Only two guys who've fished together for awhile like Captain Jorge and Steve would mug like this. Just two guys fishing together!
DIFFERENTLY THE SAME!
Originally Published the Week of March 8, 2012 in Western Outdoor News
I’m just saying. I think the world might just be a better place if we all just did a little more fishing. It might solve a few problems, or at least not have so many.
Nations and, even neighbors, are pulled-apart by such complicated issues as religion, culture, politics and language or such silly stuff as, “I hate the music that jerk plays! ”
There are simply countless reasons NOT to like each other. So many reasons to polarize us all. I’m as guilty as the next person. I probably let a person’s differences jump out at me more often than they should.
But put two knuckleheaded guys as dissimilar as night and day in a boat… keep some fishing rods handy… and give them the mutally-advantageous goal of trying to fool an animal with a brain the size of a pea…
And it’s amazing to watch what develops. I see it happen all the time.
One guy speaks Spanish. One English.
One knows how to run a fishing boat. One knows how to run a million-dollar company.
One has 3 kids and lives in a cinderblock home with a tin roof and a chicken or two in the yard. The other has 1 ex-wife, two mortgages and rents a roof-top condo on the west side.
One has spent 30 years learning the waters that provide his livelihood and survival.
One has two advanced university degrees.
One can fix a Mercury outboard or Chevy engine with duct tape and a butter knife.
One can do Power Point presentations before a Board of Directors.
One makes the best goat-meat barbecue in his neighborhood.
One makes a mean happy hour martini.
In any other context, there’s hardly a single reason for these two guys to care a wit about the other. But, put them in a fishing boat…
And they get along just fine!
All the disparate petty things that pull drive us apart or keep us from getting to know each seem to take 2nd chair to the overall goal of putting a dumb fish in the boat!
Language barriers are overcome with the simple universal communication of a smile or a laugh.
Often, both guys try extra hard to actually LISTEN more carefully and WATCH more closely. They SPEAK more carefully and simply to each other…even in their own languages, because they really WANT to be understood!
We have smart phones, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Skype…all the technology in the world, but we’ve forgotten the skills of LISTENING, WATCHING and SPEAKING SIMPLY! Two guys in a boat wanting to catch a fish will resort to animated and creative hand gestures to make themselves understood!
At the end of the day…smiles…and maybe a photo or two…and a handshake. Both understand “Gracias” and “Thank you.”
“Tomorrow” says one.
“Manana!” says the other.
By the next day, more grins on the beach as they meet to go out. The captain pulls out a little foil packet of grilled fish burritos that his wife made for the client and wants to share.
“Delicious! exclaims the client surprisedly.
“Delcio-SO!” confirms the captain proudly with a grin.
“Hey, Spanish and English are almost the same!” says the client through another mouthful of burrito.
“Si!…Yes!” replies the smiling Captain
“Good…uh…BIEN” laughs the client.
“Correc-TO!” confirms the Captain as he revs the motor.
The client rummages through his bag and pulls out a box of juice to share with the captain. Gratefully accepted. Smiles and nods.
And they head out for another day of fishing.
…and the language barriers start to diminish. And with each passing hour, the other barriers don’t matter. They never really did.
At the end of the day, the client “thinks” he understands that the Captain has a younger son who likes baseball. Both have daughters about the same age. The Captain now knows the client likes the N.Y. Yankees (Captain likes the Red Sox) and the client lives in San Diego. They both think politicians in both countries are the same…idiots! Laughs.
And so it goes. At the end of the day, more handshakes and photos. More smiles. The client gives the captain some lures as a gift. His eyes light-up gratefully!
“Mil Gracias!…Mucho thank you’s” says the captain grasping the precious lures.
“Thank YOU very much” answers the client pointing at the captain “…Gracias gracias, mi amigo!”
And then the next year, the client comes back.
Hands clasp. And there are big grins and smiles and anticipation of another great time on the water.
The fisherman shows photos of his kids on his cell phone and photos from the last trip! The captains smiles proudly looking at the photos. Using hand gestures and simple words he demonstrates that his kids have grown “this much…” He uses another hand gesture to happily say his wife has another baby coming!
And every year it grows…3, 4, …7…10 years of fishing together. And it’s no longer captains and client. A friendship grows. And not a hint of politics…or religion…or cultural differences. And they learn from each other.
He’s become a better fisherman and learned to love barbecued goat and fish jerky and how to catch his own bait.
The captain has picked up quite a bit of English and has enjoyed bagels and cream cheese. His son has a new baseball glove and a N.Y. Yankees ballcap. The captain proudly uses a new reel from a place called “Cabelas.”
Oh…and over the years, they just happen to catch a few fish too. But it never seemed to be as important or as fun as just two guys hanging out.
Yup…the world might be a bit better if everyone just went fishing. We’re so differently the same.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
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Jonathan Roldan has been writing the Baja Column in Western Outdoor News since 2004. Along with his wife, Jill, they own and run the Tailhunter International Fishing Fleet in La Paz, Baja, Mexico www.tailhunter-international.com. They also run their Tailhunter Restaurant Bar on the famous La Paz malecon waterfront. If you’d like to contact him directly, his e-mail is riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com or drop by the restaurant to say hi!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm
Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate
“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”
That's My Story 
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