Photo: Sailfish, Captain Wally's Fishing ReportA giant two-story inflated Tecate beer can towers over the dock at the marina near where dozens of trophy fish will be displayed and photographed this weekend. A reminder to stock up, I suppose. The 62nd Annual International Billfishing Tournament was underway at 6:30 this morning and the docks were already buzzing.
The trouble with trophies, of course, is that these magnificent sea creatures have to die in order to get their pictures taken. The local restaurants offer to cook whatever catch is brought in, especially during tournaments, so the sports invite all their friends to the feast. Or donate the fish to the local orphanage or old folks' home. Regulations forbid selling the catch, or filleting it on the boat. The "bag limit" per fisherman is one billfish per day, although there's no limit to the number of fish that may be caught and released, as long as they're released in good condition. I don't know who is supposed to be the judge of that.
Our intrepid fisherman friend Garth is still in Mulege (Baja) with his panga "Tunaholic" (an oversize open powerboat), so he probably won't be competing this year. He sent me an email describing his exploits on his last fishing day alone in the Sea. (His reference to "feathers" is a special lure he invented.) I doubt any of the tournament competitors with their buddies, coolers full of Tecate and their lavishly-equipped power boats will be able to beat Garth's latest fishing-wrestling saga. Hemingway would have loved it.
Garth, aboard "Tunaholic""I wanted a marlin to fill Tere's** freezer. Made coffee in the panga about 4 a.m. and was underway by 5. No fish at all for 40 miles but I was bound for an area east of Isla San Ildefonso where I used to take clients that had never caught a marlin.* Blood on the Docks is the name of a local sportfishing outfit.
"First hookup about 10 was an 14-minute fight on a small sail(fish) which I released. Feathers back in and within 10 minutes a huge blue marlin hit the right rigger. I saw him hit and he hit so hard he nearly broke the rigger. He immediately took all the monofil out and about a third of the spectra. One hour and eight minutes later I had him to leader twice (counts as a release) but he finally abraded the line with his bill. I estimate this fish at about 200 kilos conservatively (more than 440 lbs.)
"I was pretty tired but I really wanted a fish so feathers back in. Within 20 minutes another blue hit. I had this one on a fairly lightly riggerd tuna feather. 53 minutes later I had this fish with the bill in my hands with a towel wrapped around the bill. I tried to reach the knife and could not so I held on with one hand and stretched and the fish twisted and I lost the towel but was able to grab the fish's bill with both hands. A real Mexican standoff. Tore the hell out of my hands but I finally got my shirt off and wrapped it around the bill. This fish weighed about 120 kilos and I could not control it and I could not kill it. I managed to get the hook out and let it go. Or maybe I should say he let me go.
"Fourth hookup was what I thought was a striped marlin. Good fight for a little over 20 minutes and I did get the bill and knife, bled the fish out over the side and hauled her aboard. I still thought this was a 65 kilo striper. Too tired to clean the fish there so I headed back to Los Pilares. Kept fish wet and covered. As I made the first cut I realized it was a sail, really huge for a sail.
"Hell of a day. I am really tired but really a great final fishing trip for the season."
**Tere is the matriarch of the large Mexican family he "adopted" in Mulege.