there, looking to Playa Bruja. The only big building on the beach is the one you see, Quintas Del Mar. If that pic were taken today, my goodness, maybe 15 high risers would be in view including the sprawling Riu property that Jimmy Buffet would characterize like this ' it's ugly and square , it don't belong there ' . 

So I'm fishing with sand crab bait with the rod in the holder when I see a disturbance in the water that was new to me. I had a trout sized green Krocidile on a Kenai Special and a casting reel which I wound up and got out maybe 25 ft.....Bang, instantly I've got him on and I'm astonished by the power . I told people on the Kenai that if you tied that fish to a Silver Salmon he'd pull it backwards. I was pumped. Daniel showed me how to bleed him and how to fillet my first Tuna. Yup, I had decided he was a Tuna family and when the four us sat down for our first fresh Mexican pescado we all admitted it was the best darn Tuna we'd ever eaten . Allan asked about the carcass and the Mayan staff used it for soup base. 

So on that Spring fishing trip 20 years ago I caught lotsa new stuff here's a list .

1. My first digital pics. I had bought my Minolta at Costco for a pretty good chunk of lettuce. I use the camera to this day and have taken thousands of pics with it . I learned how to succeed as a good photographer with no talent . ' If you can't take a good shot, take a lot of shots '

2. My first ' Cubrito ' hangover . Cubrito's are what they call the small 7 ounce Pacifico bottles. At Danny's daughters wedding they had Dozens of cases and it was sooooo festive. Danny's uncle would come to me and lock elbows as we'd both chug a Cubrito . He was a small guy and after a half dozen or so he got tired and took a nap.

3. New Stars...It's funny , you might not think you know the night sky but you do , you've lived with it your entire life. Me and MP would lie on the beach, it was so dark....the Dippers were way to the north. The north star was about midship and the  Southern Cross was new to us.  We'd hold hands with wonder.

4. Our first real Chili Relanos. Jimmy Mendoza's wife Maria is known for them. It was a hot evening on a dusty road and she grilled as we ate and.....oh baby they were good....and spicy ! I was puddling ! But like a good gringo should I was determined to eat all she gave me . The next time we had the Chili Relanos Maria fried them in a hub cap on the beach for us.  Love those guys .

5. My first Busking....although I've played music since I got my first guitar in 7th grade I never really considered myself a musician until about this era. Mazatlan made me a musician. The culture is so musical the locals welcome all and hold a special place for good ol American Rock and Roll.  I used to say ' I ain't good but I am loud "......now I say ' I'm good and loud " .

6. My first  first Class....My buddy  Chris was doing tons of flying in the day and would treat us to First Class upgrades with Alaska Airlines and yup, it's a better way to go. I even played music for the airplane one time...so thank's Chris, from you I learned the way .

7. My first Tuna....mmmmm.....well,,,a...

8. So there's a few firsts. If I could do it all again I'd do everything exactly the same....except sooner.

How's about one last first ? The first song I ever recorded on my U Tube station , hope it doesn't make your dog bark.

Oh Deer...

 We got neighbors that think they're beautiful, and feed them . But mostly what we have is a public that's tired of the pests and a government that doesn't know how to solve a really pretty easy problem, if you can set a aside human emotion.  These urban Deer have habituated themselves not only to town but specific houses and green area where they feel protected. They eat everything, new budding tulips, perennials of all kinds and stomp down paths through wonderfully manicured landscaped yards . AND...I'm of the opinion that it's just a matter of time before us human types realize they carry the wasting disease or the Burcelosis type of thing that could be passed on to our kind and at the very least our pets . So what's to be done ? Here's a pic of the enemy, shot on yesterday mornings walk .

The woman who lets me live here has been calling me Carl lately, surely you remember Carl Spackler from the movie Caddy Shack. I haven't resorted to middle of the night black opps....yet...but I am armoring the perimeter and trying to Deer proof our back yard that has 42" chain link all around that that these hybrid urban Deer bound over like it was a steeping stone.  Now MPeasy and a few of our friends have questioned if I really could be successful.....mmmmm....it's junior varsity insulting if they think we can't out smart these cuties who are ruining the yard. Here's the plan.

So that's what Carl is doing. Now what's the City of Helena doing ? mmmmmm.....Well, the first thing you do is form a committee while forgetting a basic tenant of politics is that if you want to slow something down or even do nothing the best thing is to form a committee. Then you set an ' acceptable ' number of deer per neighborhood and then decide how many of the vermin to execute to get to that number. I'd say the urban deer 'acceptable ' number should be zero, 0 , none , notta...then when the g-men go to work you end up with 1/2  of your goal . Makes sense eh ? So, while we lounged around Mexico this winter the animal control people here set traps to cull 250 or so deer of which I think I saw they got  38. 

So, here's a suggestion from the new guy, don't ya just hate that ? But a lot can be learned from your more 'hands on ' neighbors to the north where they deal with this stuff routinely.  Back in the day Alaska had a Governor who we all loved who could make sense of problems and said famously " you can't just let nature run wild ". 

Dear Mayor Collins : Have you ever heard of Hagermeister Island ?  Let's assume you haven't . It's near the north shore of Bristol Bay in the Alaska Maritine National Wildlife Refuge. Years ago an entrepreneur decided that this uninhabited island would be the perfect place to raise reindeer and then harvest them for meat. Well it worked real good until the harvesting part came around. There's no port, there's a big ol dangerous ocean surrounding it and the closest butcher shop is only 2,000 miles away. So the g-men put out a proposal that anybody who wanted could go to Hagermeister Island and harvest the animals in hopes of achieving and ' acceptable ' number.  This place is a reserve and the herd was stomping down the habitat and destroying the bird rookeries and eating all the kelp on the beach and jeeez, what a mess. So, after many years of little or no harvest it was time to cull the herd....with the Air National Guard , now these guys know how to get it done. They come in with Helicopters and mini-guns and Walla, no problema. 

Just last year after watching the Mulchatna Caribou herd decline to the lowest levels ever it was decided that predation by Grizzly Bears was a huge factor . So, turn the problem over to the ADF+G and they arm a Super Cub with a good shot and an AR-15 and couple days later 100 of them are eliminated. nothing to it.

Does that guy look like he could stomp s*^# out of you ?  ( that's a real pic of one of many ) Well that's what the  cowboys who were coincidentally from Montana found out when they  were hired to round hundreds of those guys up on another Alaska Island with the same problem. Chirikof Island was over run with cattle that nobody could, for lack of a better term 'handle'. The government wanted them gone so a barge was brought in and the cowboys saddled up and....were back in the Anchorage Airport a few days later after being unsuccessful for many reasons one of which was that after years of neglect the animals are basically wild .

So Mr. Mayor, I know , enough anecdotel stories however interesting they may be. You wanna know why I tell these stories. Well it's simple .  When faced with way more challenging situations than urban deer these folks went to work . Don't ya suppose we could do at least a bit more to make our city just a little more people friendly and little less deer friendly ? After all.....you can't just let nature run wild .

Another big step For Kenai Kings

 People who know me are aware of how close to my heart / life and of course for the future of these fish are to me. If we only knew then what we know now, but as Gary Allan sings ' life just don't work that way'.The Alaska Board of Fisheries just wrapped up their 3 year cycled meeting on Cook Inlet and gave the plans to recover these one of a kind fish and chart the future of them with a mild massage. Mmmmmm, well they lowered the spawning (escapement ) goal , once again . Back in the day the fishery and escapement number was set at a remarkable recruitment ( how many fish return per spawner) of 3 to 1 which for wild King Salmon stocks in the world would be exceptional . For the people needing the lettuce out of this deal it was simple and went like this - Lately ( 1970's and 80's ) our King run is 60,000 fish, so , 20,000 get caught and sold commercially, 20,000 get caught and killed sport fishing and 20,000 get up the river and spawn to repeat the process....perfect, what could go wrong ? 

So the stage was set. The total run shrank and shrank , 3 to 1 management projections weren't adding up so.....the escapement goal was reduced and the math worked out. Then the season was lengthened to add more fish to the count which made the baseline data questionable.  The escapement goal finally hit 15.000 and change before the experts began to question that the 3 to 1 formula was wrong  . The 3 to 1 recruitment model is used and works in many fisheries that have pristine spawning habitat and fisheries like Coho and chums that stay out to sea almost half as many years as big Kenai Kings which are 5 ocean fish....more time in the ocean = more chance of being killed before it's time to spawn. So now, the new action plans and escapement goals and hope for the future rest with what the ADF+G who are  now thinking that the actual recruitment for Kenai Kings is 1.4 or so to 1.0 . This is sustainable but with the current numbers will not allow for  any harvest and of course if they are still wrong and the actual recruitment is less than one to one...well....it's a downward spiral that will end in no fish somewhere in time after old guide #003 has left the planet. And with all this going on, all this guess work or S.W.A.G. at ADF+G (simple wild ass guess ) the B.O.F. lowered the escapement goal once again, now it's 14.500. 

I guess it's a goal thing. In my life I've always set high standards and goals for myself. Some of which I haven't met  and some that I'm still working on and hope to meet in the future....but bureaucracy works this way, set your goals low and success is easier . And if you're a B.O.F. member it will get you through to the next meeting . It's sad .😞

If only everyone could experience it. You've been on the water since 6:00 a.m. and it's finally starting to warm. Your rod goes off and you pull it out of the holder and set into resistance. My friend Sergio Tirado told me once ' there is nothing like the first run of a King Salmon ' . It takes 15 minutes until you get the first real look as the flashing silver grows larger and larger as it comes to the surface. It takes another ten minutes to get him laying on his side and swimming head first towards the net all the time you're knowing that this part is when it can go wrong. Head first into the net and then take the pressure off and drop the  tip, you're relieved . You put your rod down and help your buddy lift it into the boat and like a chorus you both say almost together , ' my gawd, that's a beautiful fish ' !