It turns out Linda had never actually caught a fish! Who knew?
Growing up in Oklahoma, Mark thought everyone had taken a cane pole and some
worms or shiners to a local pond and yanked a few perch or crappie from their
watery home. But you know what they say about assuming….
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| More successful trip. Note change of cast! |
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| An unfortunate catfish...and a cane pole! |
So for a quick pre-holiday visit, we flew over to San Jose del Cabo, a
1.5 hour flight from GDL, to visit Mark's brother Dan, who has invented yet another
version of his fishing self, Dan 4.0, this time as a deep sea fisherman and
maker of those wacky-looking lures you may have seen on American Sportsman. Oh
wait, that has not been on since maybe 1969, on a black and white TV in an
Oklahoma barber shop called Murray’s.
[See lures at http://bfdbiggamelures.com/]
Anyway, Dan has been a fish guy since he was knee high to a
grasshopper. This has taken many forms, aforementioned cane pole on pond bank,
to fishing from a large truck tire inner tube covered with canvas for bass in
Oklahoma farm ponds, to trips to Alaska, catching kings and taking a .45 to the
outhouse in case bears arrived, to becoming a certified drift boat guide in
Idaho. And about 10 years or so ago, chasing marlin in the Sea of Cortez and
the Mexican Pacific. Where he caught a giant blue about 2009, officially 800
lbs, though it turns out that was the limit of the scale on the dock at the
time.
To be very clear, he only brought this one in, as it died during
the fight. He is a dedicated catch & release guy, and at one point had info
on his website (for the lures) that said, “eating marlin causes impotence.”
Just to be clear.
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| Famous Los Arcos, pulling out of the Marina |
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| Sunrise! |
OK, so we were in good hands as we left the marina in Cabo just before dawn. We had mentioned that some dorado to eat would be good (as they are sustainable!). It didn’t take long for "Fish On!," and Linda was in the chair. She brought in, after a short fight, a good-sized dorado, and we were fixed for ceviche. Her first fish! Mark says his first was a perch about 3” long.
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| The live bait not looking too happy in the tank (underwater photo) |
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| Didn't know tuna had that color/pattern |
We rounded out the day by spending some time amongst a large
school of dolphins (If we could only swim like they do!), and watching a few
water spouts form! |
| And of course, Dan caught the biggest one! |
The next day, we picked up the fish, fileted, vacuum-sealed, and
frozen – all for about $1 a pound – and headed back to the ranch, where tequila
and ceviche were had by all.
Great way to spend our first Christmas in Mexico!
Thank you, Dan and Jana, (BFD lures business partner,) -- good to go fishing with you again!
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| Had lots of flags to show off on our way back in! |
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| Pancho, looking for the no-longer-live bait on our return |
(Diciembre, 2018)
Why are the Magers kids always wearing casts?
ReplyDelete@Jon You should ask my father about The Somnolent Son, detailing his three trips to the "disabled list" with various arm ailments! :/
DeleteAfter reading Striking Steelhead, Wise Dan said he takes his fishing very seriously, but not himself, so remember that! Also, good job, Linda, I also look forward to fishing with you all down there, and please give Pancho some fishes (though no head pat, as we have had a spat of sea lion attacks/bites in the Bay Area lately)!
ReplyDelete