That's My Story

NEW TRICKS – published January 2006 – Western Outoor News

You run into a lot of different wonderful folks when you have a fishing business and that’s the best part of this gig. But there’s one type that brings a big sigh and exhalation of breath from me when the conversation starts with, “I’m a hardcore fisherman” and usually continues on for several minutes listening to the person reciting a resume of all his fishing exploits as if applying for a job. Can’t get a word in edgewise. No doubt there’s some incredible fishing talent out there, but so often, I also find that Mr. Hardcore gets the most frustrated and surly when the fish don’t bite or others are outfishing him simply because he’s trying too hard to have fun or now has built himself up larger than life.

For the past few weeks a lot of us have been on the fishing show circuit and all of these shows feature some truly incredible talent in the seminars. You’ve seen their names; probably watched their videos; maybe been on a charter or two or read their articles. I’m still a bit in awe when I talk to them myself. I mean, these guys aren’t hardcore. They are “fishing-to-the-core” and every chance I have, I sure enjoy listening to them. They remind you of steely-eyed Clint Eastwood walking into town. Nothing to prove. They know they’re good. However, down to the man, each of them is more than willing to impart their knowledge and a lot of them are actually delighted you asked them.

I’m talking about guys like Pete Haynes of Shimano who does his long range and knot tying seminars. Abe and Angelo Cuanang have forgotten more fishing than I’ll ever know. Steve Carson from Penn Reels doing his Baja thing. Gary Graham from Baja On The Fly making you believe you can actually cast to boiling Cortez yellowfin tuna. There’s the bearded one…Dennis Spike getting all lit up about working the rocks around Rancho Leonero in a plastic kayak and having a dorado leap over him. Yea!

I can never get enough of these guys and although I’m on the water day-after-day, there’s rarely a time that something they say doesn’t spark something in my own brain where I say…”Wow, that makes sense!” There isn’t a day that I don’t learn something on the water and these guys have it in spades.

Remember when you were a kid and just couldn’t sit still while fishing? Your r dad or uncle were ready to tie you up “Cuz you’re making too much noise and scaring the fish!” Well, just before one of his seminars, Pete Haynes was telling me about one way to get lethargic fish to get interested. He told me about tossing out some chum or chunk then taking your deck hose and spraying the water. “It gets fish thinking about what’s making all the commotion on the surface.” (paraphrase) Makes sense.

Use noise to get bit! Boat motors and prop wash have been shown to attract fish. I will often chum for my client with live bait by first poking out one of the eyes of a baitfish so that it spins around and splashes on the surface instead of diving straight down. More bang for each piece of bait. One of my skippers will get a bunch of dead bait and squish it in a corner of the deck mixed with blood and water. He’ll then use his cut-off Clorox bottle to jai-lai it into the air so it falls and splashes. He does rather well, come to think of it. Steve Carson of Penn reminds us about skip jigging for tuna…throwing iron then rapidly skipping it across the surface…as a way to drive tuna, dorado and other pelagic species bonzo. I’ve seen fish literally bang heads trying to get the jig. Try taking the hooks off the jig and really have some fun! I once guided for a guy in Loreto on his own boat. On a slow day, he’d get chunks of bait and other goosh. He’d smush it into the deck and then pour in some fish scent and let it sit in the hot sun in a pile for a bit until it wasn’t “stink.” It was “STANKY.” Then, he’d flush it out the scuppers and proceed to make all kinds of noise; jumping around and banging things on the deck and kick the motors in and out’ve gear. We’d all be laughing and dancing around like those River Dance guys. But… never failed to raise fish. Noise and commotion! New chingaderas for a perro viejo (old dog)!

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

Jonathan

NEW TRICKS – published January 2006 – Western Outoor News

You run into a lot of different wonderful folks when you have a fishing business and that’s the best part of this gig. But there’s one type that brings a big sigh and exhalation of breath from me when the conversation starts with, “I’m a hardcore fisherman” and usually continues on for several minutes listening to the person reciting a resume of all his fishing exploits as if applying for a job. Can’t get a word in edgewise. No doubt there’s some incredible fishing talent out there, but so often, I also find that Mr. Hardcore gets the most frustrated and surly when the fish don’t bite or others are outfishing him simply because he’s trying too hard to have fun or now has built himself up larger than life.

For the past few weeks a lot of us have been on the fishing show circuit and all of these shows feature some truly incredible talent in the seminars. You’ve seen their names; probably watched their videos; maybe been on a charter or two or read their articles. I’m still a bit in awe when I talk to them myself. I mean, these guys aren’t hardcore. They are “fishing-to-the-core” and every chance I have, I sure enjoy listening to them. They remind you of steely-eyed Clint Eastwood walking into town. Nothing to prove. They know they’re good. However, down to the man, each of them is more than willing to impart their knowledge and a lot of them are actually delighted you asked them.

I’m talking about guys like Pete Haynes of Shimano who does his long range and knot tying seminars. Abe and Angelo Cuanang have forgotten more fishing than I’ll ever know. Steve Carson from Penn Reels doing his Baja thing. Gary Graham from Baja On The Fly making you believe you can actually cast to boiling Cortez yellowfin tuna. There’s the bearded one…Dennis Spike getting all lit up about working the rocks around Rancho Leonero in a plastic kayak and having a dorado leap over him. Yea!

I can never get enough of these guys and although I’m on the water day-after-day, there’s rarely a time that something they say doesn’t spark something in my own brain where I say…”Wow, that makes sense!” There isn’t a day that I don’t learn something on the water and these guys have it in spades.

Remember when you were a kid and just couldn’t sit still while fishing? Your r dad or uncle were ready to tie you up “Cuz you’re making too much noise and scaring the fish!” Well, just before one of his seminars, Pete Haynes was telling me about one way to get lethargic fish to get interested. He told me about tossing out some chum or chunk then taking your deck hose and spraying the water. “It gets fish thinking about what’s making all the commotion on the surface.” (paraphrase) Makes sense.

Use noise to get bit! Boat motors and prop wash have been shown to attract fish. I will often chum for my client with live bait by first poking out one of the eyes of a baitfish so that it spins around and splashes on the surface instead of diving straight down. More bang for each piece of bait. One of my skippers will get a bunch of dead bait and squish it in a corner of the deck mixed with blood and water. He’ll then use his cut-off Clorox bottle to jai-lai it into the air so it falls and splashes. He does rather well, come to think of it. Steve Carson of Penn reminds us about skip jigging for tuna…throwing iron then rapidly skipping it across the surface…as a way to drive tuna, dorado and other pelagic species bonzo. I’ve seen fish literally bang heads trying to get the jig. Try taking the hooks off the jig and really have some fun! I once guided for a guy in Loreto on his own boat. On a slow day, he’d get chunks of bait and other goosh. He’d smush it into the deck and then pour in some fish scent and let it sit in the hot sun in a pile for a bit until it wasn’t “stink.” It was “STANKY.” Then, he’d flush it out the scuppers and proceed to make all kinds of noise; jumping around and banging things on the deck and kick the motors in and out’ve gear. We’d all be laughing and dancing around like those River Dance guys. But… never failed to raise fish. Noise and commotion! New chingaderas for a perro viejo (old dog)!

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

Jonathan

LINEAR THOUGHT – Published January 2006 – Western Outdoor News

Thanks to all of you readers who’ve come by my booths the last few weeks in San Francisco and San Mateo. Really great to meet so many of you and shake a hand or two! I’m writing this from the International Sportsman’s Show in Sacramento where this warm weather boy is simply freezing his Ugg sheepskin boots off! Can’t believe it’s so cold. They have something up here called “frozen fog” where the moisture particles in the fog actually freeze so when the damp hits you, it actually puts a frost inside your clothes like the frost you find on the inside of your ice cream container when you sneak a spoonful at midnight.

Anyway, I just bought a couple of armfuls of bulk fishing line at a great discount. See, I’m like a lot of you. Can’t pass up a good deal on fishing gear so I hauled it back to my booth where a couple of guys saw me unloading and of course the subject turned to the type of lines I use in Baja and when.

I have 3 main rules when I do seminars on line:

1. Price aside, not all lines are created equally.
2. Like golf clubs or your wife’s shoe collection, there’s no one line does not fit all situations.
3. Buy the best you can afford. Like a motorcycle helmet. If you have a 10 dollar head buy a 10 dollar helmet. If you’re going after 2 dollar fish, 2 dollar line will do. If you’re spending a chunk of your kid’s inheritance or the riding lawn mower you were going to buy your wife, then splurge a little on line.

EQUALITY – I know most of you don’t carry a micrometer around, but if you did, you’d be surprised how two lines rated at say, 20 pound test can vary! The better lines often give a diameter rating on the side of the spool. Without naming names, you can sometimes even see the difference with the naked eye. I know some brands you can buy in Mexico are so irregular that you can run your fingers along it and actually feel the line get narrower and thicker caused by a faulty extrusion process and bad quality control. Additionally, if you’re careful about your lines or are hunting records, just because a line says “30 pound test” doesn’t mean it breaks at 30 pounds. It might actually break at 40 while another brand might break at 36. Line that says “tournament grade” or “IGFA rated” or somesuch is usually truer to it’s rating but costs a bit more.

ONE LINE FITS ALL– Not exactly. However, some lines seem to be more versatile than others. For instance, I have a personal preference for dark green mono when fishing inshore Baja waters in the winter and spring. I like blue, grey or clear for offshore fishing; for pelagic species; or in bright conditions. I like softer limper lines with smaller diameters when fishing baits so that the bait swims more naturally. But, I like stiffer lines when fishing iron or where structure is involved because of the abrasion resistance. I will use fluorocarbon when fishing bait; when the sun is bright or if the fish are twitchy. However, I don’t use fluro when fishing artificials or trolling because, to me, most strikes are “reaction strikes” where the fish isn’t interested in scouting my offering to see if the line is visible. ! It’s gonna attack and go! I like braided line as a backing, especially on smaller reels so I have extra capacity in case Big Mo decides to come to party. I don’t fish straight braid because of it’s high visibility so I always top shot with mono. Also, my baits don’t swim right dragging braid through the water. The better the bait presentation, the better the chances of getting bit. I use wire sparingly and only as much as much as necessary. I’m a growing fan of the new tie-able wire for smaller applications and gamefish.

PRICE IS NICE BUT – You generally get what you pay for. The general rule is that for every-day fishing, you can’t go wrong with brand names that have been around since Cro-Magnon man tied sinew to a stick and used a bone for a hook. But, I avoid lines that are “on sale” if it looks like the line has sat on the shelf for awhile or has been exposed to the sun or dust which causes discoloration and deterioration of it’s integrity. If the line has also been sitting for a long time, it may have taken a “set” and “memory” so that instead of being limp, it comes off in coils that won’t relax. If you don’t recognize an off-brand, ask about it. I have found some incredibly high quality lines made my companies you’ll never hear of. I found out later that the same company actually makes the line for an American company which then slaps on a label so it can be marketed in the U.S. Same for some European companies as well. It’s a bit like finding out the Ford you bought was really made in a Honda plant and that many plastic components came from Taiwan. It’s all in the packaging! Whatever you do, don’t “cheap” on your line. Just like hooks, they’re your connection to your fish. Don’t spend a week’s pay on your fishing trip then buy lines and hooks for a few pennies to “save some bucks for beer.”

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

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA – Published January 2006 – Western Outoor News

If you think you hated that photo on your driver’s license or COSTCO card, get ready to take a few more shots or your goofy smile. Travel is taking another dramatic change that will affect not just those of us schoosing back and forth to Baja but all American travelers in general.

Pursuant to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the Bureau of Consular Affairs has announced that by January 1, 2008,” ALL TRAVELERS to-and-from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada have a passport or other secure, accepted document to enter or re-enter the United States. “ Yes, that means, you and me and Pepe too. Basically, if you’ve been putting off getting a passport, you might as well start looking into it. It means that you’ll no longer be able to use your certified birth certificate or other documents when you go back and forth in and out of U.S. home turf after December 31, 2007.

“This is a change from prior travel requirements and will affect all United States citizens entering the United States from countries within the Western Hemisphere who do not currently possess valid passports. This new requirement will also affect certain foreign nationals who currently are not required to present a passport to travel to the United States. Most Canadian citizens, citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and to a lesser degree, Mexican citizens will be affected by the implementation of this requirement, “ according to the official press release.

“The goal is to strengthen border security and facilitate entry into the United States for U.S. citizens and legitimate foreign visitors.”

In order to implement the plan, the government kicks it off in several stages. The most vital for tourists to Mexico in general and Baja travelers in particular (aka us fishing guys) is the first stage making this the last year we’ll be able to fly without a passport:

December 31, 2006 – Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
December 31, 2007 – Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel.
The second phase, set to commence New Year’s Eve of 2007, is especially notable insofar as the dispositive words are land border crossings. It will be interesting to see how this is implemented. If you’ve ever seen the mass of humanity that crosses the border legitimately by both American and Mexicans for work, shopping, visits to family or even a quick weekend bender in Tijuana or Ensenada, it’s eye-brow raising.

What happens to the Tijuana residents who simply walk across the border for a day of hitting the outlet mall on the northern side of the fence? Ever seen how many folks walk across the border at Christmas time? And economically, what’s the impact upon the thousands of U.S. merchants who’s livelihoods depend on Mexico’s point-of-sale spending? Mexico is one of the U.S.’s largest trade partners and a lot of that goes back and forth across the border daily.

Finally, from a more pragmatic perspective, how many border agents will be needed to check every single person going back and forth across the lines? If you’ve ever been stuck in your car at Otay Mesa or the San Ysidro crossing on a Sunday afternoon for 3 hours and just one more Mexican vendor with a giant plaster Tweety Bird or painted matador on velvet tries to hit you up for a sale…

I guess in the big cost / benefit analysis, just how many actual terrorists will this apprehend who drive or walk across the border to buy some jeans at the Gap outlet compared to how many tax dollars this’ll all cost? I dunno. Bigger brains than mine have this all tuned in. Seems simple enough to get a legit passport but the bottom line is that it will never reveal what darkness might truly lie in the human heart.

But, I’m sure Homeland Security has this all figured out. Right? “I’ll give you 2 bucks for the Big Tweety Bird and that’s my final offer! The kid’s love it!”

For more info, check out: http://www.travel.state.gov/

That’s my story…
Jonathan

FELICES FIESTAS – HAPPY HOLIDAYS- published Dec. 2005 – Western Outdoor News

It’s a little different being in a foreign tourist town for the holidays, if you’ve never been. I mean, it’s kinda funny watching folks spray fake aerosol snow on their windows when they live in the desert and you can’t help but grin watching a dust-covered truck with all-terrain tires with a fresh Oregon Christmas tree tied to the back turn down a gravel cactus lane destined for someone’s living room.

But some things remain the same, no matter where you go. I don’t know how it is in your town, but you can “feel” Christmas coming no matter where you live even if you never had a calendar to look at. It’s almost like there’s something in the air much more so than just noticing that the sunlight isn’t so strong and the shadows come up a little earlier.

It’s interesting how “Buenos dias” seems to be said with a little more sincerity, a bigger smile and a stronger handshake. People invite you to their homes as if they really would enjoy your company. Little kids, seem a little more watchful and attentive to their ways and it seems that food is everywhere on display or being discussed or prepared as certain delicious aromos you won’t find at other times of the year seem to catch you just when you’re hungriest.

But you know what I especially like about being in Baja? As much as it seems to be trying to run stride for stride into 1st world capitalistic hedonism, it actually slows down for Christmas instead of speeding up like the rest of the world. Where Christmas comes too fast for most of us, it seems that Christmas can’t come fast enough in Baja. Christmas cards? For what? There’s no mail service! Fight the weekend crowd at the mall? What mall? Camp in line for X-Box? Are you kidding? Travel and flight plans to Grandmas? Abuelita lives next door or in the next bedroom. Caterers need to be confirmed? Mama has all the kids together in the kitchen making with pots of masa making tamales. Family scattering in too many directions? Not until after church and everyone lives in the same town anyway so we might as well just have one big fiesta for everyone!

Chances are, you’ll still hear the same carols but in Spanish and it’s not unusual for the town Santa to show up although under that hot beard you’ll probably notice a dark black mustache. And later on, don’t be surprised to see Santa sitting up with the amigos in the yard behind the house tilted back on plastic chair in front of a fire… sans whiskers and toasting the chickens and la luna and a prosper ano nuevo with a shot of tequila. Tomorrow, it’s back to working the fishing boats or off to pick chiles on the ranch, but tonite, the children laugh inside; the wives are sitting in the living room sharing holiday gossip and like many daddy’s everywhere in the world, Santa lets out a big sigh, crosses his arms, squints into the fire and grins contentedly and lifts his glass once more. “Que Dios te bendigas, amigos!” (May God bless you, my friends).

That’s my story…
Jonathan

A PESO A DAY – published Dec. 2005 – Western Outdoor News

If you happen to be cruising down the Baja during the holidays, you will probably encounter Baja’s version of the Salvation Army bellringer in one form or another. Instead of a uniformed person with the red pot standing in front of your favorite Wal-Mart, you’ll probably encounter a uniform of another type.

The first time it happened to me was a few years ago coming down from between Ensenada and Guerrero Negro. I don’t re-call the bustling little pueblo, but it was a dusty little place. There was the tire store and the dilapidated Pemex station and some plywood taco stands on wheels. The school had no grass and the Church had a busted window or two. Bony dogs skittered in and out of traffic with tails between their legs and one followed the guy peddling the ice cream tricycle with it’s dented tinkling bells. As I entered the town, there was a uniformed police officer standing on an island obviously soliciting donations of some type insofar as he was holding a covered coffee can with little slit cut out.

Now, having driven the Baja many times, I’ve always found that if I keep a big stash of cheap candy in a big sack next to me, it usually gets me through most places. It sure brings smiles to whomever is checking out my vehicle at a checkpoint and at least it seems like they don’t probe quite so hard. Well, this being the holidays, I had a whole bunch of candy canes on my dashboard and a big box of them on the seat next to me.

As I came up to the officer, he flagged me down and came up to my window.
“Buenos dias, Senor. We are asking for Christmas donations for the orphanage. Puedes ayuda nos?” (Can you help us?)

Well sure. I can. Orphanage? I got just the thing! I grabbed several boxes of candy canes and gave them to him. He looked a bit disappointed. Gave me a quick “gracias” and waved me through. I was a bit perplexed until I looked through my back window and saw him dump my candy canes into the bushes. Hmmmmm…That seemed a bit ungrateful.

Two blocks down same thing. Only this officer was soliciting for some kind of hospital. OK…Instead of candy canes, here’s two bucks. “Gracias, Senor” and he waved me happily through. As I left he gave me a blue strip of paper and told me it was my “receipt” for a donation. Alrighty then…off we go!

Three blocks down and I get hailed again by another officer! Hey wait a minute, I just gave some to your amigo up the street.
“Sorry, Senor. That was for the hospital. That is why you have the blue paper. This is for the Cruz Rojo (Red Cross). For your donation, you will get a red paper.” OK, here ya go. Here’s another buck. Sheesh.

It was like that all through the city, although all I had to do was wave either my red or my blue piece of paper to show I had already donated. In return, I got a wave and a smile. Have a nice day, amigo! Well, at the next sizeable pueblo, the same thing happened only the red and blue papers didn’t work in the new pueblo. “Senor, those are from the other pueblo. Can you help us out too?” (Eyes roll and I’m now scrounging in the ashtray for pesos).

I guess by the time the day was over, I’d popped about 8 bucks for various causes. I have no idea if they were legit or not, but real uniformed Mexican officers were doing the collecting. For all I know it could have been going to the Police Christmas fund. Consider it a “toll” of sorts as a visitor to the country. I just decided to have fun with it and made sure to have lots of loose change whenever I drive the Baja. You definitely don’t get a receipt for the donation, but for a few pesos you still get a broad smile that certainly seemed sincere and grateful in places where it didn’t look like they had much.

That’s my story…
Jonathan

CHIVATO GIANT – published Dec. 2005 – WesternOutdoor News

I’m kind of a history buff and love that “History Channel” stuff and can lose myself for hours in the history section of any book store. Combine it with some history of Baja and you might as well just leave a light on for me because I’ll be home late. Stuff like Gene Kira’s “Unforgettable Sea of Cortez” about Ray Cannon or John Steinbeck’s “Log of the Sea of Cortez” are among so many gems in my library.

I came across just such a book recently that was mailed to me and thought I’d share some of it with you. With the holidays coming up, it makes good fast light-reading not to mention a pretty cool stocking stuffer for you Baja buffs. I actually let the book sit for a few weeks on my desk before picking it up out of boredom. I basically didn’t put it down until I finished it two days later.

I mean, how could I not check out a book that starts out, “Can you imagine a novel with General Douglas McArthur, John Wayne, Miss San Francisco, Jayne Mansfield, corrupt Mexican officials, and a fast food mogul who rules over parties from Mexico to Hawaii with a toilet plunger?” Not quite John Grisham but they say truth is better than fiction.

In the annals of Baja, you find all the giants who carved the place out’ve sand, dirt and rock. You get the Van Wormer Family who started the East Cape Hotels with a few outboards motors; the Don Johnson Family of Mulege and the Bud Parrs of Baja who shaped the Cabo San Lucas corridor and you’re talking empire builders. Even the Fred Hoctors and Ray Cannons of the Baja were as instrumental in their writings and as powerful as the jackhammer and bulldozer in those early “golden years” of Baja of the 40’s to 60’s.

Well, one guy I had never even heard about is Lou Federico and he tells a fascinating tale in his own book, “One Hell of a Ride” (2004 Adventure Publishing, Folsom CA). These days, we run businesses in Baja and watch venture after venture pop up…internet cafes…pizza operations…parasailing…hair styling salons…Starbucks…and complain about slow phone service or that the Costco is too far away! Turn back the time machine 40 years ago and it was a far different wilder unforgiving Baja. No apologies. No refunds and (gasp!) no air-conditioning (Yes, some of you current Baja travelers might gasp to know there was a time “P.A.C.”…Pre-Air-Conditioning.).

In case the name escapes you, Lou Federico is the feisty Italian guy and WWII vet who built the Club Aero Mulege then went on to hand build the famous Punta Chivato Resort. There were no skycranes to lift girders. No roads. No Aero California to complain about. No ready-made concrete or cinder blocks waiting on pallets. Heck, I complain when the ice machine doesn’t have enough ice! Ever done even a simple backyard job like putting in a brick walkway for your wife and taking 3 weeks just to visit Home Depot? This guy tied boats together with cables to haul in gear. He moved a mountain and dug into bare rock for his foundation basically with hand picks. They looked for water by using a divining rod and digging 30 foot deep pits with buckets and finally hauling in water from 6 miles away using some ingenious engineering under the hot Baja sun

“We used tons of rock…from a mountain behind the pueblo of Mulege. It had a crew there…fulltime hauling the artistic rock 12 miles round trip to the mouth of the Mulege River. It was then loaded by hand onto two LCVP’s. One would tow the other…The rock was then taken 10 miles up to the Chivato beachhead and loaded by hand onto a flatbed and driven to the jobsite. This went on for months,” he writes.

But the best part of the book are his humorous anecdotes for this was the Baja we can only imagine. The best part of any story are the people. He talks about plane crashes and banditos and ugly hookers; fishing with Ray Cannon and seeing feeding frenzies in the Sea of Cortez in all directions and how Ray loved to catch needlefish. There’s funny stories about bribes and corrupt Mexican officials and his own rather scalliwag business partners; decadently fun parties; days when there were actually fish in the Mulege River; battles with the local ejidos over land; secret beaches loaded with clams, mussels and scallops as well as snippets and memories of celebrities and luminaries away from the limelight (“Fred Astaire was also a guest, and he would dance down the hallway every morning on his way to the dining room.”) And you can hear John Wayne’s gravelly voice when he admonishes Federico after a successful fishing trip, “My friends call me Duke, so drop the mister.”

Senor Federico is still alive and doing well in Folsom, California these days and even answers his e-mails. He’s had one helluva ride that few of us will ever see again in the Baja.

That’s my story…
Jonathan

POINTY THINGS – Published Nov. 05 – Western Outdoor News

I’m wrapping up after a long season and doing something every one of us just loves doing right now. Maybe it’s on a larger scale than you do at the end of your season, but it’s a chore nevertheless. I have to inventory all the gear… Figure out what went where and what got busted and who didn’t tell me about it.Who never brought back something that got borrowed. Find out what happened to the loaners and how did so many darned rod guides get busted off without anyone saying anything and for Pete’s sake…how did we go through so much line?

And then, I open up the tackle boxes, bags, clear plastic utility containers and just shake my head at the colossal mess. Man, where did the rust come from? How did all the bait rigs get so tangled no matter how carefully we wrapped them? And those treble hooks…it’s a Murphy’s law. If you have Rapalas or throwing iron, one treble hook will find another treble hook and mate with other treble hooks in the most-gawd-awful-SNAFU you can imagine. Am I right?

And then there’s all the “loose” hooks. Remember that at the beginning of the season you meticulously labeled and compartmentalized each and every one of those bronze, nickel, ringed, circle and long shanks into neat little containers/sections? You know what I’m talking about! They are now a total cluster. . Also, being the good little hook-hoarder that you are, you put all your used hooks into a neat little compartmens too…even if they were only used once. Only problem is that some of them were wet when you put them back and now that moisture rusted all your pretty designer label hooks too. You curse the fish Gods, but you know it also gives you a legitimate excuse to go visit your favorite tackle store ASAP.

Well, in my case, multiply it tenfold. Living in a place where sand and dust are a way of life…where salt permeates the air…where the gear gets used and abused, my hooks used to frustrate me as well. However, a few seasons ago, it dawned on me how much I was spending on hooks and realized that most Mexican captains I know don’t have any qualms about using old hooks as long as they are sharp. Heck…the guys have to make a living using these hooks and it’s not like there’s a handy Walmart nearby to get another bubble pack of 3/0 circles! They LOVE the hooks clients often leave for them. I’m not proud. If it saves me 5 bucks on a new pack of hooks, I’m all over it. If it’s good enough for a Mexican captain who relies on these hooks to put food on the table, then it’s good enough for me.

So, at the end of every season, I gather up all the stray hooks I can find. I search every little nook, cranny and corner of every single tray and utlity box. I love all those Gamakatsu, Owner, Eagle Claws, Sumos and other designer hooks that the guys think are no good once they have been used. They leave them all over the boat as if they are no more useful than all the empty Pacifico bottles and cans we also collect up at the end of the fishing day. They’ve outlived their usefulness! It makes quite a pile. I don’t care if they are rusty or not. I get some corrosion solution like Corrosion X or Salt X and dilute it some in a glass jar and dump all the hooks into it. And I let it sit. And sit. And it’s amazing how much junk just comes right off. Depending no how much gunk is on the hooks, it may take several days. The solution takes off the finishes and turns the hooks black. However, some of the best manufacturers sell their hooks “blackened” so this is totally muy bueno… no problema! After all the corrosion comes off, I let the hooks air dry then I give them a nice run in a handheld hook sharpener.

Afterwards, I’ll put them into as close a grouping as I can. Sometimes, I put them in those handy film canisters or even into little zip-lock style snack bags. Some kernels of rice are added to absorb any moisture (just like adding rice to a salt shaker to keep the salt from clotting) and I’m good to go. Bring on that dorado school or I”ll take on all those pesky bonito that are boiling because I’m not burning through packs of expensive hooks. When the bite’s wild, I’m not interrupting anyone’s fishing time by trying to dig out every hook from every fish in the box or getting paranoid because clients just ripped through (cha-ching!) 20 hooks in a single day. I just wish I didn’t wait until the end of the season to scrounge them all up. And, I’ll still find any excuse to go visit the nearest tackle store as soon as I’m north of the border!

That’s my story…
Jonathan