That's My Story

Published Western Outdoor News week of July 23, 2006

CHEAP FISHING AIN’T ALWAYS GOOD…GOOD FISHING NOT ALWAYS CHEAP!

“I am going to be in Cabo San Lucas next month. Please send me information about your cheapest fishing deal ASAP. “

That’s an e-mail I got the other day. Not too different from hundreds I might get in any given week during the Baja fishing season. I started to reply telling the writer, “Sorry, I’m not in Cabo San Lucas, I’m in La Paz. Good luck. Thanks for asking. Blah blah blah…”

I was going to refer him to some amigos in Cabo, but then noticed that the same blanket e-mail had been sent to about 2 zillion other operators in Baja. Essentially, he had sent the same e-mail from Tijuana to Rosarito and Mulege to Loreto and the East Cape plus La Paz and, of course, Cabo San Lucas. I recognized quite a few of the other e-mail addresses and just shook my head. Many were friends and associates.

I wished the guy good luck and told him that I was in La Paz, not Cabo. I went on to say that although it’s the information “super highway” he was going to get a boatload of responses from all kinds of operators. Some good. Some bad. But everyone of them was going to claim to be the “biggest, best, fish catchers on the wild wooly Baja!” He had let himself in for a super highway traffic jam and a bigger headache of confusion than when he started.

I wished him luck in his endeavors but also warned him of his criterion for making a selection, ergo, “your cheapest fishing deal.” Hmmmm…

I told him of a saying I once heard. “Good fishing isn’t always cheap and cheap fishing isn’t always good.” Think about that.

Even in these pages at WON, we see page after page of “deals” and “offers.” Most are darned great operations that I’ll bet my last dorado on and have been for years. But, you have to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. Make sure of what you’re getting.

Here’s Jonathan’s Baja Rules borne of way too many years down here looking for a “deal. Follow me on this…
1. There’s no such thing as free (Those “free beers” on that airflight are not free.)
2. Everyone knows the value of their services. (Each of us knows exactly what our day of work is worth and although there might be a bit of fudging, whether you build houses or are a rocket scientist or drive fishing boats, there’s a point where you will not discount your services.
3. Everyone needs to make a living
4. You get exactly what you pay for.

Using “Jonathan’s Baja Rules” above, apply that to the scenario where you pick a fishing operation based strictly on price. They got a nice website. They promise you fish at a “cut rate” deal. Just because you’re paying 100 bucks less than the next operation, do you think the price of gas to run that boat got cheaper? NOT! But the captain or owner might be less inclined to take you “way out there” where the fish are really biting. Do you think the captain is going to get paid less? He still puts in a full day. Or, if he gets paid less, will he be as motivated to go charging out there with the rest of the fleet or stay out as long for that special “afternoon bite?” If you were in his shoes, what would you do? Human nature 101.

Of course, I’m speaking in generalities. There’s great deals to be had and no one should pay too much. But know what you’re getting and keep my rules in mind!

I used to have guys spend several grand on a trip and several grand on fishing tackle then ask for a pack of “100 hooks for 3 dollars” because they “save money.” None of us (even me) ever gets to fish as much as we want. This whole fishing sport is fraught with variables we cannot control (weather, fickle fish, etc.) so control the things you can control and don’t make your decisions simply based on price scrimping on the important stuff.

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com