Let's back up a few months. When I received an email from my friend Capt. Jesse on the 59' Spencer "Bi-Op-Sea" back in July 2009 or so, stating he was going back to Isla in 2010, I forwarded the email on to some friends and co-workers. Two (Jim and Dave) immediately responded with "If you're in, I'm in!" That makes 3 of us. 2 uncles (Frank and Steve) from NJ, who have only dreamed of catching a sailfish joined their nephew Dave on the trip as well.
Fast forward to Thursday, January 28th. The pending weather forecast in the DC area looks horrid. Single digit temps and snow on the horizon and I can’t wait to jet out. Jim picks me up at my house at 4:15 am and is greeted by me with a stiff Bloody Mary to get the trip started. Off to National Airport for a 6:55am flight. Make it to Charlotte for the connecting flight, back away from the gate and issues. Plane is busted. Back to the gate for a new plane. 3 hours later we pull away with the nose pointed to Cancun.
Dave, Frank and Steve are awaiting Jim and I at the “swing bar” and are multiple adult beverages ahead of Jim and I. Time to catch up. Del Sol’s, Tequila shots, and Margaritas are flowing like tap water. A few tacos, some more cervesas and it’s time to hit the sack.
We awake to a stiff NW wind. Guess which way we are headed. Yup….North. Bite is 9 miles to the N of Isla Mujeres. 25-35knt winds give us an a$$ tacking directly on the chin. 59’ of Custom Carolina built Spencer craftsmanship is making 15knts and pulling back on some real monsters. The wind certainly didn’t stop the local 28ft fleet from following us out along with the local panga fleet. KooKoo!
We get to the grounds and find birds working, bait balls swimming and boats catching. We also find 6’4, 300lb Jim greener than the 13th green at Augusta. Apparently the tequila is wreaking havoc. Sailfish are snappin, Jim is chumming (at one point, Mate Jordan told Jim that if he felt something round and rubbery in his throat, he needed to swallow, cause it was probably his a$$hole) and everyone else is laughing. Steve and Frank are in awe of the entire process (not the puking, but the fishing). 2 NJ guys whose biggest fish is a fluke are now hooked to sailfish. Ended the day with 15 sails released for 30+ bites. Off to bed with way less alcoholic beverages in our bellies.
We awoke on day 2 to beautiful skies, and a light 7kt wind. Find out that a visiting boat found the motherload 22 miles NW of Isla Mujeres the day before and didn’t let anyone know. Pull away and hammered the throttles on the C18’s. Needless to say we were passed by a 61 Garlington. OH well. Let the fun start. We find a bait ball all to ourselves and before we had 4 lines in the water, we had 2 sails hooked. Caught those and repeated the process. Multiple hook ups, numerous doubles, a few triples and 4 quads kept us busy all day. Saw some firsts. Dolphins were participating in the bait ball harassing. Saw 3 wahoos chasing our squid chain, and make off with our trailer/Islander right next to the boat.
By the end of the day, the newbies were rigging baits, and making sure halyards were brought in, dredges were the correct distance, and leaders were changed out. It was a fun time. Jordan, Capt. Jesse and I hooked all the fish and passed the rods. Final tally for the day was 37 sails hooked and released. I can’t say enough about the Capt. and crew. Everyone had a blast, experienced some firsts and made some lifelong friends and memories. Isn’t that what fishing is all about?
Jumped on a flight back to DC on Sunday afternoon, stepped off the plane to snow and 28 degree weather and cursed profusely that I wasn’t still in Isla. Then it dawned on me that there is always Key West at the end of Feb. to see my lil’ bro Coores14 and February is a short month.
Marlin.
glad you guys had a good time.
It sounds like the Carolina boys are a good part of the fleet this year.
Steve Richardson is on the way down as I type this with the Ritchie Howell built "Rebel" and his brother Gary also, they should be there on Tuesday.
Charles and Big Al are going nuts over the deep droping on the Country Girl I'm told.
Hopefully having a few more boats there will help in keeping them rounded up. I am going to try and get down by the end of the month when my Striper trips come to an end,it's been a long winter for me, time for a break.
Jesse and Jordy are first class, I can remeber when Jordy was my dock partners mate on an inshore boat before he could even drive, he has really become a good one, glad it was a good time, even for the green guy !
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Off to National Airport for a 6:55am flight. Make it to Charlotte for the connecting flight, back away from the gate and issues. Plane is busted. Back to the gate for a new plane. 3 hours later we pull away with the nose pointed to Cancun.
sails hooked and released. I can’t say enough about the Capt. and crew. Everyone had a blast, experienced some firsts and made some lifelong friends and memories. Isn’t that what fishing is all about?
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