Technically Foulable

So, out we went again, this time with Andres. Most of you haven't had the pleasure yet, and as soon as you get down here we can correct that. He isn't a seasoned fisherman, but he did a very credible job. He did well reeling in his first yellowtail, listening to instructions from Chris, Fernando, and myself, and still getting the fish in. He had clearly absorbed much of the info passed to him, because by his second fish he was lookin' good. The only problem with the day was that his second was our second, and our last. While it wasn't the best part of the moon and all, it was still a less than stellar day with two fish in, and 3-4 fish who should have been  hooked, escaping. I thought that I would share with you some of our endless analysis of why this was, and what to do about it the next time. It's always hard to compare one day to another and to draw conclusions, because there are so many variables beyond our control, but let's do it anyway.

      Ostensibly we were doing the same thing on both days, ie. drifting live bait just above the bottom, using fluorocarbon leader and circle hooks. We actually got more bites the second day, but less fish in the boat. The things that were notably different were:
--We were using caballito, not mackerel, as the macs were hard to come by.
-- Fernando used the circle hooks through the fishes upper "lip", instead of the previously described bridling
    our day #1 Captain Lalo had used.
-- The hooks were a couple of sizes larger with Fernando than they had been with Lalo.

   In the instances where the fish took our baits they ran against the drag for 20-30 yards and then were gone. This would seem to imply that they hadn't gotten the baits all the way down into their mouths. The circle hooks' action depends on the bait having been swallowed and the fish swimming away from you. Either the yellowtail were holding the baits in their mouths, not swallowing them, or perhaps the hooks had become fouled, with the tip of the hook snagging back into the bait resulting in the hook being unable to lodge in the corner of the mouth of the prey as is almost always the result with circle hooks. Chris reminded me of a good tip when using circle hooks. The traditional instructions are to basically point the rod down the line towards the fish, when you feel that he has run far enough to have swallowed the bait to then put the reel in gear and raise the rod slowly, not to set violently. He prefers to start slowing the lines' departure with his thumbs prior to putting the reel into gear. This would give the bait a more gradual departure acceleration out of the yellows' mouth, as opposed to the more instant departure brought about by the putting of reel in gear. This is especially advisable when using spectra as the lack of stretch exascerbates this issue.  It is also possible that since the caballitos are larger than the mackerel that if the yellowtail were smaller they would have more difficulty engulfing the baits, but as all the 'tails that we caught or had seen caught were big fish, this is not likely. It could also be that with different current flows that fish were not feeding as aggressively as a few days before. Fernando also pointed out that the caballito have a bony horizontal plane on the section of the body just forward of the tail, and he said that sometimes fish have a harder time eating caballito because of this..
These are all of the likely possibilities we could come up with for the difference in hook up ratios from day to day. For us this is one of the best parts of fishing, analyzing the results of a days efforts, comparing it to past experiences and your understanding of the considerable mechanics involved in the process, and uploading what you believe to be the pertinent info for the next time. Out of this coleslaw of possibilities I believe that the next time that I go yellowtail fishing the things that I will make sure to incorporate are:

--Bridling the bait and using the smaller size hook as I believe that these steps will result in less fouling of the hook tip.
--Making sure to incorporate Chris' tip on "prebraking" prior to putting the reel in gear with circle hooks.
--Hoping for better luck. You can work on the Yin, but you gotta wait for the Yang.

david

Night time double-clutches into today

like a truck downshifting its' load

Way down

down along

Lazy River Road 

                 -RH

                     

Have a kid take you fishing! Chris and I decided that enough painting, CFEing, frettin', and getting up early to work had done happened, and that we should go fishing. The yellowtail have become quite consistent in the last few weeks, and even though I wouldn't necessarily recommend the dark of the moon to fish for these guys, it's when we had, and so we did. I really do enjoy getting up at 3:15 in the morning to make preparations for our customers, watching them wander in like victims of the rooster, and slowly wake up as the combination of coffee and what Kyle calls, "The David Jones Show" cuts through the fog, synapses stretch and reconnect and they begin to focus on the fact that they are going fishing. Most seem to shed 15 years, and the eyes begin to shine to a greater degree than for which you could blame  the coffee. I do enjoy this, damnit, but there is that moment when Andres closes the van doors, and as the animated speculation as to what the day will bring fades away up the street and I turn to go back inside to settle down to the mighty Wurlitzer that for just a flash I am jealous, and slightly irked at my clients as they get to go fishing. I don't brood about it, and within a few minutes all returns to normal, but I'd be lyin' if I said that there wasn't a twinge. Well today we got up early, again, with different purpose. A couple of client/friends were on their last day, and we were bound to join them on the water. They are the very comely father and son team pictured above with a fine catch of pargo lisa which they caught by going to the island for sardines and returning to Punta Perico for our first really good catch of mullet snapper for the year. Their names have not been mentioned on the slight chance that they number among the innocent, but we know who they are, and like it! Although I normally fall asleep in the van on the way home,but in the morning I'm as alert as D Rex. The drive, which I've done probably more times than anyone short of Andres (no pun intended?) is full of anticipation. Our hole carved into the early morning darkness by the headlights, ever vigilant for cow attack, talking with clients about this and that, checking out the tree appendages stretching into our tunnel of awareness for signs of wind, I love it. We arrive at the beach and hit the sand, the Captains scurrying about in the half light, shouting and laughing at each other, moving the pangas into ready position. Lalo was our chosen victim this day, and he was dressed as a Ninja warrior, with his head and most of his face covered with a dark cloth shroud, against the cool morning air. All I could see were his teeth, smiling when he figured out who his customers were, at least he'd have something to laugh at today. We barely had any more time to get any more excited before he throttled down, 5 minutes south of Muertos along the cliffs, and we dropped our Sabiki rigs down for bait. I made it look easy with three greenies right off the bat, but it slowed. During the day we caught sufficient bait to always have fresh lively ones, a combination of big green mackerel, some smaller ones, and Pacific Sardines. When we had enough to start, we joined the 8 or so pangas drifting live bait near the bottom, using 4 ounce sinkers, fluorocarbon leaders, and circle hooks bridled to the mackerel like you would bridle a big bonito for marlin fishing. I hadn't seen this done on smaller baits before, and Lalo mentioned that it was a little like "Senor Gallo". Memories of Bill Mathias, and his infectious attention to detail and rigging occupied my mind for a few moments, but then Chris was fast to his first of two yellowtail for the day. He was standing in the front of the panga, yankin' and crankin' on his Hada special, and within 7-8 minutes he had a 40 pound yellow next to the boat. Lalo and I looked at each other with looks that indicated that we each took some small responsibility for the training that Chris has absorbed so thoroughly over the years. "En la cabesa, por favor, y saca la sangre" Chris requested of Lalo. He wanted the gaff in the head, and for Lalo to bleed the fish, as he was planning on smoking it (which end do you suck on?) for his growing efforts at providing smoked fish around La Paz. Hole in head, blood in water, fish in the box. Most of an hour later I hooked up, and did my best not to embarrass Chris in front of fleet of pangas and cruisers that had grown to some 20 odd boats. I lurched to my feet, thank god for flat calm weather, and tried to let on as little as possible about how hard I was working to match his efficiency in fish retrieval. I thought that I did pretty well, and mere minutes later there was a 35 pound, bloodless, hole headed fish laying next to Chris' in the box. It was another hour and a half until Chris' second fish. Boats around us were hooking up, and it was clear that a large amount of large yellowtail were patrolling the area. Some boats had only one for the day, Javier had 9, that's fishing. But we ended up with 3, a couple of large jack crevalle, and a few bonito that Chris wanted to smoke also, they are good. A great day, weather perfect, Captain talented and affable, ice chest full, and I got to go fishing with someone who I have grudgingly realized is "probably" a better fisherman than I on several, but not all, yet,levels. I don't wish to seem snotty or to be a fishing elitist, but after watching a couple of hotdogs all dolled up in their fishing boutique bondage harnesses complete with fingerless "leverage" gloves, manipulating reels with gear boxes that would put most semi-trucks to shame, straining and hooting for 45 minutes to get these fish in, one even managing to involve everyones'line within half a mile in a knot no sailor ever knew, to watch someone who knows what he's doing was a real pleasure. It isn't the speed with which the fish is retrieved, it is understanding the fishes movements and utilizing his own efforts against him (fish Judo), and using the natural advantages of leverage and intelligence afforded us by our hardware and software. Efficiency of movement, application of pressure and direction at the perfect moments, like watching someone who really understands hitting a baseball, or who has spent countless hours making dancing look effortless and easy. Brief mental meanderings into "A River Runs Through It", some fatherly pride, just mostly the best taste leftover in your brain after a really fine day.

David