11/09/14

Sensing the inevitable shift inherent in all fishing situations, and heeding the call, today found us far from the first couple day's wahoo paradise. Beautiful conditions - still heavenly flat calm, and good tidings from the inside, courtesy of our many resources and friends, set us up for success. The time to stop the boat and fish for awhile had definitely arrived.

And that is exactly what we did. Fishing and catching in equal proportion was the theme of the day. Though a little slow to begin, and hotter than Hades in the mid morning furnace of a tropical sun, the afternoon gave way to an entirely different story. Good fishing, classic ridge variety action featuring a ton of yankin' and crankin'. Minimal "sorting" made the whole picture that much better. A beautiful grade of yellowfin tuna, 20 - 30 pounds, made for an easy decision to repatriate the smaller models and nice grade yellowtail mixed up the action. A few wahoo made their presence known snipping off the occasional hook and doing visual drive-by's that inevitably elicited a fusillade of thrown jigs and bombs. Though we eked out only one for the effort, a beauty again, the chance alone keep the fuse burning.

From just after the noon hour to right before dark it was game on: a perfect pace, absolutely ideal. Anglers had the choice of dropping to the bottom for a nigh guaranteed yellowtail or fishing the surface for a nice tuna; though more than a few opportunistic tuna's were deceived by the dropper loops down on the bottom. I'm not sure what it is that makes the capture of a yellowfin tuna on a dropper loop rig so humorous but when it happens a good chuckle always seems to follow.

A spectacular green flash appropriately ushered in a satisfying evening of reverie and relaxation. Both have been well earned. In such periods of beneficence one can not help but recognize that such a favorable series of events is priceless, far beyond the written word.

One thing certain is that this entire ridge is on. At present every spot has strong potential to produce big hits on all the apex game fish that elevate this zone to the top of the list of international fishing destinations. And we are here in perfect position to make the most of opportunity; timing is everything. But, knowing how fishing goes, we're not counting them before we catch them. Tomorrow is a new day.

Photos today feature a wahoo shot with veteran angler John Faherty at Rocas Alijos, and Joe Segal with one of his many fine, "ridge grade" yellowfin tuna landed today.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...
Photo Here...