50 degrees Fahrenheit at 6:00 a.m....now that might not sound cold to all of you that are N.O.B. but here in Mazatlan that's plain frigid . If you kinda look close or enlarge you can make out Alejandro warming his hands over a large Sterno stove . As you've heard me say many times , there's things in life that ya gotta want to do and getting out in the dark for a few Poleta like this is one of those things for me.
That's actually a pretty good sized one. Unlike their bigger cousin the Robalo they only get this big and we get them in the semi dark with a little feather jig called a Pluma close to shore and they're great eating. Team Xer Tim Lockwood arrived about a week ago and holy moly he caught a Robalo of at 5 kilo 3 days in a row....yikes....this is like the Mazatlan shore fishing equivalent of Joe Dimaggio's 56 game hitting streak back in 1941. Just like Joe he knows exactly what he's doing but ya know old #003 knows the fishing on the Playa a bit and that 3 day streak is even more impressive by the fact that I didn't think there were that many fish around....until now that is ! Good job Tim !
Ya know I'm kind of an ambassadeur for sport fishing . Team X is kinda my way of keeping the faith with all the wonderful people I've shared fishing with through the years. I meet new friends daily . We have an acronym ...FTF friends through fish . The other day I met these two Mexican men who were fishing bait. They stopped me to ask what the fish was as they thought it was Toro but as we chatted about the nice and rare Pompano they had caught the other guy has a bite and pulls in the very biggest Bottete I have ever seen. We had a good laugh....FTF...
Mac and I became friends 7 or 8 years ago. In fact he was with me when I tried to break my neck recovering a Poleta from the slippery rocks that cost me a trip to the emergency room...We both agreed that in the year 2025 we'd be using the ol grey matter a bit more and let the impetus part rest for a while...like the rest of our lives.
Now this Team Xer was throwing his hand line on a blustery mid day low tide and I'd have given him little chance of success with. Well he walked up next to me as I casted knowing conditions were impossible and threw the Cameron into 18 inches of water and reared back with a bite landing a nice supper sized Cocanaco Snapper. Guy looks like he was taking a break from his job at the bank eh ? FTF.
I guess I can say that I've caught just about every kind of fish there is to catch surf fishing in Mazatlan Mexico. I'm fairly good at it and of course 20 years of doing it increases your odds.....so....it was really cool to catch something new, something I've never seen , my first Barracuda . AND it wasn't one of the smaller Pacific Barracuda I have seen on commercial boats but was a gorgeous Great Barracuda that swam away to grow and prosper.
Thank goodness there was nobody around to help me a get a pic. I might have been tempted to hold him for the photo and his teeth were kinda intimidating and he was kinda snapping them a bit....see there, using the ol grey matter.
And here's a big ol Colorado Snapper that my fellow Alaskan Kiki caught out fishing with the famous Chalio's son Alex. I met Kiki and Chalio 20 years ago and we fished Alaska, we fished the Playa, we fished Marmol in the panga, I caught my first Rooster fish with these guys. Chalio left the planet this last winter and Mazatlan has a whole in it's heart....and Kiko....well, he just keeps fishing . FTF .
Some how or another as I was minding my own business watching the Sunset I got stung by a bee. Of course I'm highly allergic so it was kinda weird that I didn't know about it until by toe started turning several shades of purple. No mistaking it . That's what it looks like . I had several stings above my eye brows a few years back that blackened my eyes and was responsible for the only time in my 37 year guide career that I canceled any trips . So 3 days of Magnum Prednisone doses and we're good to go/
And oh....the Sunseta from our Casa. Ain' t that purty.
How's about I end this edition of Mile 14 with a song ? Alaska's best friend Hobo Jim Varsos co wrote this song with Russell Smith of The Amazing Rhythm Aces fame. George Jones made this song a #1 country hit....now how in the world could you write a song this beautiful and not be multi millionaire . We all love and miss you Jim .
