It was a good day, it was a bad day…….good because the fishing was awesome, bad because it’s our last day. Winds and seas were calmer, fishing for bait was quick as was the trip out to the grounds. Put our lines in and…..all quiet. Then Tom hooks up and lands the first fish, then nothing……uh oh. The thing is we got there a little early and as soon as the tide started to change after about an hour all heck broke loose! We had a triple hook up at one point, landed two of them and then continued to hook and land fish for about an hour and 1/2. The captain at one point was up front casting and jigging an artificial lure on a small rod and reel set up and then hooks up, hands it to me and oh my the fight was on. The rod bent so much the line was rubbing on the butt handle in front of the reel, and I had to fight the fish from one side, to the front and other side, then back around the front…….. Landed it and went to the back of the boat to catch my breath and tend the live bait rod…….and then the familiar ZZZZZZZZZZ of the drag going out. I set the hook and the fight was on! After landing that one my hand and arm was shaking, what a blast for the last day! We finished up and headed back at about 12:15. Thanks to all on the stage who have followed and enjoyed this trip with me. I hope after I get home I can pare down some of the videos enough to post and give you a sense of some of the fights we enjoyed! And I’d like to say Baja Pirates of La Paz knows what they are doing!

Just back home from about 6 weeks of bumming around along the salty shoreline of the Gulf in both FL and AL. Winter fishing in Michigan was a complete bust this year, along with any other cold weather outdoor sports, so it was time to make the Southbound journey and leave things behind until Spring. While fishing was always an important part of most days, there was plenty of other side attractions to keep occupied with.

A highlight of the time away was to get a free personalized tour of the Gulf Shores Fish Hatchery located near the local airport on the North side of the inter-coastal waterway adjacent to Route 59. They specialize in raising pompano, redfish, flounder and speckled sea trout. Very cool, and well worth the time spent to learn more about these popular species!

Since we were going to be gone a while it made sense to procure a non-resident annual pair of saltwater angling licenses for both States...that way I could fish anytime the chance arose without worrying about a short term license expiration. Sometimes the water was barren, and other times you just so happened to arrive during a feeding frenzy! Those were the best of times!

My usual approach was to throw various lure types, both top water and under the waves, to temp fish into a bite. Bait lines in the surf worked well too when there was more time to hang around and enjoy the beaches. My favorite fishing memory of the trip was in having a large fish yank one of my surf rods into the ocean while I had my back turned to make a cast with a second rod while fishing from a seawall. The bait, being half of a small "cigar" mullet, had just been tossed out about 125' during a slack tide. Within a minute of hitting bottom, something grabbed it and all I heard was the clank of my rig hitting the handrail as the rod appeared to have been shot out of a circus cannon and launched into the emerald blue waters in front of me. Bugger...that was an expensive bit of entertainment! Shame on me for not having checked the drag setting since this particular reel does not have a "bait runner" setting.

About a half hour later, after deploying another bait rod, I hooked a small red snapper and while reeling the fish in I noticed the yellow braided line of my original rod coming in as a tangled ribbon gracefully wrapped around this new fish! The other rod eventually made it's presence known and a nearby angler assisted me in getting the whole mess safely back onto shore from the depths of the inlet. Boy was I happy! The 20 pound fluorocarbon leader was cut clean off well above where the hook had been.

You never know what kind of fish is out there waiting to find your hook. Big or small, the thrill is still the same! I had numerous fish "break off"...some even pulling me down the boardwalk as I tightened up the drag and tried to manage the fury while putting my back into a reverse curve and hold my ground. Those instances go down in your memory banks as future "tall tales"....

I hope you enjoy the following snapshots!

Started the same as the previous day except the bay reminded me more of the SF Bay, windy and a bit angry, settled down to glass after lunch. Bait was quicker and headed to the closer reef vs. the sea mounts. Got there and just like the day before, instant hook ups and fish. After 1 1/2 hours it slows down and the hook ups are here and there. We are all getting better at handling the rods and fighting the fish which means fewer lost fish, but it still happens. I didn’t mention that we rotate boat members, so we all have a chance to fish with one another and the different captains. Each boat did well, not limits, but the fish landed on average were larger. Dinner tonight was Bonita ceviche and sashimi with grouper cooked by the chef’s choice, wow is all I can say. I didn’t take a lot of pics ( more vids) but you’ll get the idea. One more day…..

Saw1 (Steve) said it first, “quantity, not quality”, that’s what day 3 brought us! Initially the bait (mackerel) was harder to get but we got what we needed. Went to a reef that we fished on our way back in from the sea mounts (much closer to port) and the fishing was hot! All the boats from the Baja Pirates fleet was there (our charter company) as well as a few from other charters. It was hot fishing at the beginning, a bit slower in the middle and finished off nicely. Our boat limited out on the yellow tail and scored a bonito, our group partner boat nearly limited and scored a nice dorado! The largest yellow tail of 25lbs was caught on the last drift and the last of our bait. I personally had a difficult day initially being unable to hook up and losing a number of fish/bites, but it did improve and I was the one that landed the last and largest fish of the day, not bragging, just saying it really made up for the crappy start by me. At this rate (fingers crossed) we’ll be bringing well over 50lbs. of filets each back with us.

Here’s to crappy starts and fantastic finishes!! Report on day 4 tomorrow!!