I took the wheel on the trip up and gave Richard and Deborah a chance to watch the Whales, scope out the awesome houses and condos along the shoreline and get used to the boat. It also gave me a chance to check out how the boat felt after getting it back in the water after the dry dock period. I was happy with the boat and the Alves enjoyed the scenery on the way up and about an hour and a half after leaving Cabo we got to the beach off of San Jose to get a load of Sardinas. I went down on the deck to get the bait and the port engine died as the power was cut too quickly! No problem, Juan got it started again and we were quickly on our way to the Inner Gordo banks with our load of Sardinas!

After a very quick run we were at the Inner Gordo and it sure was easy to tell that we were in the right spot. There were 30 boats concentrated in an area of about a square mile, an equal mix of pangas from San Jose and cruisers from both Cabo and San Jose. We did the quick eyeball of the area when we arrived and it took no time at all to see which boats were hooked up and where the birds were working.

Manuel took the "Fly Hooker" to the north end of the bank and set us up to drift down along the east side with the current. Juan had us rigged up with #2 live bait hooks tied directly to the 40lb. line and sent the Sardinas that were pinned to the hooks out about 60 feet off the stern. He then tossed out a few live ones as chum and Richard and Deborah settled back to wait for the bite.

Meanwhile I was over in the corner trying to get some 40lb. leader tied onto my 17lb. mainline. I finally got it done and after connecting up to a hook, I put a live bait out also. About that time we had the first bite of the day. Richard wasted no time in reeling in a Skipjack Tuna that may have weighed 7 pounds at maximum. It was 8:30 in the morning and the Skunk was off the boat, Richard had an excuse to open the first beer of the day. Hey, he's on vacation! I told everyone that I would be having a beer soon also, but I had to catch a fish first to qualify.

After the first fish it went very quiet for us. We were able to see other boats hooking up but we were a bit outside of the pack. I signaled to Manuel that we ought to start slow trolling the baits around the area and get an idea where the schools might be by using the depth sounder. We were soon back with the pack and I was headed up to the bridge to check out the Furuno Sounder when Richard's line started ripping off the reel, making the clicker scream! Yeah! Richard let the fish go for a couple of seconds, put the reel in gear, let the line come tight and set the hook. Yahoo!!

About the same time the bait on my line was picked up and I went through the same procedure, or at least almost the same procedure. The only difference with mine was that when I tried to set the hook I felt the sickening "pop" of breaking line. Imagine my embarrassment when I discovered that the knot I had spent so much time on had failed! At least Richard still had his fish hooked up and I made it my job to cheer and jeer him on!

Richard had his job cut out for him and it was not long before we were sure that this fish was no Skipjack. As the fish was worked closer to the boat Richard started to follow the circles, moving back and forth across the length of the transom followed by Juan, with the gaff, of course! With Deborah snapping pictures while he did it, Richard brought the Yellowfin to the surface and Juan gaffed the fish and brought it into the boat. Way to go Richard, a beautiful Yellowfin Tuna of about 25 pounds! This was Richards first Yellowfin although he has caught many Albacore and Bluefin off the California coast.

Richard had another beer and again I swore that I would wait until I caught my first fish before I would treat myself. Instead I spent my time tying a Bimini in my main line so I would have a double line, and then used an Albright to connect it to the leader. Now I had a connection that should not embarrass me! We spent a little time soaking Sardinas in that spot in the hope that there were more Yellowfin just below, and Juan rigged up one of the Caballito behind a 8 ounce torpedo sinker and let it down about 100 feet, just in case there were some big fish down there. We waited a while with no action and again I signaled to Manuel to start the slow troll effort.

A few minutes later Richard had another hit and this time the fish was a Skipjack of about 12 pounds. He definitely had the hot rod for the morning, and I was beginning to think there would not be any beer left by the time I got a fish to the boat!

I did not say anything to Richard, but I handed him one of the Sardinas and asked him to toss it to me. Wow, he ended up tossing it like a fast-pitched baseball and I couldn't hold on. I handed him another one and this time told him that I really wanted a beer and would appreciate it if he would gently lob the Sardina to me so I could say I caught a fish! Thanks Richard, I really was thirsty!

The morning had shaped up to be a beautiful one; the Alves brought good weather and great fishing with them when they came down. The pack of boats started to thin out about 11 am and the sun was reflecting off the smooth, low swells that had only a slight ripple to them from the occasional gentle breeze. Off the edge of the Bank we watched Grey Whales spume and breach and had two large black Porpoise and a Sea Lion cruise among the remaining boat on the Bank. We started the slow troll again and once again the catch masters rod was the one hit! This time he was able to get another Yellowfin Tuna, this one slightly smaller at about 20 pounds, into the fish box. Both the other rods had hits at about the same time but nothing stayed hooked up. It was about 11:30 and the bite had slowed down enough that Juan asked us if we were ready to go trolling lures. He said that one boat had gotten a Marlin about 18 miles out and we might get lucky there. Hey, that is another hour cruising and I said that we would try the live baits for another 10-15 minutes then switch to small lures and try about three miles offshore on the way back in hope of catching a Dorado for Richard. I sure was glad I made that decision because less than 5 minutes later we had a triple strike!

Richard wasted no time in getting his Skipjack to the boat but it took me a few minutes longer. Deborah brought in the third fish! All right, everyone caught fish and it was time to try for a Dorado! As we were fighting these last Skipjack a Panga close to us brought up several Red Snapper they had gotten on the bottom. Manuel ran down and quickly rigged up a bottom rig and dropped down two Sardinas. We waited a while before finding out the Panga had been using Red Crabs for bait and we had little chance of getting one of the Snapper with our live Sardinas. Oh well, it was time to troll back anyway!

We set out one 80-pound outfit, running off the bridge rail and with a small blue/white straight running pusher, back about 90 feet. If a Marlin showed up we were hoping it would take this larger outfit. Both the outriggers had TLD25's and 40-pound line with Zuker feathers. The Starboard rigger had a pink/white feather and the Port rigger had a green/yellow feather. I brought out another; older Penn reel loaded with 17-pound line and a long steelhead rod and we ran it down the center with a purple/black feather. The remaining TLD25 was rigged with 10 feet of wind on 100-pound leader and a #9 live bait hook, just in case we got a chance to toss a Caballito to a Marlin!

I took the wheel and we proceeded back towards Cabo, staying in the warm 70-degree water just off shore. It was a nice, smooth and relaxing run until a small Dorado, about 10 pounds in size, hit the pink/white feather. Juan and Richard both saw the fish as it came in on the lure but it failed to get hooked securely. I made a circle around the area in hope that there might be another one, and then continued towards home. About 5 minutes later we had another strike on the same lure and this time it took Richard about 8 minutes to bring another Skipjack to the boat. After releasing this fish we proceeded on, only to have the incident repeated about 5 minutes later! Another released fish and we were again on the way.

The lures had just been returned to the water a few minutes and we were all checking out the Whales in the area when I spotted something behind the same pink/white feather. A moment later there was a dorsal fin and the tip of a bill snaking in on the lure! I yelled "Marlin" and as the outrigger clip began to slide down I gunned the engines! Richard had his belt on and was ready for action! Juan and Manuel cleared the lines and Richard yelled up to me that the fish had better stop real soon or he was going to be out of line. I let him know that I was turning the boat and we started to gain line after I did so. We followed the line for a couple of hundred yards as Richard worked to put pressure on the fish and get line back. When Juan let me know that things appeared to have stabilized I swung the boat stern to the fish and Richard got into the hard part of the fight. This fish had jumped just once, right after feeling the hook being set and Juan and Manuel said that they thought we had on a Sailfish. Richard had never caught a Sailfish or a Marlin before so we didn't really care which it was, either one would be nice.

After 25 minutes Deborah was the first to spot the pink/white feather ahead of the fish and we knew it was close. Manuel thought there might be another fish with it since Sailfish often come in pairs or packs so Juan pitched a live bait out behind the fish as Richard held it in place. Nothing took the live bait and the fish turned towards the boat. We saw then that it was indeed a Striped Marlin and Richard put the pressure on and got the fish within tagging range. Juan placed the tag and Manuel grabbed the bill to take out the hook as Deborah took pictures from the bridge. An enormous smile on Richards face told the story! The fish was in fine shape so Juan and Manuel slid it up on the gunnel just a moment for another shot and then released the fish. We watched it swim away with the Billfish Foundation tag being a bright spot on its back, lucky to have a chance to reproduce and give another generation of anglers the chance to have the fight of a lifetime. Richard will receive a very nice frame able release certificate from the Billfish Foundation; it lists the day, location, estimated weight, species and the angler's name. If the fish is ever recaptured he will be notified of the time, location and actual weight of the fish. This data will help scientists in determining the migration routes and life/growth cycles of the fish.

Our time was short now and we cleared the deck and cruised back to Cabo. Richard and Deborah came up to the bridge on the trip back and we reminisced on the day’s events, bringing up the high points and watching Whales spume. About 6 miles before the Marina the wind started to blow hard from the southwest and built a bit of a chop so we tucked in a little closer to the coast. We entered the Marina at about 3 pm and Mary was waiting at the dock to greet us. She said that she had not seen another Marlin flag come in today so I guess the Alves brought more than just good weather with them! We unloaded the boat and as Richard and Deborah thanked Juan and Manuel I briefed Mary on the events of the day. What a trip, and I am so glad I got a chance to fish with the Alves, they are wonderful people and a joy to be around. Thanks Richard and Deborah, I hope that the Panga trip on Wednesday is just as wonderful! Until next time, Tight Lines from Mary, George, Juan and Manuel, the Fly Hooker crew.

We are proud to announce that George Landrum is joining us at FishSniffer.com as our Baja correspondent! He'll be sending us all the news that's fit to print and hopefully, some that's not ;-)

Welcome George!