My Strangest Fishing Trip
One of the strangest fishing trips I have ever been on is off the coast of Baja California in a “panga” boat. In the USA it is a 17-foot skiff. It was handled by a local who had to be a good 75 years old or more. He explained that with this expert fishing knowledge of where to fish we were sure to get a big tuna.
The boat was nothing special, wooden with chipped paint and a small 25 HP outboard motor. I don’t remember if he ever said where we would be fishing. A few less beers, and I would not have agreed to going 10 miles offshore in that boat. However, we had our rods and reels, and the price was certainly cheap so off we went.
Out On the Water
The trip started out great, the weather in the high 80’s with a slight breeze. If we had had some shade on the boat, it would have been the perfect trip out. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours of trolling to our supposed “hot spot” the motor started to skip. The guide assured us it was just the spark plug being fouled. He lifted the motor to pull the plug and promptly dropped it in the ocean. Now I was officially worried. We were too far out to row and had no choice but drink beer and fish for a while.
Sharks!
All that was fine until some fins cut the water and swimming right next to the boat were two sharks. One was almost the size of the boat. I can say honestly that “worried” was not the word I would use to describe how we felt. It was obviously not a new situation to the guide. He was very relaxed and kept saying “no hay problema” repeatedly. He even picked up the ratty oar he had in the boat and started hitting the shark’s fin. It took the shark a long time to get the hint but eventually it left the area.
The Tide Turns
That was when our luck changed. We spotted and hailed a Mexican coast guard boat. It quickly came alongside, and our guide explained our problem. Fortunately, they had a spark plug to give him. Now he proudly hailed, “we go to good spot.”
His obvious lack of fear or concern more than anything else that let us continue. He exuded a bravado that nothing bad would go wrong from here on out. I for one was glad we did. I managed to land a 33-inch Yello Fin Tuna. It weighed in at around 35 – 40 lb. Our guide did not have a scale for me to know for sure. Considering I was using light tackle I was proud we got it in the boat. .
Previously on all night charter boats I would use 30 to 40 lb. test because of the fear of tangled line with so many fishermen. With that test line a tuna can still be a hell of a fighter but certainly not likely to break my line. Fishing on that small panga I was using on 15 lb. test with light tackle, and it took about 90 min to 120 min to land that fish. Certainly, the longest, and most exciting fight I have ever fought to being in a fish and it made the whole trip worthwhile. Giving all credit to guide he managed to keep the boat where it needs to be helping to reduce the stress on the line.