This is Fly 21

With the new year comes a new issue of This Is Fly. Check it out!

I’d Rather Be Fishing… Con Cerveza

I was just checking the website of our good friend David Jones and my attention was immediately caught by the following post!

WORLD RECORD SNAPPER APPROVED

Think back to June, and remember that one Roula Cornell captured a monstrous mullet snapper. You will of course also remember that it weighed in (on official certified scales) at 45.6 pounds, apparently eclipsing the current record of 36 pounds by a metric shit load. Well, as of September 6, 2007, our sources at the IGFA in Florida tell us that his record has been approved. Cornell, who has been saddled with the term “pending” ever sense has been released from this nether world and is now official, unique, and certifiable in his position atop all of the mullet snapper fishermen in the world. Although his life has been a world wind of paparazzi, nubile pursuers, and sycophantic followers since that fateful day, he has maintained his humble “everyman” approach to life and fishing. Here’s hoping that his hat size remains static, and that his world record stands for a long, long time. Congrats R.C.,

David

That’s just another notch on the belt for the best guide services in all of Baja California Sur!

You should also check out some of the older posts from our time living in Mexico and our fishing trips with Fishermen’s Fleet.

Cerralvo Island, March 11th 2005

We wasted no time once we arrived at the beach and immediately jumped in our boat, and Dan into his. We had the same guide as before (Cayo), since he seemed to share our intense passion for catching fish. The sea was a little bit calmer this day and we were able to make very good time getting to our destination. Cayo carved his way through the waves and swells with the precision only a person who had spent their entire life on the ocean could do. The sun beat down hard on us as our guide netted bait fish. It was obvious that today was going to be a very hot day on the water, even though clouds had begun to move in. We lathered up with sun screen and headed for deeper water.

The day started slower then our previous trip. We circled the area for a quite a while before we had our first hit. It was certainly worth the wait when line started peeling off my reel. I had decided to stick with the equipment supplied by Fishermen’s Fleet this time instead of my muskie equipment. Now I was using a nice big Shimano reel spooled with forty pound line. While many anglers use a heavier line for fishing saltwater, all the reels here seemed to be spooled with the forty pound line because the main fish we are targeting (Pargo, commonly known as Snapper) have very good eyesight and don’t hit the bait on heavier line. The only drawback to using only forty pound line is that these fish are extremely strong and can reach over one hundred pounds. They immediately pull straight down into the sharp rocks below, cutting your line. The idea is to chase the fish once hooked and bring in as much line as possible. You can only hope that the fish will head toward deeper water, because if they don’t, you will more then likely loose the fish. I of course learned this first hand after battling a good size pargo for almost five minutes before my line got cut. There isn’t a whole lot you can do when these fish start to run. I tried my best to keep the rod tip up and bring in as much line as possible to no avail. When you try to bring in the fish quickly you risk the chance of breaking the line from stress, but when you reel to slow you run the risk of loosing the fish to the rocks. It requires a very precise mixture of finesse and brute strength.

Continue reading Cerralvo Island, March 11th 2005