Archive for November, 2015

MEN IN TIGHTS

Posted in airlines, aquaculture, bahia de los muertos, bahia de los suenos, Baja, Baja Fishing, Baja fishing lures, Baja Life, Baja Mexico Fishing, Baja Rockfish, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, camping, car, cerralvo, cerralvo island, charity, charters, chubasco, circle hooks, Dehydration, donations, dorado, driving, east cape, ecotourism, el nino, el sargento, espirito santo, family, farm-raised, fish, fish farming, fish pens, Fishing, fishing blogs, fishing hooks, Fishing lures, fishing packages, fishing reports, Fishing Tackle and Techniques, Fishing techniques, fishing tips, fishing tournaments, fishing trips, fishing videos, flyfishing, freediving, giant squid, green, Heat stroke, highway, history, holidays in mexico, humboldt squid, hurricane, hurricanes, ice chests, inshore fishing, inshore fishing in Baja Mexico, jack crevalle, Jonathan Roldan, kids, kids fishing, La Paz, La Paz Fishing, la ventana, las arenas, Leisure, light tackle, Living in Mexico, los barriles, luggage, marlin, Mexican, Mexican business, Mexican culture, Mexican Independence Day, Mexico, Mexico Christmas, Mexico economy, Mexico life, Mexico neighborhood, missions, outfitters, pack for a purpose, packages, packing, packing fish, panga, Panga Fishing, pargo, passport, planning, pompano, rental car, rentals, road trip, roosterfish, Salt Water Fishing, Salt water lures, San Jose del Cabo, saving money, Sea of Cortez, seafood, sierra, spearfishing, sportfishing, squid fishing, storm, storms, suitcases, Sun stroke, sustainable, Tailhunter International, techniques, tourism, tours, transpeninsular highway, Travel, trolling tips, tuna, Tuna jackpot, tuna tournament, Uncategorized, vacations, vehicle, wahoo, waterspouts, weather, Western Outdoor News, Western Outdoor Publications, women fishing, yellowtail, tagged accommodations, activities, amberjack, bahia, baja, baja editor, baja sur, bars, bay, beach, Bill Boyce, billfish, blogs, blue water, bonito, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, catch and release, Central Washington Sportsmans show, cerralvo, certified scale, charter, children, chubasco, costa baja, day tour, deep sea, del mar fairgrounds, discount, dog tooth, dorado, east cape, eco tour, el sargento, espirito santo, events, extreme fishing, family, fish, fishing and boating shows, fishing and hunting shows, fishing sportfishing, flyfishing, fred hall, free dive, get-away, girls, grey whales, grouper, guide, guide service, holiday, hotel, hotel marina, hotel perla, hotel seven crown, hunting, idaho sportsman’s show, igfa, images, inshore, International Game Fish Association, international sportsmans expo, ise, isla, island, jack crevalle, jillene roldan, jilly roldan, Jonathan Roldan, kids, La Paz, la ventana, las arenas, light tackle, live bait, lodging, los barriles, lucha libre, mahi mahi, marlin, mexican, mexico, muertos, northwest sportsmans show, offshore, outfitter, pack for a purpose, package, panga, panga slam, pargo, photos, pompano, portland expo center, Puyallup Fairgrounds, reef fish, reports, restaurants, rockfish, rooster fish, rooster fish foundation, sailfish, saltwater, san jose del cabo, scuba, sea bass, sea of cortez, sealions, shuttle, sierra, snapper, snorkel, spearfish, suenos, swim, tackle, Tailhunter International, tailhunter restaurant bar, techniques, tips, tour, tourism, travel, trolling, tuna, tuna jackpot tournament, updates, vacation, video, wahoo, Washington Sportsmans Show, weather, western outdoor news, WFN, whale watching, whales, whaleshark, wife, women, World Fishing Network, wrestling, yellowtail on November 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

MEN IN TIGHTS…and YOGA PANTS

Originally Published the Week of Nov. 23, 2015 in Western Outdoor News

It has always been on my bucket list of things to do since living in Mexico all these years.

But, we got invited by friends of ours…to a LUCHA LIBRE (Mexican wrestling) event and just couldn’t turn it down. How could we? The husband had been a former “luchador” himself going by the name of “El Domelador” (The Demolisher).

So, on a chilly fall evening, Jill and I found ourselves wide-eyed and open-mouthed in the middle of several thousand screaming fanaticos in a hastily thrown together concrete outdoor basketball stadium under the stagelights. And we were screaming ourselves having a blast.

The event was sold out. There were lines around the neighborhood block to get in. Our friend, the “Domeledor,” got us ring-side seats to see The Apache Sisters; Stardust; Cibernetico; the Super Doll; The Psycho Clowns and the Renegade Texan among others.

Pudgy hombres in tights…skinny guys in their kids’ pajamas…fat guys in yoga pants…masks…facepaint…glitter…overweight ladies in stretchy body suits. . .elaborate costumes and others that looked like discards from the Halloween bargain bin. Every match was great.

Some guys looked like steroid body-builders. Some looked like they had never seen a gym or the only weights they ever lifted were 12-oz. cans of beer and super-sized burritos.

A lot look like your fat uncle or neighbor next door. Or his wife. One luchador, we found out later, was almost 70-years-old and the bony knees and elbows and hanging arm-skin were not fake!

Some were “professional.” Most were not. At least not full-time. We found out later that “El Elegido” was actually the guy taking tickets at the gate before he event!

But they could sure entertain and the crowds loved them! There thumps and punches; stomps and kicks. And unlike American wrestling, there was much more emphasis on flying bodies as well as tumbling and acrobatics. And, different. The inside ring is canvas-covered wood. It’s not padded. No spring underneath. A thump is a thump!

The interaction with the crowd is more than half the fun. In unison, the “family” crowd chants things that had us cracking up and aghast.

I mean, can you imagine 1000 people all chanting at Hulk Hogan (in Spanish) in the U.S. with…

“Assh___e! Assh___e! Assh—e!” and then him laughing and pointing at the crowd and flipping them the middle finger?

Or the crowd singing “He’s a jerk-o..f” at the referee? And the referee grabbing his crotch and turning to the crowd and telling the crowd, “Shut up Cabrones!”

Or two luchadores pounding the frijoles out of each other then freezing to smile at someone with a cellphone camera then resume smacking each other around?

All in fun.

And I learned a lot too.

Is it rigged? Not as much as you think!

The Domeledor explained to me that it’s a lot of “entertainment” but he would come home with plenty of bruises on his face and arms. His chest would have lots of broken blood vessels. His wife told me about him coming home with lots of swollen lips and faces.

They would not choreopraph the actual moves, but they would train very hard on jumping, flipping, twists and “combinations” of multiple moves.

The one who “orchestrates” things is actually the referee who would guage the mood of the crowd. He would calculate the cheering and the crowd favorite and how things would go.

The referee would whisper to the luchadores about when they needed to speed things up…do a “crowd pleaser move”…and when someone would take a fall. Or hit harder. Or throw the other guy through the ropes!

Yes, there are good guys and bad guys. The “technicos” are the good guys and the “rudos” are the “rude ones” who break the rules. Sometimes the crowd loves the “technicos” and sometimes they root for the “rudos.” It all depends on who is pleasing the crowd more. The bad guys are always the most fun.

He told me about some of the “tricks” of the ring. Here come the “spoilers” for those of you who are really into WWE wrestling…

When someone stomps another luchador, the “slap” is often the sound of the opposite foot stomping the mat or the louder slap is the hand slapping against a thigh.

Face punches and slaps are the sound of the palm hitting against a chest or the palm of another hand…like when you clap your hands.

Smashing a chair against your opponent’s head, one uses the soft part of the folding chair that bends easier and the forward part of the seat that easily folds back to absorb the hit.

However, spit is real. These guys spit A LOT!

But, make no mistake…for all the fake stuff, hits, kicks and punches do land accidentally It’s all part of it. It takes practice to make a hit sound and look violent. But, even a fake hit can hurt.

According to my Domeledor amigo, anonymity is EVERYTHING. That’s why they wear the mask. The Demeledor has lived in La Paz almost his whole life.

He was a champion free-style wrestler in mainland Mexico before he became a luchador and then wrestled for about 10 years in La Paz, where we live. He has rarely ever revealed his identity and still guards it religiously.

They live behind the mask and facepaint and when appearing for any public events they never show their faces. In fact, one of the biggest disgraces is for a luchador to have his mask taken away from him by an opponent. There goes the magic. Sometimes an old luchador will do it as a form of “falling on the sword” in retirement or when a luchador wants to change to another personality.

My amigo explained to me that the promotion company actually owns the “personalities.” The actual wrestlers are usually just “employees.” Employees can get hurt…quit…get fired…but the personality can endure for years or for decades.

So, someone named “El Diablo” might not be the same guy all the time even though El Diablo has dominated his matches year-after-year. Or the guy might put on a different mask and be called “Superfreak.”

Sometimes, just like circus families there are families that are wrestling families and the son or grandson continues on with a family character.

Money is not very big. They earn a meager salary or portion of the gate. Most of the money comes from a percentage of the abundant t-shirts and costume sales at the arena or stadium. There’s no insurance. There’s no workman’s compensation. If you’re hurt, they find someone else to put on the mask.

But, as my friend explained, there’s nothing like the adrenaline of being “in the ring” and having everyone cheering for you or calling you a “cabron.”

Or being able to turn around and flip the one-fingered salute to several thousand people and have them laugh!

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 and fishing buddy, Jilly, 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!

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Jonathan Roldan’s

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“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.”

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BENT RODS AND BIG SALTY HEARTS

Posted in airlines, aquaculture, bahia de los muertos, bahia de los suenos, Baja, Baja Fishing, Baja fishing lures, Baja Life, Baja Mexico Fishing, Baja Rockfish, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, camping, car, cerralvo, cerralvo island, charity, charters, chubasco, circle hooks, Dehydration, donations, dorado, driving, east cape, ecotourism, el nino, el sargento, espirito santo, family, farm-raised, fish, fish farming, fish pens, Fishing, fishing blogs, fishing hooks, Fishing lures, fishing packages, fishing reports, Fishing Tackle and Techniques, Fishing techniques, fishing tips, fishing tournaments, fishing trips, fishing videos, flyfishing, freediving, giant squid, green, Heat stroke, highway, history, holidays in mexico, humboldt squid, hurricane, hurricanes, ice chests, inshore fishing, inshore fishing in Baja Mexico, jack crevalle, Jonathan Roldan, kids, kids fishing, La Paz, La Paz Fishing, la ventana, las arenas, Leisure, light tackle, Living in Mexico, los barriles, luggage, marlin, Mexican, Mexican business, Mexican culture, Mexican Independence Day, Mexico, Mexico Christmas, Mexico economy, Mexico life, Mexico neighborhood, missions, outfitters, pack for a purpose, packages, packing, packing fish, panga, Panga Fishing, pargo, passport, planning, pompano, rental car, rentals, road trip, roosterfish, Salt Water Fishing, Salt water lures, San Jose del Cabo, saving money, Sea of Cortez, seafood, sierra, spearfishing, sportfishing, squid fishing, storm, storms, suitcases, Sun stroke, sustainable, Tailhunter International, techniques, tourism, tours, transpeninsular highway, Travel, trolling tips, tuna, Tuna jackpot, tuna tournament, Uncategorized, vacations, vehicle, wahoo, waterspouts, weather, Western Outdoor News, Western Outdoor Publications, women fishing, yellowtail, tagged accommodations, activities, amberjack, bahia, baja, baja editor, baja sur, bars, bay, beach, Bill Boyce, billfish, blogs, blue water, bonito, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, catch and release, Central Washington Sportsmans show, cerralvo, certified scale, charter, children, chubasco, costa baja, day tour, deep sea, del mar fairgrounds, discount, dog tooth, dorado, east cape, eco tour, el sargento, espirito santo, extreme fishing, family, fish, fishing and boating shows, fishing and hunting shows, fishing sportfishing, flyfishing, fred hall, free dive, get-away, girls, grey whales, grouper, guide, guide service, holiday, hotel, hotel marina, hotel perla, hotel seven crown, hunting, idaho sportsman’s show, igfa, images, inshore, International Game Fish Association, international sportsmans expo, ise, isla, island, jack crevalle, jillene roldan, jilly roldan, Jonathan Roldan, kids, La Paz, la ventana, las arenas, light tackle, live bait, lodging, los barriles, mahi mahi, marlin, mexican, mexico, muertos, northwest sportsmans show, offshore, outfitter, pack for a purpose, package, panga, panga slam, pargo, photos, pompano, portland expo center, Puyallup Fairgrounds, reef fish, reports, restaurants, rockfish, rooster fish, rooster fish foundation, sailfish, saltwater, san jose del cabo, scuba, sea bass, sea of cortez, sealions, shuttle, sierra, snapper, snorkel, spearfish, suenos, swim, tackle, Tailhunter International, tailhunter restaurant bar, techniques, tips, tour, tourism, travel, trolling, tuna, tuna jackpot tournament, updates, vacation, video, wahoo, Washington Sportsmans Show, weather, western outdoor news, WFN, whale watching, whales, whaleshark, wife, women, World Fishing Network, yellowtail on November 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

All the fishermen for just one of so many Baja tournaments! This one the Los Cabos Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot.

BENT RODS and BIG SALTY HEARTS

Originally Published the Week of Nov. 10, 2015 in Western Outdoor News

As I write this, we have just completed the first day of the 16^th Annual Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot Tournament here in Cabo San Lucas. If you’ve never seen or participated in something like this, or any major sportfishing tournament, add it to your bucket list.

It’s an incredible spectacle.

This year, we have 143 fishing teams and almost 600 anglers. Add in non-fishing friends, family, crews, sponsors, celebrities and support staff, this is a 5-day fiesta on a massive scale for about 2000 people! This makes it the largest tournament in Cabo San Lucas. Actually, it’s the largest in Baja.

In terms of prize money, the awesome Bisbee’s Black and Blue Marlin tournament has a bigger payout. But, almost $700 thousand in prize money here right now is nothing to sneeze at and it’s a lot of fun.

This is just one of so many tournaments here in Cabo San Lucas. Bisbees actually hosts two tournaments here in Cabo and another on the East Cape. When international tournaments like this current Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot; the Bisbee’s; and others take place, they can pretty much take over a town. From the largest cities to even the smallest fishing pueblos, where it can be the social event of the season.

It’s like that for tournaments in from Loreto, to the East Cape and Ensenada to Mulege naming just a few. The circus comes to town. And the music, clowns and hoopla come with it.

I heard one disgruntled ex-pat grumble under his breath that, “The tournaments bring nothing but noise and traffic and turns the town into ‘gringo-landia.’”

I found that rather amusing. Here was an ex-pat gringo living in Cabo San Lucas, a world-wide tourism mecca, complaining that Cabo was too “gringo” during the tournaments.

That’s like saying Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles or East Los Angeles is too “Mexican.”

The grumpy guy had a point. Yes, a lot of gringos come to town for tournaments. I mean, that’s the point.

But, they bring a lot more than just noise, traffic and a lot of whoop-dee-doo at the margaritas bars. All these visitors fill hotel rooms; eat at restaurants; use gas; buy bait; rent boats; use services; buy a lot of t-shirts and souvenirs; etc.

Even our own tournament here right now in Cabo…2000 people have to sleep somewhere. They consume a lot of food and spend a lot of money.

Today 143 boats full of fuel, bait, boxed lunches and cases of beer went out. That’s a lot of economic well-being for the locals. That’s a lot of charter boats and crews, captains and gear.

That’s a lot of tax revenue as well. And, as I write this, they’re going out again tomorrow and still have 2 more days of events.

And this happens with all of these “gringo” events. Wealth gets spread around!

A lot of “wealth” comes back in terms of prize money also. Sure, there’s money and prizes to be won. You hear so much about some of these big-money events.

But, what often isn’t publicized is how much these sports events benefit the local communities in other non-direct ways.

Last year, after devastating Hurricane Odile rampaged through Baja, this current tournament raised enough donation money and sales from t-shirts and other items to build 15 complete homes for families who lost their houses to the storm. Several huge truckloads of clothing and shoes were also brought down as well.

This year, donation are benefitting Cabo Smiles International which provides dental and oral surgery for impoverished kids. As I write this more than $3000 is already in the kitty.

The Bisbee Tournament organizers have been donating to the communities for many many years on many levels. For instance, two weeks ago, they donated marlin provided food for a reported 1600 people.

Many folks think the popular “Stars and Stripes Tournament” is all about Americans. Actually, the “stars” stand for the kids who benefit from medical supplies and medical equipment and the “stripes” are the striped marlin of the tournament.

Since 1993 in Loreto, the “Fishin’ for the Mission” Yellowtail Tournament has benefited not only the historic Loreto Mission, but also the Loreto orphanage. This tournament is very unique because ALL of the money goes to charity as well as extra funds raised during the tournament through sales and auctions.

The Lynn Rose East Coast Classic Tournament is another prominent example of generosity in Los Barriles on the East Cape. For many years, the money raised has built playgrounds as well as provided school buses and vans for the local kids.

In La Paz, where we live, smaller scale events have raised supplies for school kids; food for the senior citizens homes; scholarships for underprivileged families.

These kinds of things go on weekly at events up and down the Baja peninsula. Without a lot of fanfare or recognition.

I am reminded that as a gringo myself in Baja for 20 years, we are guests of Mexico and American ambassadors to this host country. We are grateful that we are allowed to do what we do and bring down other gringos to share so many things that Baja has to offer.

By the same token, we’re grateful to all the big hearts who take away memories, fish filets and Kodak moments, but also leave something behind because of their generosity. It’s win-win all the way around.