VIVA MEXICO!

Another day off from fishing! What has become of me?!!

This week I went with Leslie and Gabby to Tecate Mexico so Gabby's cousin could do Leslie's hair.

We really had a good time! It's funny how such a simple trip accross the border could be so much fun when you're with the right people!

Gabby drove us down and we started off by stopping at the bakery and getting some bread with cream cheese and jalepino's and some sweet breads. Then we went on to the cousin's house and Gabby and I watched as Leslie got her hair colored and highlighted.

When we left there we went into town and got some tortilla's and some more sweet breads to bring home. But the best part of the day was the lunch we had before leaving!!!

We went to a little brick building and sat in the back and ordered 2 fish taco's each.... They were sooooooo good we had to order 1 more each! That wasn't enough, so Gabby had another fish taco and Leslie and I shared shrimp cervichi..... don't know if I spelled it right but I tasted it right and man oh man have I been missing out on some yummy food!!

I need to go back to Mexico at least once a month so I can enjoy the culture a little more and eventually get a little more fluent in spanish!! I am semi fluent in spanglish and Gabby has been trying to teach me more, but I'm slower that I thought in picking up on the lingo!

Anyway........ the pictures are of Leslie during her transformation and after the finishing touch.

A fireman and the fire station there in Tecate, Gabby and Leslie enjoying an ice cream treat during the border wait, and a man at the border crossing with only one leg. I have issues that are a little hard to explain here, but anyway, I had to get a picture of the fireman and the one legged guy! Mexican culture and an immiture 44 year old adult..... Hmmmm!!

We really did have a good time!! I could give up a fishing day here and there for trips like this!

We can still call it a Fish Friday tho! We did have the sea food lunch!!

Until next time............... If ya can't fish, then just order a couple of Taco's de Pescada and look for a one legged Mexican at the border and have a good time!!

Skipping School For Good Cause!

A couple of weeks ago I got a surprise visit from my friends Gabby, Anthony, and Matt.

I introduced Anthony in one of my first blogs. He is 12 years old and started fishing with us last summer and he was immediately Hooked! Gabby is his mother, a former co-worker and one who I consider a good friend. Matt is Anthony's younger brother, he is 8 I believe.

When they came over Anthony started asking when we fish, and saying how much he missed fishing with us this summer.

Well...... I never said I was a good influence when it comes to kids! I in fact warn parents that I am only 12, myself! We were able to talk Gabby into letting the boys skip a day of school and come fishing on the boat! Gabby thought it was a good idea to take the day off herself!

So, October 10 Lori was off work and the 5 of us went fishing!

It started off overcast, and a tad bit chilly and the bite wasn't that great either. But the sun came out in the afternoon and warmed things up and the fish were a little more playful so we ended up having a really good day! Everyone caught fish and Anthony was able to out fish all of us and Gabby was a pro! She is a natural! She caught a few and Matt caught a few and Anthony caught the most and the biggest! Too bad we weren't playing for dollars!! Next time Buddy!!

We helped another stranded sailor! Once again we were over on the Coronado side and we ran accross a guy standing on his Jet Ski waving us down. His ride pooped out on him so we towed him back to the launch. It always feels good to help people out, but why do they have to interupt my fishing time?! Just kidding! It's always a pleasure.

So, enough drabble! Check out the pics!

SHARK!

Well........ It wasn't a very eventful day all together, but once again it's always nice just to be out on the water with friends!

I made my 4 bucks for catching the first fish! Then it was a little while and after moving a time or two before Crenda and Chris each caught one each then Stacey.

Then all of a suddon we realized that Christopher was just cleaning up! He ended up catching the most, 9, and the biggest, a shark! He caught a nice size bass and for the way things were seeming we decided to just measure the fish to determine the biggest. Then Stacey caught a halibut that was about 3 inches longer than his bass.

But right before we left Chris pulled in a nice little shark! He was longer than the halibut, but the weight was probably favored by the halibut. We should have been weighing them instead cause this shark was prize money for Chris!

I hope to catch a few more sharks and bigger would be great! They aren't as slimy as the other fish and I find them very intriguing!

I'm beginning to wonder if my job on the boat is to get everyone to a good fishing hole and then take the fish off their hooks!

I have a gross story for that! Stacey caught a lizzard fish and the little bugger swallowed the lure, they normally get the hook in their eye or their nose but rarely do the lizzards swallow the lure as deep as this guy did. I was trying so hard to retrieve this hook without doing too much damage to the little guy and unfortunately I realized that it may have been too late. But for the fortune of another creature this lizzard lost his head, Stacey got her lure back and Petunia Pelican got lunch!! To be honest, it was harder to watch him suffer as I was tugging on the hook than it was to whack it's head off! And it was nice to be able to feed Petunia fresh meat!!

Next week it will be my little buddy Anthony and his mom, Gabby and I think I was able to talk Lori into spending the day with us. I really hope it's a productive day for Anthony! He hasn't been for quite awhile and he says he has Fishymoto pretty bad, and Dr. Hashiguchi says that he must hit the water and wash away this ailment!

I hope to remember my camera and have a good story lined up for my next entry.

Is anyone even reading this? I feel like I spend a lot of time talking to myself these days and when I get on here I hope that there is someone that is getting a little entertainment out of this crap I conjure up!

Until next time................... Keep it Reel!

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

Even the worst day fishin'.....

It has come to my attention more than once since getting the boat that I really don't even care if I don't catch any fish. I just truly enjoy being outside on the water with my friends! That's what I'd like to do at least twice a week for the rest of my life! And I hope my life isn't that much longer, just that much more relaxed!

This past fishing trip wasn't packed with fish stories, but it was a nice day out and we enjoyed ourselves and had a good time as always.

Here are a couple of pics I took as we were docking and getting ready to pull the boat back on the trailer. This was in the launching area. I named these photo's "Find Waldo"!

You can see Ol Salty right in the middle of the pelicans!

Not sure if we'll be going out this Friday. But if we do..... I'll see about getting you all some good fish stories! If we can't make them happen we'll make them up!!

Keep it REEL!

Taking a day off from fishing against my better fishing judgement! The moon will be full Monday or Tuesday and it's currently sharing our daytime sky and I can't help but think the tide just may be right for some good fishing! Sometimes we have to put our toys away and do grown up stuff. So, I don't know what I'm gonna do while my friends are doing grown up stuff!! I'll be back next week I'm sure!

Friday September 5

What a beautiful day to go fishing! But I haven't really seen many days that weren't good enough for fishing!

Today it was just Christopher Leslie and myself on board. Leslie hasn't been able to go with us for awhile because her kids have been out of school for the summer, so her last time was when we went tubing!

So.......... We started out going deep! We went past the kelp beds off the point and drifted through there for a little while. Chris caught the first fish there, it was a calico bass or a kelp bass, most fish have many different names. There is even a Yellow Tail and a Yellow Fin, both different but both are tuna! Unfortunately we probably won't see either of these tuna on our boat because they don't hang out where our boat can go safely! Whenever we "go deep" I always think, "This is it! I'm going out and I'm not stopping till we get to the islands!" Then I get just a little further than the last time and I turn around and find a spot to stop! Today was no different! I would like to go up off the La Jolla coast where some of the fishing boats go, but I don't know the area well enough to know of a launching area. Oh well! I guess we'll just stick to what we know untill Nemo gets up the nerve to go just a little further!!

On with today's catch! Among Chris's tags he pulled in a Mantra Shrimp! They are also called boxing shrimp and have been known to punch out the glass in an aquarium!

I don't know if I talked about the first one I ever saw. Earlier this year we were out in the bay and I started reeling in and realized there was something dragging my line. When I pulled it in it was the most interesting colorful thing I've ever seen! We were all mesmerized by the color and the oddity! That day there was Leslie, Chris, our friend Kevin and myself.

Kevin took this thing and pulled the hook out and held it for pictures and even licked it's under side where it was blue and yellow and pink and very vibrant and mesmerizing! Then when we were all done looking at it and laughing at Kevin's silliness he threw it back and we moved to another spot asking a nearby fisherman what it was. These are his words....

"Don't mess with that! They're poisonous!" I still laugh when I think of Kevin licking his belly! We all looked at Kevin and Chris took his vitals just to make sure! Kevin started spitting over the side then he said.... "That's a shrimp?! I'm allergic to shrimp!" Still laughing! Now you know he had to turn out ok if I'm still laughing at it! It was just one of those funny things!

So, anyway Chris caught one today and his was bigger than mine as was the one Vicky caught Monday. But we actually got Chris's in the boat and got plenty of pictures!! He also caught a nice size Halibut and a couple of bass. His total for today was four.

Leslie was the first one to catch something once we moved back into the bay. She caught a small halibut and a few bass and one cute little sculpin!

Do you remember me saying anything about the sculpin are poisonous? They have venum glands on the tips of their fins. They are ugly fish, but when they are so little you can't help but think how cute they are! He was released without harm! She caught a total of five.

As for me.... I was skunked for the first half of the day and then as soon as I changed my lure to one of my favorites I was able to get the F, G, H, and I fish right close together! I ended up with seven total, (the most!)

I got a nice halibut and a couple of bass and a little baby halibut that was as cut if not cuter than Leslie's sculpin!

All in all it was beautiful weather, beautiful people, cute fish and a fun day!

Let's all try to have a REEL good Fall!!

It was a spinnin' good summer!!

Until next week...... Fish On!