So so so many toys! But we can only fish with one-at-a-time!
LESS IS MORE…OR MORE THAN ENOUGH?
Originally Published the Week of Aug. 20th, 2014 in Western Outdoor News
It was almost comical and I didn’t want to say anything. After all, they were our fishing clients. But it took 4 of us to load all their fishing gear on the panga. It reminded me of an Everest expedition where the intrepid explorers are followed by a line of sherpas.
Artic ice chest…spinning rods…fly rods…bass rods…conventional rods…three jumbo tackle boxes…video camera case…Gopro camera water proof case…underwater extension rods…special seat cushions that had beer holders in them…even “catch flags” they planned to fly from rods for when they returned to shore.
Ahhh…God bless ‘em.
They were so excited. First time Baja fishermen. They were like little kids. It was like Christmas. They had a list of all the species they planned to catch. They had a GPS pre-programmed with all the “hot spots” they had read about. They had waterproof maps and fish i.d. charts.
So much enthusiasm. Between my captains, deckhands, drivers and other fishermen, it was hard to suppress the chuckles. I really wanted to say something. But what could I say? They had all the toys and they planned to use them.
They took to heart the saying, “Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. “
Here’s the rub…I was supposed to go out on the panga that day with them. I rolled my eyes.
My captain had to leap over all the gear to get to the tiller on the motor. There was barely any room to sit. I squeezed on top of an ice chest as we headed out. This was gonna be interesting, but I was grinning. Whatever. Let’s go fishing, guys!
With all the rods jutting out, we looked like a CIA boat bedecked with prickly porcupine radar antennas as we zoomed to the fishing grounds. I counted…1, 2, 3…8…11…15…19…20…26 rods! Custom wrapped. The latest hi-tech reels. Spooled full of shiny new line.
When we got to the spot, it got a little awkward.
Do remember watching your kids at Christmas barrel into the goodies under the tree? Ripping and shredding and laughing…oh the carnage! Oh the humanity!
Well, the gear boxes opened and out came hooks and lures and feathers of all shapes and sizes. Leaders and gadgets and wires and do-dads and thing-a-ma-jigs and watcha-ma-callits and chingaderas came pouring out. ! Many still in their wrappers.
All organized. Color-coded. Size-coded. Species evaluated. Things for tuna. Things for dorado. Things for dorado AND tuna. Things for wahoo. Need a purple pink speckled marlin lure? Got it! Surface lures…bottom lures…mid-water lures. Everything had a pouch or pocket. Everything in it’s place!
I’ve done plenty of long range trips for 12 and 14 days where I didn’t have this much stuff. We were only going a mile offshore for a few hours. Fishing 2 days total!
And stuff for their belts…pliers, dikes, hook disgorgers, hook pouches, sunscreen holders.
My gosh, they must have accumulated enough points on their Cabela a dn Bass Pro visa cards to fly around the world!
And just like kids oooh-ing and ahhh-ing…each guy was as eager to show off his “toys” to me and the captain. Simultaneously, he was in showing them to his fishing buddy and also seeing what his buddy had brought along. Like opening two picnic baskets at the church luncheon!
I just stood back. Tried to look really really realy gosh darn excited! I mean, I hate to discourage or curb anyone’s enthusiasm. So, I smiled and gritted my teeth.
“Wow…that’s uh… really great you found one of those lures.”
“You got 4 of them in each color?”
“You bought 100 hooks of each size too? No way!”
But, we were burning daylight. I could tell on the radio that some of our pangas were already into fish.
There was stuff scattered all over the decks!
I finally said, “Guys, time’s-a-wasting. Let’s get fishing.”
They looked at me. They looked at the captain like eager kids. The captain shrugged his shoulders and dropped a bomb.
“Tie on a hook. We will fish with bait.”
Silence. They looked at me. I looked at them.
I said, “Yup…bait’s working. No leader. Let’s just tie on hooks. Maybe later we’ll get to use some of that great gear you brought.”
They looked at each other and I could sense the puzzlement and disappointment from their quizzical looks.
“C’mon, guys, “ I tried to say gently with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. “The fish are biting so let’s get in on it. Get out some hooks and stow the rest of the gear for now so we don’t miss the bite.”
While they stashed all their stuff, the captain and I tied on hooks for them to save time. I didn’t want to look them in the eyes. I felt like I had taken away their toys. Or had told them there is no Easter Bunny.
But, the fish bit. The sun came out. The water was blue. And the fish bit again. And the icy beer and lunches always taste double-good outdoors on the water.
There was a point later in the day when their fish box was filling and the fish were swarming and I asked if they’d like to try out some of their fancy gear. But, they laughed and were too busy hooked up to want to change.
The whole day, they ended up using one rod each. And maybe half-a-dozen hooks. And were happy. Beyond happy.
As one of the guys laughingly said to me headed back, “Somehow, I still have to explain to my wife why I needed to buy all this gear.”
His buddy said, “I once asked my wife why she needed so many shoes.”
“What did she say?”
“Because I say so, Dear. Because I say so…”
“I don’t think that will work on my wife.”
We all laughed.
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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That's My Story 