Nothing Out Of The Ordinary...11/20

[Capt Josh]

There's little in the way of chronological order throughout the following story...true to the personal perception i have of the last month the re-enactment that follows is as loose and off the hip as our preceding actions...ummm...surely i don't want to offend anyone...but truly...did all of this madness in fact happen?!?!?!...well actually, yes...YOU CAN BET YOUR GODDAMN ASS IT DID...

Just when you thought it couldn't get any deeper...just when you thought the limit had been finally pushed far enough...hahahahahaha...RIGHT SONNY!!!...that's the problem with you young folks nowadays...YOU THINK TOO MUCH...because none of us have the slightest inclination as to just how far this deep space goes...

Oh we are off the charts now for certain...four straight weeks since our last contact and i only remember half of the madness...over 30 straight days of glorious mayhem where big fish fell to the feats of men, women, and even a few children...taxes were paid for greatness...but rewards were consistently true to the good of heart and the fervently dedicated...SO LET THAT BE A LESSON TO YE...never lose hope...never forget where you stand above these decks...these be hallowed waters...and more than one sailor has been granted sainthood here...

I suppose it all started with Chris Fischer and his wayward crew of Eastern Pacific Pirates...Brett, Jimmy, all the boys were in town with the new mothership operation which is beyond anything you could possibly imagine...i won't spoil the fun with the details because i want you to see what happened on TV for the first time but let me tell you one thing amigos...Offshore Adventures and Fischer Productions just took outdoor television to an entirely new level...so stay tuned...cause you're gonna chit a spicy enchilada...

Chris, Nick, Richie and Chirs' brothers all flew down as scheduled for the start of the shoot...but unfortunately the mothership was caught by tropical storm Kiko along the Baja coast and was forced to ride out the storm in Mag Bay...Chris informs me of the situation so we go into plan B...which means staying at the opulent Casa de Casas and saddling up the Conquistador as guests and friends of my boss and the local Pta de Mita crew...

The shenanigans over the course of the next 5 days before the mothership, Brett and the remainder of the crew and camera people showed up will forever live in infamy between those who were there to enjoy them...great friends, epic accommodations and fast and hard fishing makes for memories that last ten lifetimes and i think it's safe to say you are going to be seeing a lot more of this team paired up in years to come...because quite frankly...you don't get a better compilation of freaks than us...

When we finally did see the mothership round the corner ground zero moved from Casa de Casas to the Arctic Eagle Chris' new 160 plus foot ex-commercial king crabber which forklifts the new GO FISH, Chris' 45 Cabo Express directly onto the starboard deck...that is a procedure you have to see to believe i can assure you...hanging out with this crew for the next week and literally laying out the map of the globe before us and going..."OK...anyone ever heard of XXXXX????....nope?....FANTASTIC...let's go THERE!!!" and so on and so forth...with 60,000 gallons of fuel and more gadgets and gizmos than could be imagined this traveling circus is going to open doors that have remained locked for a long, long time amigos...and personally i cannot wait to fly half way around the world to meet them...stay tuned is all i can say....STAY VERY, VERY TUNED to this one...

The last night of the Fischer trip and we brought the house down at Margaritas in Pta de Mita in full hollywood fashion...Fisch decided to shoot the gourmet galley for this episode LIVE FROM MARGARITAS where spectacular pargo ribs were served over Hector's world famous Chernobyl margaritas...Hector pulled off his first on-camera appearance like a seasoned soap veteran...pure unadulterated chaos as only Pta de Mita and it's cast of characters can provide...by the end of the night Hector was signing autographs for his customers and likely finally realized just how much of a part of this sideshow he has become...ROCK ON HECTOR...cause above all else you've earned it...

Yes it was all fun and games until 7:30 the following morning when 3 very pissed off clients found me catatonic in bed...wha?...who?...charter....?WHAT??? Thinking i had the next 3 days off i let the horns grow longer than usual and purely my own fault i screwed up the dates for Larry Jackson's charter...can you imagine the scene??? JT awakened from a self induced coma, half naked, cross eyed trying desperately to explain why a lynching wasn't necessary...thank GOD Larry and his crew were sympathetic and opted to head offshore the following day instead...

I took 4 advils, 7 tylenols, 3 shots of vitamin B in the arse and an Ana-pen i've been carrying lately for scorpion stings directly to the jugular before i felt well enough to make it to the marina...where lo and behold i run into Larry and his crew again and we spend an hour or so talking boats and fishing and generally beginning to get along again...

The next day the Devil is nowhere to be seen and JT is firmly imbedded in the tower where i am happy to report he steered the Conquistador towards a glorious day of fishing for the Jackson crew...from zero to hero just like that and all deeds done wrong were forgotten...amazing how a few blue marlin, a giant tuna, and 14 hours of honest work will make you feel good about yourself again...thanks Larry for a great day on the water and i'll see you again next time...you know where to find me...

Next trip i believe was with my good friends aboard the Chiron...whom i have been fishing with since the old 72 Donzi days...well that was a long time ago and now the boys have over 100 feet of pleasure to enjoy...yes...life is rough when you leave the mothership at 5am to board another 100 plus footer and head offshore...

Since i'm the hired gun it's up to me to make the call and i decide it's wahoo trolling on the menu first, followed up by a little dorado action then finally a big tuna orgy on live skipjack in the afternoon...well it's better to be lucky than good and i'll be the chipmunk under the monkey if that's not exactly what happened...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ wahoo on the marauder...then multiple ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's as dorado fell to the cabbies and lures until....yup...you guessed it....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ in a large and messy way as 280#'s of fire breathing dragon inhales a skipjack on one of the boat's 50W's...spooled with mono...as i lock the fish up i start screaming at Trent to back the boat up...150 yards...100 yards...75...50...30...FUCK TRENT I SAID MAKE THIS BITCH MOVE!!!!...no kidding i had 5 yards left on the reel and was holding the rod fully extended as Trent tried as best he could to get 100 plus feet of fiberglass to go the other way...well sometimes you get lucky and the fish stopped just short of utter sadness...Gary straps in and it's over 2 hours of glory in the harness for a guy that's been looking for a fish like that for a long, long time...it'd been over 3 years since i fished with these boys and after that day they made me PROMISE i wouldn't make them wait that long again...well...let me think about that i said....just kidding...

I think shortly after that day my good friends Alex and Greg showed up from Canada for their annual pilgrimage with us in one country or another...the first day they fished with Lora on his new super panga FORTUNA and true to the name Greg laid the smackdown on a 298# giant yellowfin before Alex volleyed back with a 250 blue marlin...whereas Greg states NICE FREAKING TRY BRUDDAH and answers back with a 600 pound black marlin...

Well i was beginning to worry by the morning of the 3rd day thereafter on the Conquistador that my boys were going to divorce me for Lora when Alex...who had been patient on the rod for over 20 hours of fishing finally shot his wad...

We were trolling live skipies just north of the rock when the downrigger bait popps off and it's a classic marlin bite...ZZZZZ.....ZZZZZZ.....ZZZZZZZZZZZ.....ZZZZZZ ZZZZZZ....OK LOCK UP!!! gun the boat and instead of ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ and the ensuing madness the fish just sits there...the rod is bent so i know we've gottem but nada...fish ain't movin...wha?...then slowly...slowly the line begins to rise to the surface and 3/4 of the largest marlin i've seen all year rears it's gargantuan head...

I'm not sure the boys could hear me choking on my tongue over the engines, music, or barking drag at this point but that fact that i wasn't screaming should have clued them in...THANKFULLY i was able to administer the throw myself against the tower helm station hiemlich maneuver and dislodge my tongue and then and only then did the screaming come...

HOLYMOTHEROFGODTHATISONEFATASSBITCHOFAMARLINRIGHTT HEREBOYS...ALEX!!!!GETINTHEGODDAMNCHAIRANDSTAYCALM !!!

Hard advice to heed when the administrator is doing backflips in the tower but somehow we kept it all together and as Omar cautiously went to the wire i went to the shutter and we succeeded in releasing a true behemoth...sea monster...clear and present reminder that you must always...and i do mean ALWAYS have your game on out there...because there is no telling when that fish of the year will come...congrats Alex and Greg on another epic trip...hail the Queen!

Oh...and did i mention that day in question was the day BEFORE the tourney???? Well sometimes you just have to sit back and appreciate life's little ironies because this year was in fact the first year i broke my rule of never pre-fishing a tournament the day before and look what happens...HA!!! I TOLD YOU SO i said in my head 1,000 time before i finally realized that releasing that fish was worth so much more than the lousy $30K we would have pursed for that majestic creature...watching that behemoth swim away was truly priceless...and quite frankly i'm glad she's out there just getting bigger...see you next year girl cause i'll be looking...and ya'll better not be a grander...cause you won't be so lucky then!

Well in tournament circles we like to call that fish a confidence builder...wait...i forgot to mention the 353# tuna that we got with the Bobby Blake crew a few days before the Alex and Greg trip...what a beauty and that makes 4 giant tunas in the last 6 weeks of fishing that went over 300 pounds in case any of you are keeping track...and as far as i'm concerned...that's some fairly epic fishing in it's own right there...anyway...in tournament circles we like to call those fish CONFIDENCE BUILDERS so it's no surprise that we went into the 3 day 53rd annual event with a sac full of semen...figuratively of course...because we all know that in reality that was likely the farthest thing from the truth...

In case any of you don't know we won the marlin division plus placed in multiple other categories during this particular tournament in 04 and 05 and would have loved to fish it again in 06 but scheduling conflicts prevented it...needless to say we were eager to come out of semi-retirement and defend our title once again this year...saying we took to this year with religious fervor would be an understatement...

The first day was tough all around...particularly after the start we had to endure...after enjoying a spectacular shotgun start where the Conquistador literally smoked the entire fleet of 70 plus boats...we arrive at the spot...make bait on the first pass...put the 3 lucky numbers out and no kidding...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ massive cow tuna on in less than 5 seconds of fishing and there's still not another boat in sight...

Well thanks to Monty at M&M tackle or whatever the hell he calls that crackerjack shop we lost the fish when the spectra he improperly spooled on Larry's reels bit into itself and snapped with a heart shattering CRACK!!!

I flew from the tower and had to physically restrain myself from throwing the reel overboard...LET THAT BE A LESSON TO YOU...NEVER TRUST THOSE CRACKHEADS AT M&M TACKLE WHEN MONEY IS ON THE LINE....Thanks Monty for screwing with my momentum...

After losing that fish we were forced to re-spool Larry's remaining reels and let me tell you...they were all spooled up by monkey's the spectra was so loose in there...it's really my fault i should have checked the tackle they brought down but i listened to Larry pat M&M on the back about how great they were so i figured alright...no worries...WRONG!!! NEVER BUY ANYTHING AT M&M IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT FISHING!!! OK enough said about that...but it did cost us a very serious fish when they count the most...CRACKHEADS!!! sorry...now i'm done...

Anyway...we managed to release a small marlin, whacked a dorado and brought a tuna to the scales that was just shy of the qualifying minimum despite our rough start...alright, i thought...good first day...but not exactly what we're looking for...

Next day it's back to the same plan and this time we manage to release a small sail, whack another dorado, and score a qualifying tuna this time...lucky for us it turned out to be the only qualifying tuna caught during the 3 day event or we would not have won...for PV an 88 pound tuna is nothing to brag about but when it's 88 pounds bigger than the next fish i guess you have to take what you can get...a win's a win...

So the final day i'm hedging my bets that no one else is going to catch a bigger tuna and decide to concentrate on marlin...the previous two years we won in the afternoon of the last day and who says history can't repeat itself for the third time right???? can't win if you don't play...

Well lo and behold we pull it off once again with a nice blue in the early afternoon...wait though...something's different this year...what could it be...wait...wait...oh i know! it's the 150' mexican navy boat that seems hell bent on driving over our fish as we're backing down at 8knots...why in the hell these people thought it was a good idea to do circles around us taking photos and cheering while we had a money fish on is beyond me...finally after a lot of colorful gesticulations and screaming and carrying on from our side of the fence the Mexican Navy retreated and we were left alone to battle our demons...GOD PEOPLE...as if we don't have enough to worry about in a tourney...Mexican Navy??? WHAT NEXT?!?!?!

We land Steve's fish and fish a bit more before heading to the scales where just like in years past they haul down the previously leading fish and up ours goes...it's actually a fairly heart stopping feeling to see your fish go up the winners line but our celebrations over taking both the tuna and the marlin first place divisions didn't last but more than an hour before my fellow Canadian and friend George Gaffney pulled in with his captain Juanito on the Esmeralda with the only black marlin of the event...and a nice one...nice enough to bump us into second place marlin...well...i guess you can't win them alll...

The celebrations lasted well into the evening and thankfully my boss was lenient and let me have the morning off...but when i did show up and he hopped on board and we blew the hydraulic line shortly thereafter i had to wonder whether or not the fish god's were looking after us...it's not easy coming off a month like this and jumping into a week straight with the boss and thankfully the fish gods agreed with us...blessing us with a slight mechanical problem that allowed for at least a few more hours to catch up on sleep...like i say...just one of life's little ironies...

And so it goes in the land of madness and mystery...where apparently even Canadians have a shot at greatness...and some, it might be argued...have even succeeded...

[#1Gaffman]

Dam, I was really begining to worry. Good to see you back, awesome pics........................

[z71offshore]

good pictures. appreciate your time to post on here.

[squirtis]

Tell me the guy in the first pic with the GIANT FRICKEN YFT is not really that composed in the photo

If and when it happens to me,,,,,that will not be my facial expression

I really like the marlin on GIANT bait shot....BEAUTY

bathing suit photo is alright

I am switching from Verizon to Nextel immediately

That CUBERA IS A STUD SON...AS THEY SAY IN NORTH CAROLINA

MORE PLEASE JT.....MORE....


Curtis

[Wild Life Management]

Whatever, that happens all the time in Cape May.

Great shots, big fish, gotta love it.

[Tunaman40]

Incredible photos

[FinRazr]

BAD AZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!

[Bking]

You guys continue to amaze me!!! WTFG!