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    | Fish Tales from Cabo... | ||
Two Days of Fishing—Two Marlin—Too Much Fun!
Jesus Mejia from JJ Sport Fishing that is...he was great! We negotiated a rate for a half day fishing—everything in Cabo is negotiable. There was a cold front across the USA so not only was the fishing shut down, a lot of vacationers didn't make it to Cabo due to snowstorms and blizzard conditions at most US airports. So, lucky us, we picked URSULA for our first charter @$350+. I was accompanied by our cousins (Cabo regulars): Victor and Mary Ellen Arnone as well as Ricardo aka "CAPTAIN CABO" and Miguel our great first mate! We set out from 7am-noon and worked our way along the beautiful beaches of Cabo. Surrounded by whales and sunshine (a bit on the cool side, maybe 60 degree F), a few hours in Victor and I let out my favorite yell in the world...MARLIN!!!! We see the marlin swatting at the bait behind the boat so our shouts prepare the first mate and Captain to jump and get ready and...there it is...the hit—the reel screams—our fish jumps and shows us he's on the line. The battle begins and I jump in the chair with a smile from ear to ear and a focus like no other fisherwoman intent on working this right! Yahoo! Yahoo! I scream as the fish jumps in beauty across the ocean and tassels with me and my rod. I work it in and exclaim my delight as we play and play and reel and reel and finally see my beauty next to the boat, almost under the boat, and back up in control next to the boat. WOW is all I can say—lit up like a florescent blue skyr—the first mate grabs the leader (this is after 25 minutes of playing around and total exhilaration on my part)...he's a catch—bring him up for a picture!A quick measure—he fit the back of the boat from tip to tail at 9 feet long—Captain Cabo estimated 135lb which is very respectable for a beautiful Stripe Marlinr—my first and hopefully not my last. Back in the harbor as we hoist our flags, we are greeted by seals that are trained to hop up on the swim platform of the incoming boats and beg for left over bait fish, followed by the pelicans who perch next to you with no fear, just an appetite for your leftovers too. It was only lunchtime so I had the rest of the day to celebrate another wonderful memory of a great catch on my first trip to CABO! Thanks to Victor and Mary Ellen for giving me the opportunity and a wonderful vacation...and it's not over... Day 2 Fishing...Picante Dreams!
Friday, Angelo, my husband, Victor and Mary Ellen and I board the beautiful Picante Dreams Yacht to search again for more big fish. As we pick up our bait from the panga boats, we cruise slowly out of the harbor and David the first mate, rigs up a fish on a line swimming in the live well- just in case...we...immediately—OMG—See 3 MARLIN PLAYING BEHIND THE BOAT—We are just 5 minutes into our morning trip, just clearing the bait boys and the harbor by a few miles/minutes and Victor sends out the holler—MARLLLLLIN! David pitches the fish to the big boys playing in the wake and yahoooooo—he's on the line and we hear our favorite sounds- screammmming reels and Angelo is starting his battle with his first bill fish—not to be his last! Peel and reel, peel and reel—he works it next to the boat after 25 minutes and tension and excitement building...and we hear David and the Captain shout—he's official! That means that he grabbed the leader and he counts as an official catch no matter what happens now...but now the fun begins again...as they try to boat this big boy and get it released...David holds the marlin- Ang helps with the hold, the line is cut, the picture is taken and he's off and playing again. The high-fives were happening and the day just started! Whales were playing all around us and the captain gets a call the tuna are a few miles out...the bait fish are balling and the dolphins are marking the spot...so lines in and off we go! We cannot believe our eyes—as we arrive at our tuna hot spot, we see a flurry of boats circling an unexplainable, unbelievable school or full university of jumping victodolphins—thousands—yes, I mean that...not 20 or 30 like we normally see—jumping in the waves...30–50 in a formation jumping the waves crossing the next set of 50 dolphins jumping and all circling in on the bait fish and TUNA—fish on as Mary Ellen reels in sushi followed by Victor's sashimi! It was amazing to see for almost a half an hour we were surrounded by seriously thousands of dolphins and then...in an instant...it stopped! As if someone turned off the TV, they were gone! We looked up at the captain and he explained what he saw. A killer whale came in to feed and scared the dolphin, tuna and basically everything including us away! David cooked up some fresh fish as we made our way back to the docks, flying our flags and smiling away, knowing these memories will last forever! We got to bring the fish back to cook for our relatives and friends in AZ where we stopped along our way. | |||
Walking down the boardwalk at the marina, we bump into many locals selling their jewels and then we met Jesus! 
As we leave the harbor, we stop by a few dipping and swaying fisherman-filled panga boats and pay and pick up our live bait. Not far from shore we spotted our first whale—my first whale! To make it more spectacular—my whale decided to show off and reach for the sky and bound back to the ocean as I let out a huge aaaaawwwwwwh—in AWE! 