By Catch

 Spring has been slow to come here in Moooontana. But finally we got us the storied non freezing nights and 60 to 70ish days so we just got done with our first two days of chasing. Every fishery has a rumor mill and I'm sure this one's alive and well, I'm just not connected to the coconut telegraph here like I have been in Mexico or  Alaska. I just gotta meet the right people, the guy that knows the guy that knows....So in my search for Wally's, the southern Halibut I have to rely on what Keith tells me and You Tube video's.  I start on a point, 12 to 16 ft. of water . I got live bait and the Berkley flicker shad as well as a Hot an Tot and Medium diver Chartreuse plug. We troll 3 minutes and one of the 4 rods goes off.  The fish is heavy and fights pretty good at first and then kinda lays down like I've been told the Wally will do. I'm excited, my first Wally .....turns into a trout,, but a nice one.

mmmm....it's on the chartreuse Wally plug so I cut out the Hot N Tot and put on another Wally plug. In another ten minutes MP has another but bigger trout to the boat. So, I change out once again and now I have all plugs out one of which has been hanging in my garage peg board for 25 years that a customer gave me because it said ' salmon on it. The third fish comes to that plug and I'm kinda dumbfounded, do you suppose these trout will eat anything ?

So having 3 or 4 to the boat and several misses in less than an hour guide # 003 decides to take my own advice that I offered to the young guys time and time again on the world famous " do what you do and always trust your own intuition "....So, next thing you know I'm salmon fishing again. MP and I decide to run just three rods ( in this place you're allowed 2 a person , I know that seems strange but what isn't around here ) and I'm pulling all salmon plugs, Hot Shots , Mag Lips , Tadpolly's and my best catcher turns out to be a gold Wiggle Wart just like the one I snipped off Herb Good's line at Stewart's Landing Boat Launch 40 years ago.  ( and that's another story ) . As the years went on we used them for trout when the beads and flesh flies weren't working so I shouldn't have been surprised. And lucky me, I got boxes full of them.

So eventually we get down to fishing just two rods and have many trout to the boat that are 3 pounds. Even on the world famous that would be a pretty good two hours of fishing. Of course we all know MP being the original mind wanderer is usually only good for a couple of hours so we're getting ready to call it quits and have a beer at the 19th hole. Here's another typical.

As I'm putting the gear away a boat pulls up kinda close and wants to talk, get a fishing a report. I tell them they gotta get closer because I left my earing aids at home. They've got a brand new boat and when I tell them I don't have the foggiest idea what I'm doing they say they don't either. But I report there seems to be a lot of fish around and they're only down about 10 feet and they love Alaska salmon lures. I offer to give them some but they say they got a Qwikfish or two and some Lazy Ikes. 

Being a little compulsive ( I like that description a lot better than using the word ' anal ' ) it takes me a bit to clean all the lures off and put them nicely away, dried off of course. Then I gotta lock the rods into the rod holders so they sweep back behind the boat and look cool when I run back. Just as I leave I look over and snap this pic with the telephoto....they catch a  nice trout and I watch them release it. I idle within ear shot and tell them I'll have the pics for sale in the lobby this evening.....they say " we'll see you then "......this is kinda fun.

And it's BEAUTIFUL

 

 

Invasive Species ?

 His world had gone from sailing ships

to raking mom's backyard.

He never could adjust to land

although  he tried so hard.

We were both growing older then

and wiser with our years.

That's when I came to understand the course his life still steers....

                                 Thank you  Jimmy Buffet

Where do I start ?  Well....I used to trap this 

And now.... I trap this

I thought Beavers were a pain is the ass until I got to really liking the beautiful mature landscaping here at Mile 14 south. These Gray Squirrels they tell me are invasive and let me tell you....there's lots of them. Being a guy that's killed just about enough stuff for one lifetime I've been relocating them, so far 4 family units worth and counting.  Single handedly I've jumped the numbers up in the little  town of Rimini enough that I'm afraid somebody will see me and punch my lights out, afterall, it is Montana. Yikes, here I am, after invasive fish, trapping invasive rodents...I'll tell ya what's invasive...ME ! Here's a pretty cool pic of me releasing one to his new home so he can reunite with his sister squirrels that I took there last night. Boy howdy they sure run like they're on fire when you let em go.

Now, where I come from they think Pike are invasive and god help ya if you if you get any Elodea or Pike in your favorite  fishing lake....but squirrels ?  I don't know, does anyone really believe that someone somewhere in time that was moving to Montana from Missouri said  " ya know honey, lets make that place a little more like home ands take a few of them Gray Squirrels with us " .  I don't think so.  So, having seen the sun set a few times I'm convinced that no matter what or where it is that this invasive species deal is phoey, bunk, B.S... It's all a big make work project for the ' scientist's '  If  they didn't want Walleye in the Missouri river they shouldn't have let the other ' scientists '  Dam the entire river up. And if somebody could convince me that these mysterious ' bucket biologists ' we hear so much about are responsible for all these invasions then I might become one myself....We need something with a bit more tug around here, maybe some Skamania variety Steelhead. I mean if we're gonna sponsor an invasion let's at least think about....do ya suppose those Zebra Mussels could be sautéed with a nice garlic rue ?.....okay, heard enough , right ?

So for Wally's I'm investing. I got jigs in all sizes with and without stinger hooks. I got lead for Lindy riggin that goes from 1/16 th of an ounce all the way up to 2 ounce. I've got the funkiest sinkers that have a coat hanger sticking out of them and Ernie says I need a thing called and Erie Dearie.  And scents....you know I believe big time in that. I got me some anise water soluble spray with instructions to ' apply liberally ', well that's music to my ears . But before adulthood my bait was strictly organic. I'd let them sardines just juice and juice away until opening the cooler for a new bait could wake up a snoozing fisherman. I was kinda surprised when I broke camp that nobody seemed to want that Igloo cooler, jeez...Now that's fishing...

And the wildlife here...the uninvasive that is or would the word be unvasive ?  In any case, we got lots to see. But instead of this

we got this....same thing but different

We'd go sailing back on Barkentines

and talk of things he did

Tomorrow was just a day away 

for the Captain and the kid

 

I'm just missing one thing....

 and that's EXPERIENCE....and I ain't got none of that on my new pursuit to  feed the Mile 14 staff here at the mid-america Bureau fresh caught Walleyes that are purported to be the best table fare available in these parts. I've been watching YouTube video's and Keith Holtan who's caught as many Walleyes in his life as he has salmon shared some tips with me on how to get started. So please any of you that know the way please chine here after you look at what I got and what I ain't....I need all the help I can get.

Organization ✔

Hard Baits ✔

Soft Baits and jig heads ✔

Rapala's ✔  this is a tuff one. I only got a few and people just rave by their effectiveness . Keith told me that when a certain model came out they were in so demand that resorts in Minnesota rented them out.. I don't know an X-rap from a blasting minnow so...I got just a few that were in my Dad's tackle box  I'll pull them around while I do some old fashion Sea Gulling as we call following and copying other anglers like happened to me for years on the world famous. And oh....they're really expensive so I guess the message to the person that lets me live here is this.....we gotta start over , her friend Connie calls it ' shooting the locks off your wallet '. 

Boat ✔ did I ever tell you that this is the 7th boat of my life ?

Luck, Moe Joe, Momentum ✔ I've always been pretty good with that part and of course a little common sense will help...fish where the fish are, right ?

Research ✔  mmmmm...well.....the other day as I was out Sea Gulling right after Ice out I can't help but notice boats in our closes Lake , lots of boats.  It's connected to the Missouri system and is real shallow and the water warms first I would guess. I know they catch Walleye at the opening to this lake so it stands to reason that in the spring the fish migrate there to spawn.... But, and this is a big but, I  run into this sign that kinda puts me in a predicament , I ain't never seen anything like this in my nearly 69 years on the planet.

Yikes....it's kinda like the warning about Great Lakes Salmon ' quit eating it if your lips start tingling '. So my strategy is to fish upstream and get the Walleye as they head to this area...and besides after looking at the water real good I just can't do that to my new favorite boat's water pump. To say the least the water is ahhhh...thick, even cruddy and well you can read.

So here's pic of our new house I took the other day so you can see what life is like here in our new era. I like it.

And when people come over, and I hope they do, the first thing they see is this. It's about us, our coat of arms so to speak. Thanks baby for the art, let's go fishing !

Lets Re Set

 Before we jumped the jet for Moootana we were having supper with old friends who in this strange covid era had other health problems as well as difficulties getting their usual place to stay in Mazatlan.  Feeling just tired they told me and MPeasy that they being in their seventies were thinking that this was probably the last year for them in Mazatlan. They'd been coming for over 30 years and  were talking about pulling the plug....yikes...They love Mazatlan, who doesn't ?  So , I encouraged them to not be hasty and think it over, maybe all we really need is a reset, ya know, kind of start over . I told them that for us that I feel like somebody kinda stole two years of our lives. I know we can't get any of that back so maybe rather than slow down our goals and adventures what we really need to do is stomp down on the gas pedal a bit. And that's what we're doing....By the time we left Mazatlan our friends agreed to see us in MZT for another supper  in less than a year 😎

So that's the plan....what we really need are first's and not last's...Just yesterday I trimmed my first ever hedge, now that ain't a fun or adventuresome thing but...hey, it's new to me and me and MP had fun working together on it. This years first's,  and we'll see how many we make, I hope all and more.

1. My first Walleye's. I made that plural cuz I'm intending to learn that deal and you know me, when I do it will be like a Space X launch. Every ardent fisherman I know speaks about or knows about those fish so there must be something to it.

2. Our first drive to Mazatlan. Next fall we're road trippin for sure. Last year we came close with a trip to Green Valley AZ but next season we're going all the way...We'll stop and get our Mexican insurance and our FMM and our T.I.P. and enough cold Coca Cola's to give for propina's to every toll collector we meet along the way. 

3. Our first lower 48 salmon. Yup, they got em down here to and if we had to list what we miss about Alaska I guess eating, catching, talking and smoking salmon would be number one. They got em close by and I know how to get em.

4. MP's first Mariner game ( I've been to just one ) . They spent some money after coming so close last year we gotta go see it up close and personal. We'll get out to Seattle and visit all our friends in Squim and then grab Samuel John King and get us some of those right field baseline seats on a Thursday night game that starts at 6:00.  Pass the garlic fries !

5. My first real musical gig. Now I've played music for hundreds of people and even in a few fairly large venues but I'm feeling like I can do some good and of course have some fun. The Senior facility that MP's mom was at was looking for somebody to come in and play for the residents and I think I'm just the right guy...Not going to effect my tax situation but I'd bet ya I can get some cookies out of the deal.

So you get the idea. Speaking of music, here's a song I just love. The lyric is so simple that it's pure genius. It's what all of us older people in the new covid world are kind of feeling. The song was on the soundtrack of the movie Crazy Heart . Somebody told me one time that I reminded them of  Jeff Bridges character in the movie, well I don't think that's true but if loving that music is a reminder well then maybe it is. It's written by Ryan Bingam. 

In one month I'll have the new suspension in my old white truck so we'll have the camper on and ready to race. The ice is just about all out on the lakes so I'll get the boat over from HamBone and be out pretty soon. and I will, I really will do at least a couple posts per month, just squeezed in under the wire this month but hey, it's been busy. Hope ya all come back !

Fat Tuesday

 As you know, Mazatlan has the third biggest pre lent Carnaval in the world only behind New Orleans and Rio De Janiro. We've gone to the parade on Fat Tuesday every year since we've started coming to Maz. But there seems to be a view in the gringo community that the crowds are huge and unsafe and there's pick pockets and thieves preying on the unsuspecting....I won't say if that's true or false, I'll just say we go every year. As we walked out of the building on our way to the bus we bumped into a couple of friends who saw the folding chairs and beer cooler and said " oh, you're going to risk it "? Well....mmmm....what the real risk is in not going. What you risk is becoming an old cautious ' watch it on TV ' kind of couple and me and MPeasy ain't headed in that direction. Here's my favorite float of the night

The celebration like everything here  so family orientated. Every year we get adopted by a family that we end up sharing some real estate on the sea wall with. So here is pic of our new friends from 2022 who we had cheeto's in pepper sauce with and shared many a chuckle...Pura La Vida my friends.

I really didn't get the electro shock deal until the young guys who gave it a try went into hysterical laughter. Yup, at Carnaval you can  buy just about anything including getting hooked up to a car battery for 2 minutes. Me and their mother were watching with kinda ' I can't  believe this ' curiosity when they get the Mom to join hands left and right to complete a circuit ...she didn't seem to enjoy it as much as the young guys.

Parade food is outstanding and most everything comes with some kind of pepper sauce. A big thing is simply opening a bag of chips or better yet Dorito's and pouring your chile pepper sauce in . Kinda messy but it's sooo good.  I'd of jumped on this guys Tamales if I hadn't just woofed down a bacon wrapped hot dog with chili/mayo and grilled onions.  When it comes to protection from this pandemic that's changed all our lives you can't have to much. I got him to pose for this pic and it's typical, everyone is so engaging and fun.... I like that real good. And oh...he had free Wi Fi.

Now speaker scooter man took up  some real estate near us and we were liking him pretty good even if he was the loudest thing in ear shot...and that's saying a lot. But he just rested and recharged then moved along to continue what we know about Carnaval...you can be any thing or anybody you want. He was obviously a gadget guy, coolest watch I ever seen.

This new Lumix camera of mine is good for fishing as it's waterproof and shockproof but for quality shots I'm not so impressed.  My 'good' Lumix that died had a telescoping lens and low light sensors which took cool night shots....So these float pictures are a little disappointing but trust me, the floats are huge and each tows a generator for music and lights, very spectacular. This years Parade theme was Countries around the world or something similar.We had Marilyn Monroe in the smoke and the Beattles playing ' A Hard Days Night '....and a Mazatlan Venado ( Deer ) that shot confetti out of it's mouth.

So you're thinking " he ain't got no fish pics this edition ".....WRONG. I gotta tell ya about our new friend Dave. He's been fishing in front of the house here for a couple weeks . He sits in a fold up chair and has a cart for his stuff and mostly bait fishes although he keeps another spinning rod ready to cast with....but I'd never seen him use it. well the other morning I was casting long and hard because on several occasions I had seen the close white water ' get nervous ' with that tell tale that signals Robalo are chasing bait onto shore. So Dave gets out of his chair and grabs his spinner and on about the third cast he's on...He hollers, the fish jumps, I put my rod down and grab the gaff just in case and before you know it he tows this beauty up the beach....it's the magic of fishing. It was his last day in Mazatlan and the biggest Snook he'd ever caught or even seen. He was soooo excited and I was sooooo happy for him.  Well done Dave when you read this....and you flat  out earned that fish ....that's why we do it 😎

Making Friends

 Now that's something I've always been good at, maybe it was my military upbringing. But whatever it is when I  combine that with the wonderful welcoming style of the Mexican people I just seem to fit in real good...just kinda normal. Today as we walked old town the blaring sound of the a water salesman rang down the street and I shot this, we just don't advertise in such a personal manner N.O.B.   ( north of the border ) 

As we were at the Plaza Machado a bunch of kids were getting their pics taken for graduation or something I'd guess. It was cool so I asked if I could get a pic along with the professional that was  shooting and I had about 5 kids step forward....and then the rest seeing an opportunity joined in and I ended up with this.  Our son Max was impressed and told me that's powerful...I said  just fun and who doesn't like that .

And who doesn't consider these guys friends. The defined our youth and showed us the way to being ourselves. In my case they inspired me to get that first guitar and now I have several hundred songs and all of the the things I've done in life playing the music stands tall...

When I was young 

so much younger than today.

I never needed anybody's 

help in any way.

Now those days are gone 

and I'm not self assured.

And now I find the time to change

 my mind and open up that door.

Help me if you can I'm feeling down

and I really do appreciate you being around.

Help me get my feet 

back on the ground.

won't you PLeeeeease , please

Help Me.

And of course to be good with new friends ya gotta love on your old friends which since our life change we've been a little short on...But Maxwell Steven our oldest surprised us with a Mazatlan visit. I've always called him " best buddy " but that's not really the deal, every parent knows that...of all that I've learned in life I've learned the most and the most important from him and his brother Sam.

Nice Soldotna Stars shirt eh ?....mmmmm.....now where was I. Oh, you' re wondering about fish by now and I have not to many stories to tell. In one of life's poetic ironies I seem to have come up with a thing called Ciguatera, which is the most common type of fish poisoning. It has been hell. Look it up if you're curious but the short version is this : big predator fish ( that we all want ) in tropic areas eat small reef fish that get the ciguatoxin from eating coral or algae off the inshore rocks. It collects in your system and you get sick when you eat those fish as your system has all it can handle already. Some people are more sensitive and some less. In any case I'm the poster boy fish hound that's eaten and handled so many fish that now it makes me sick...But hey...the joy is in the pursuit so I'll continue to chase and report back. Just been sick a  lot his month...

So right now the best I can do is show every fish bum a beautiful thing... I told my friend Rafa at PescaMaz that I'd never seen a million dollars worth of lures in one place. Everyone knows how I feel about the Mirro Lure....in Alaska if you were to have to fish with only one lure it would be Blue Foxes Pixie, here in Mazatlan Mexico it would be the Mirro lure....Catch five for low and medium tide to dive on 3 to 5 ft. just above the rocks. M77 for high tide to dive to 10 or 15 feet and the new XXL for a medium depth long casting master .....what a lure. Oh, be careful with them , they're expensive.

About Snook

 Well  they're my favorite surf fish opponent. They fight well and will jump but my favorite thing is when they come up shaking  their heads when hooked, it's sooooo cool. It took me years to catch my first real nice one but lately there seems to either more of them or I finally learned how to catch them. They're interesting fish. They are hermaphrodite in that they all start out as males and turn into females at around 10 to 12 pounds , there are 6 verity's with the White Snook being the one we see the most. Like salmon they are anadromous , meaning they go into fresh water to spawn although some spawn in the open seas. They also think that because they are more prolific on the Caribbean side that they are extending their range. relying on warm water which seems to be everywhere in this day and age. Here's a pic of one I caught yesterday.

They love the Mangrove swamps and lucky for us the El Cid golf/ harbor / residence development used to be a pristine saltwater estuary and I always wondered how much of the original is still there . So I talk Jack into going up in his Boston Whaler which is about the cutest damn boat I 've ever seen....you know I'm kinda queer for boats. Well Jack and I found out there's a  lot of undisturbed mangrove wetlands and there's lots of fish to go with them....so cool....here' two shots to give you an idea. On one hand we could be out in backcountry and then go around the corner and you see the condo's.  We never saw another boat on our two trips.

Jack grew up in Mazatlan and he's about the first real waterman I've ever met and oddly enough he hasn't caught fish with a rod and reel, only a spear gun. So I got a big kick out of it after he landed this snook he told me " ya know Jeff , that's the first fish I've ever caught when I wasn't wet and cold ". So we're working on Jack to find the allure of sportfishing and we slide into the golden years together. He was trolling a nice deep diving plug when the rod went off and he grabbed the rod and reeled for a couple seconds then lifted this fish into the boat....poor snook never had a chance. 

I guess I've taken a few things for granted in the last few years so missing Mazatlan last year kind of rekindled my appreciation. Our garden suite is far from the nicest unit in the building and our privacy ain't what our neighbors have but I took this pic last night as I barbecued burgers and you gotta admit...that ain't a bad view...and while we were gone the city built us a brand new bike path from our place to Cerritos point 3 miles away. The lighting and all is fantastic and we're riding more because it's finally safe....thank you Mazatlan.

Now that I'm healthy I'm not missing another sunrise. This morning I was out of bed at 4:40 and then on the bus at 6:00. I met the guys at the spot and beat a couple but Tim and Tom beat me . It wanted to rain which is unusual and when this developed I put my new camera to use and it turned out pretty good. The Lumix shockproof / waterproof isn't really made for perfect shots nut I liked this real good...it really is why we do what we do.

And in the change is good category....here's a pic of us saying good bye to  our friend Gilberto who has run the water taxi ever since we started here in 2004 . He is retiring after an awesome career. He runs the boat like it was part of his body which is saying a lot as the boat is pontooned, under powered and catches a lot of wind along with tide. I tell people all the time that it's the hardest boat to run in the harbor and Gilberto does it with good cheer, so easily. I gave him a fishing rod and reel for retirement and I hope we get to fish together....we love this man, well played Gilberto.

See ya'all again soon....