The focus was pure leisure today as we enjoyed flat calm sea conditions, the warmth of sunny skies, and scenic compliments unique to this stretch of the Baja coast. Less pressure or expectations it was the rare day of long range fishing that offered the opportunity to fish, or not, without any purpose other than to enjoy the setting and essence of fishing. We hauled up a few for the skillet, a few gamesters that were released, and a couple of halibut as we worked our way along to the placid, relaxed theme.

Our final morning tomorrow will offer the last fishing opportunity as we accommodate a request for red that has become a pervasive theme among anglers over the past few seasons. Mind you it is purely driven by a victual quest as no better fare exists that beautiful RSW cod from the final day. There are no illusions of grandeur, or attempts to market the effort as a sporting element of one's long range adventure from this Captain. It is an effort motivated by the palate. With a little time to spare we are happy to accommodate the request. While I claim victual motivation as our main purpose, I freely admit that I enjoy fishing for the tasty cactus regardless - especially in shallow areas where one is able to fish plastics and small lures. There is almost a Christmas element to the effort as every haul yields interesting, colorful little gifts from the bounty below.

Our photos today feature anglers Fred Lee with a fine mid day yellowtail landed on the long rod during a lunch stop. And angler Josh Recabaren pulling for all he is worth on a dandy in the late afternoon. Josh was one of the two lucky anglers this voyage to win a Shimano "Talica" as part of the drawing on this annual ten day voyage sponsored by Shimano. Throughout the trip Josh put this reel through the ringer pulling on everything we targeted with fantastic results. He will covet this reel for good reason.

Every angler following this daily narrative is familiar with our dedicated support for Shimano products that I consider to be the finest available. The Shimano Talica is no exception. In fact, I can not recommend this reel as a small to mid size class two speed highly enough. I have used them all and with complete confidence offer that the Talica is best by far. The torque created in this reel is amazing. I don't know the engineering of it, but I know it is different from all others. Every angler I know that has used one, and every angler who uses the one we have here on Royal Star is a convert with good reason. I used an analogy earlier in the trip that Shimano offshore reels are the bulldozers of their class. Talica's, Tiagra's, Trinidad's, Torium's - all of them boast the durability and capability necessary to exceed expectations in this fishery. While I believe the analogy is appropriate, Captain Brian Sims added a key element to the description that I was missing. In conversation a few days back I was relating my bulldozer comparison to him out on deck. Without hesitation he replied "yeah but they're bulldozer's that drive like Cadillac's". He nailed it. That is the perfect description of Shimano offshore fishing equipment in my opinion.

Look for tomorrow's final voyage report. Have a great week!

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...
Photo Here...