Sometimes....

 It feels a bit like an alternate universe here in Mazatlan, you know the old parallel worlds deal. I've often told people that the coolest thing about Mexico is that there's no doubt that it doesn't even  TRY to be like the USA and for me....that's a good thing . 

I shoot that pic through window this morning at a place we came across on our Saturday morning walk / talk / eat trip . We've found the most wonderful breakfast spot called La Laguna which is at a point in the wetlands that run parallel with the Malecon. Great food and the vibe is like you were in Paris dining along the Seine. As we ate this morning we watched this guy circumnavigate the Lagoon, expertly throwing his cast net as he moved along .....Pretty cool. 

But I digress. I was gonna tell a story about beer...Pacific of course is brewed right here in Mazatlan and it fuels the town, no doubt about it . Well the other day we're at our new favorite and recently discovered taco stand Epa Epa. Now we had to look for a new place as Tacos Martin which had the wonderful beef tongue (lengua ) that I love mysteriously went out of business . Epa has Happy hour all day, 2 Pacificos for 50 peso, $2.50 in gringo. So,for every beer a frugal person will order two, right ? I looked that word frugal up in the Thesaurus and the first word for it came up  was ' miserly ' ....well I don't think I'm that but I can stretch a buck....so where's this story going you ask...  So we get our two beers and order taco's El pastor and a crazy potato. When it comes we order two more Pacifico's even though MP doesn't really want another but I'm ready for one and as we eat I drink it and then 'help' MP with hers. Well about this time a Mexican man with his family leaves table and goes out to his car and comes back with 2 Pacifico's and I figure that he's bringing his own beer in which you see all the time and is acceptable in Mexico. But nope, he walks over to our table and says he'd like to treat us as they're jumping the jet  for Tijuana soon and have to empty their cooler. So in the spirit of International co operation I say thank you and now we have a 6 beer lunch, kinda like your basic 3 martini lunch on Wall Street ...and me...well....I've got my first early day burner ( as Tom O'mara would say ) going in looooooong time. Took a nap when we got home. 

And fishing....yup we're still pounding the water. Most of Team X convenes every morning over at Mar Rosa and the reports have been kinda slow and with the Water Taxi refusing to let non El Cid people aboard I've been fishing closer to home. AND, it's been sooo cold in the morning that I've kinda changed that pattern and lately I walk in the morning asnf fish in the afternoon...Dan Sterchi said to me one morning years ago " I don't know why the hell we gotta get up so early for , I mean the fish DO live here don't they "! so I invented a pattern where I fish in the pool troughs just off shore at low tide. I use my ultra light outfit as I only cast 20 or 30 feet and then let a really really small rubber swimfish just kind float and dodge along and low and behold there's snappers in those pools. I've caught many like this and the other day a gorgeous yellow one. They're slol close you'd think you can see them but you can't.

Behind me you can see the shallow sand I wade out on and then cast parallel with the beach up and down the trough. Nuttin to it .

Now here's a gorgeous thing . They other day we went to the movie and as MP like everybody else in town has been cold she see's this unique  coats that I guess I'd call a shawl . What a cool store, they have things we've never seen before with an atmosphere to match. So if any of you wanna see the coolest clothing in the coolest store at the Galleria's this is it .

And finally in the ' we've got culture ' department we ran into these dancers on the Malecon this morning. What a great place to walk and visit and you never know what or who you're going to run into. You can stop for a coconut, you can get a cold Michelada or you can just belong, it's really cool.

Mexi-cold

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 hole 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 .