Galapagos w/pictures

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Not a chance we'd get sick of pics with kids fishing...or fishing in the Galapagos...or tuna pics...or wahoo pics...
You've got em all!
Thanks for the reporting and pics...and by all means please continue.
Holwachagot

[Bird Dog]

great pictures, Jay

looks like one helluva place to visit

[Anders]

THE DETERMINATION ON THAT LITTLE GIRL'S FACE, REELING IN THAT FISH, IS PRICELESS! GREAT SHOTS!

I agree best of the pics over all, but that wahoo bloodied up face is a close second

[Jay W]

That yellow plug was a 8" Rapala. It caught more fish than any other color we used. I've got a cool picture of it in a nice YFT's throat, get it up later. We lost it early the last day of fishing and I was bummed but he had a back up green and yellow that did pretty good too. It really didn't matter to much, they seemed to eat anything being dragged. We had a wahoo hit a red/white Yozuri on top while clearing lines, that was a sweet hook up after he missed it a couple times then ripped about 100 yds off in a couple seconds. The more I look back on the trip the more cool stuff pops into my mind.

[Capt Josh]

Wow Jay those were worth the wait!!!!! Super stoked to see these!

[SKK]

Jay - Nice pictures, very nice! And that's an impressive Wahoo by any standards.

If Moab mentioned an island south of Santa Cruz: He's probably talking about San Cristobal. Now that's the place to fish for big YFT and, of course, Striped Marlin, for which these waters are justly famous. We recently had a fishing competition in San Cristobal, just for the local fishermen, no boat bigger than 7m, and the biggest Marlin was about 180kg (396lb). The guy that caught it (our brother-in-law) refused to hand it in for the prize, cos the fish was worth twice as much as the prize-money. They did that to him last year and he wasn't about to be fooled twice!

If any of you are thinking of making a trip down here, Call us. We are based in San Cristobal and can put on a real adventure for you. And do as Jay did: take advantage of being down here to take in some of the most amazing scenery and animals on Planet Earth.

For an appetizer: check out our photo-gallery: http://www.sportfishermen.com/photos...hp/photo/33392

Look for forward to hearing from you. The fish are here year-round, but Jay is right when he observes that its a "little rough" this time of year. But it's all relative - rough for Galapagos maybe, but not when compared to many other popular spots. Besides: we've got some great deals on right now - check us out.
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[Jay W]

SKK, Moab did mention San Cristobal and spoke highly of the fishing there. In fact Moab called me from the boat Friday and said they caught a YFT round about 200lbs in that general area. We were going to spend a few days there but ran out of time. I agree on your rough seas, they were never beat you up rough but still quite impressive non the less. Its kinda like that first step, the local guys know how to handle them though. Just make sure your Captain has a little extra caffiene on those long dark rides to the hill.

I don't know all the politics involved in fishing the Galapagos but if you guys could get the word out that you CAN fish there without any problem, then you would definetely see and increase in customers, if you need/want that. I know when I first started researching our trip, the first 5 people I mentioned fishing to acted like I was starting a long line business or something. Then I talked with a couple of guys that were out in the stratosphere on price. So I decided to just show up and see what was really going on and I was pleasantly surprised!!

You guys have an incredible place to play and I plan on returning one day with only fishing on my mind.

[SKK]

Jay; "Politics" is definitely the right word for it.

Development of a "Sport-Fishing" industry has been in the Galapagos National Park's management plan for the Marine Reserve since the ninety's. The basic rationale is that the more fishermen move to Sport-Fishing (with it's catch-and-release philosophy) the less fish are extracted from the sea. Makes perfect sense.

Even the Charles Darwin Foundation has long endorsed the idea of "Sport Fishing", albeit conditional on proper regulations and enforcement. One of their major concerns was that simply opening the market to Sport-Fishing would result in the big-guns moving in from offshore and completely dominating the market. The locals would have to go back to commercial fishing and there would be no ecological benefit from opening up the Reserve.

We had stalemate here for several years. "Sport-Fishing" was completely outlawed while the interested parties argued over how it could be regulated and enforced. In the meantime, several local operators carried on business as usual, completely ignoring the ban. Nobody has ever bothered them - I guess they have some sort of special immunity.

Finally, in August, 2006 (or thereabout) the GNP starting issuing licences for: "Artisanal Vivencial Fishing". These licences are supposed to be available ONLY to previously accredited local fishermen. My wife, whom I actually met in Canada, is from a long established fishing family and already had a fishing licence. So now, with our AVF licence, we can take you, 100% legally, to fish for Marlin, Tuna, Wahoo, you name it. You can even dive off our boat for lobster (in season of course)! The GNP actually does not insist on 100% catch-and-release - just "reduced extraction", which means you can take home a reasonable amount of fish to eat. The reg's are not really clear, but in essence the idea is that you shouldn't be doing it to sell the fish - which would kinda defeat the main purpose of promoting AVF. One thing is clear though: you can't call it "Sport-Fishing". So if you go to the GNP or CDF websites, they are still broadcasting the message that Sport-Fishing is illegal! You have to dig a little deeper to get the whole picture.

Pretty confusing isn't it? No wonder we have a hard time selling potential clients on the legality of fishing here! It doesn't help that tour operators deliberately perpetuate the myth that tourists can't fish here. They don't want the competition. We've experienced that a couple of times from potential clients who wanted to stop off for a day of fishing but were told by the operators, and even GNP guides, that it was illegal! It's a hard sell OK, but we're working on it. We're confronting the issue by asking the question right on our Website: "Is Sport-Fishing Legal in the Galapagos". We should probably be even more front-and-centre with it.

We'd love to see you guys when you come back. Not all the prices are stratospheric. Unlike most of the others, we live here, we own the boat, we own the licences and we don't have to pay off any 3rd parties. We're working on some much more reasonable numbers and would be happy to quote anyone interested.
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[Jay W]

There you go! That 3rd party can be expensive for sure. I never ran across you guys on my searching the web, wish I would have though. I almost thought I wasn't going to fish while there for our stay. I'll pass the word where I can.

[clt_capt]

Great pictorial report. Sounds like a great family outing. Thanks for sharing