SI PAPI...SI PAPI...SI PAPI...9/21

[Capt Josh]

I should have read the signs earlier this morning when i unexplicably jumped out of bed a full half hour before the alarm was due to release it's penetrating kracken wail...normally a downright offensive start to the morning i had the sonofabitch beat for once and couldn't help but chuckle as i smashed the SILENCE button...one hand scrubbing the last remnants of peach juice off my dentures while i fumbled through the drawers for my Centrium with the other...yessir...JT was bright eyed and bushytailed zis mernin...

I called Manny right away...and as usual...that chipper mexican was already away from the dock and headed for Opequimar...how he an Juan manage to snake me day after day remains a mystery...though i am determined to get to the bottom of it...

Manny and i meet at the fuel dock where things are advertised to get rolling at seven...right...i suggest to anyone happening to listen that we should amend the sign to read...OPEQUIMAR...OPEN AT 7am...MAYBE...

Sammy the siphon and the OXXO gang finally show up and we race about fueling, provisioning, gathering ice and generally giving each other a healthy ration of shit before finally casting off and pushing the limits of recommended harbor velocity towards the bait boys...who are as always...eager to see one of our boats make the turn around the green buoy...fist-fulls of cash are traded for marginal caballitos and once again we've been duped into believing we are the smart ones...cause cuz...those knuckledraggers are the ones truly making all the money!!!!

Anyway...we're on it...locked and loaded and i can't help but smile because let me tell you there is nothing like taking the panties off 1,400 horses of state of the art pantropic power...ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM...in no time we're in Punta de Mita to load the boys and VAMANOS AVER QUE UNDA...straight to the ozone where as we all know...the BITE IS RICTHER...

About half way out i see we're lined up perfectly for a free boat wash so i whistle for Abel and Omar to climb the tower..."Necessito hablar con los clientes amigos..." i say to the boys as they assume the controls..."i have to go talk to the clients..." or...in other words...."the rain is coming..."

I spend the remaining 15 miles chattering it up with the boys...who have some interesting stories to tell...not your average line-up of Pacific Northwesterners and i'm immediately glad i didn't sherk off all responsibilites by electing to stay in Acapulco any longer...but more on this later...

We arrive at the launch pad and the countdown has already started...mission control reports Juan and Senate are battling a nice blue marlin on the Top Gun and Larry and the Lionetti crew aboard the Pescador have either jumped a marlin or already landed a tuna...things got a little hectic out there as you'll soon learn so the details have become slightly fuzzy...

Anyway...out go the bait sticks and half-way through the first pass both rods vibrate away with multiples...Omar is on the left corner while Abel is grinding on the right and i'm milking the throttles to keep everything organized when i spot a flash below Abel's incoming rig from the corner of my eye...

What...ABEL...JALE!!!JALE!!!JALE!!!...or...PULLTHA TFUCKINGMESSUPINAHURRYGODDAMNIT!!!!

SNAP!!! TOO LATE!!! a 400 pound class black marlin is crashing the bait rig picking off a helpless skipjack with each savage passing swipe...4 freshies become 3...SNAP!!!...2....SNAP!!!...1...i'm screaming at Omar to get something...ANYTHING into the water with a sizable hook and leader attached to it but it's no use...his baits were on the long corner and there's no time to haul those in for proper deployment...SONOFA...

Then...all of a sudden one of our green little leprachauns makes an appearance...cautiously sucking down skipjack particles while keeping one good eye trained on the freight train causing much of the destruction...

Omar...who spots the dorado coming lits towards a 30# outfit and pins on a cabballito...tossing it over the back of the black marlin and into the line of the leprechauns fire...WHOOSH...the dodo eats the cabbie and cartwheels towards and beyond the starboard corner...

The black marlin could give two shits...it's focused on the last frantic skipjack that's desperately trying to hailmary itself into Abel's welcoming arms...SNAP!!!...ooohhh...sorry little buddy...not fast enough...

I throw my arms up in disgust and turn my attention to the dorado that's cartwheeling around hoping that the marlin will missle lock on that little bastard and at least complete the show...

Flip after flip the leprechaun carry's on and i've just noticed that the bait has slid about 100 feet up the line and is looking a lot like a skipping kite bait as it bounces harmlessly after the dodo's leaps when ALL OF A SUDDEN...

SMASHFUCKINGWHOOSH!!!! a fat tuna catapults out of the water and engulfs the mangled caballito...OHMYFUCKINGGODAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I look down to the cockpit and YUP...Ross...who was enjoying a sporty fight on light tackle gets hamstringed to the corner as the tuna manages to tangle itself in the 80# braid mainline and plummets for the depths...

The dorado...happily jumping away knows none of this until the line comes tight between it and the depth charge...BOYS...the sight of that dorado getting yanked full-180 mid-air at mach-5...smashing through the surface in reverse and dissapearing into the vortex created by one pissed off tuna is SOMETHING YOU DO NOT SEE EVERY DAY...

Can i get a WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....

God only knows what that dorado was thinking as it hurtled towards the abyss...god only knows how long that little bastard held on before the pressure...or the speed...or the savage beating it likely endured behind that tuna finally caught up with it...alas...we shall never know...because over 2 hours later when we miraculously landed the 190# tuna the leprechaun was nowhere in sight...

I'll say it again people...YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS SHIT UP....

Marlin going freaking nuts behind the Pescador and Top Gun all morning as we struggled to score our eventual shorthanded goal...Larry's screaming "JT YOU GOT A GODDAMN TUNADO GOING OUT THERE!!!!" over the radio...tunas blowing out on all quadrants...free-jumping marlin nearly landing in pangas and the cockpit of Juan's boat...YES...YES MAURICE I SAID HURRY THE FUCK UP WITH THAT OXYGEN...GRANNY'S ON THE VERGE AGAIN!!!!

Forget it people...forget about the other tunas...the marlin...the epic dorado bite Larry called us all in on later in the afternoon right off the Marieta Islands on the way home...i'm getting tired of detoxing off adrenaline on a nightly basis...

You really want to solve the drug problem????

Line them junkies up and take them fishing...

Can i get a head count?!?!?!

SI PAPI SI PAPI SI PAPI....

PENDULOS!!!!

[Capt Josh]

Jesus Cath just emailed me these photos of her and her brothers surfing the DROP BOX on Vancouver Island, BC...these were taken TODAY by the way...

I'm not sure i like her new big wave addiction...but it does turn me on...

[costaricasportfishing]

Nice Pics Bro!! Must catch the big TUNAS!!!! Looks like you guys are doing it right!! I'm jealous!! Nice looking surf too!! I'm on my way out the door to catch some surf myself! Nice SW 8-10ft!! Pretty work Bro!! You need some help up that way??

[gradywhite273]

great read and outstanding work capt josh.

[flatbottom]

Your on it again !
Nice RePoRt Captain Josh !
I enjoy the read and awesome pics

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Again....I am enthralled by your pics and writeup. Thanks!

Did I understand correctly that the Tuna Tangle brought the fish to the boat without being hooked?

El Diablo esta "King Horseshoe"! Bien, Bien, muchacho!

Holwachagot



And for the wave in the pic above...Nothing like "Hollow and Barrelin"

[Ravens16]

LIV'N THE DREAM, BABY!!!
EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!
Thanks