My first, and only so far, deep sea fishing trip was with these two uncles and my dad. We went fishing for marlin of the coast near Cabo San Lucas. In the weeks leading up to the trip there were many emails arranging plans, generating excitement and such. In a lot of these emails a man named Dick, a good friend of Uncle Neil’s, is cc’d. Dick is often cc’d in emails regarding fishing trips that circulate among us, and we are often cc’d in emails from and to Dick. Some of the most entertaining bits of reading I have enjoyed are the outrageous fishing stories/bantering between “Dearest Dick” as my uncles so dearly call him and good ol’Uncle Neil. We’ve come to call them “Dick stories.”
Neither myself nor my dad have ever met Dick face-to-face, but we have a sort of connection and a healthy fisherman’s rival going between the five of us that has grown through the Dick stories. Well six of us now. My uncle Jerry just took my aunt Donna, my dad’s big sister, fishing for marlin last month in Cabo. So she is now also in on the rivalry.
Since 2010 there have six trips, between us all, to Cabo for the soul purpose of catching at least one humongous marlin. At this point any of us would be happy with a marlin fry. Neil is the only one of us who has ever actually seen one of these beasts alive and on the end of a hook, let alone in a boat and claimed. Here is one of the most recent Dick stories that was a response to a picture of an uncomfortable spear fishing mishap that was sent around to the rivalry. (A spear through the cheek, and not the cheek on a face if you know what I mean…)
Dearest Dick: No, it's not me. I can't imagine a spear penetrating my chiseled ass. But I do know who the shooter may have been. Dawn and Jerry are in Cabo right now and given Jerry's angling prowess I can believe he's down there trying to shoot one. Can you imagine if Dawn is to catch a marlin or practically anything for that matter, she will surpass Jerry's success rate to date. And if we hear he has caught something I can only imagine Dawn's just allowing him to claim it in order to save face around the rest of us fisherman, Ken, Jenn and I that is. Unless you caught some tommycots or carp in the canal by your house this winter, I believe your "fisherman" card has been revoked by now. Maybe this year you'll have a chance to get out so we can show you how it's done, just for old times sake. I hope you get home safely and that your furniture made its way from the ice fishing shanty back into your house. The ice is looking dicey. Let me know when you're home. P.S. I've been on overtime sleeptime 3 nights now 14 hours each and there's at least 2 more coming. Yes, you can thank me for keeping the power getting to your house.
Our first trip all-together (minus Dick), with Neil, Jerry, Dad and myself, we had high hopes. We were certain that we would come back with our coolers full of marlin and perhaps even have to buy another cooler or two to bring all of our spoils home. We didn’t catch a single marlin. I caught a rooster-fish and my dad caught a mako shark. We let the rooster-fish go but the shark… well they are not so easy to catch and release – He was delicious.
Near the end of our week there we decided to stay close to shore and try for sierra. Neil stayed back but Dad, Jerry and I caught our limits in these tasty white-fish and had most of it smoked to bring home.
That smoked sierra was probably the only reason my mom let Dad go back to Mexico with Neil to try again for marlin. He had to promise to bring her more smoked sierra though. This was the first email I got from them on my dad’s second trip.
Hola Jenn: We went with Simpson (Ramone) and Fidel on Gricelda today. The tuna fishing has been real bad the last few days but we told them we were prepared to run the 20 or 30 miles to find them. It started slow as the dolphins we fished had no tuna with them. We ran out further and found another school at around 15 miles. We got our first action and hooked 4 yellowfin immediatly. By the end of the day we had 10 fat tasty tuna but it wasnt without casualty. Your father forgot to bring his his elbow brace and as he was too stubborn to admit to defeat he reeled in his share of the catch. With his elbow aching, his glowing base tan, his foot chaffed raw from his sandals added on to the tossing of the boat in the light gale force winds it turned out to be a tough day. Once again it became painfully aware this is no pastime for the ordinary man. When we got to the dock we tooka piece of tuna to Solomons where we will go later for sashimi and sushi. We made it bact to our hotel and as soon as we had cracked a beer your Dad layed down to rest his beaten body. Two things happened at that point. First, he immediatly fell asleep. More importantly, the whimpering ceased. I hope Im able to coax him out of bed later when its time for tuna. At least your uncle isnt here as Im sure hed be in even worse condition. We head out again tomorrow morning providing of course your Dad can move his arm and walk to the boat. I have a feeling there may be but one big tuna wheeled up the dock after our trip. Take care Jenn. Over and out from Cabo.
Neil
There were no marlin to be had on that trip either. Their guide suggested they try for some tuna. I’ll let Neil tell this one, addressed to Dearest Dick but, as usual, sent to all members of the rival:
Dearest Dick: I have no reason to disbelieve your claim to catching a 300 lb catfish, however a picture would be an assuring accompanyment. I also cannot send any reassuring photos but I can describe the one that got away. Visualize....Ken and I in the back of the boat on Wednesday morning, the sun and wind on our bronzed hardened bodys as we are surrounded by leaping frenzied dolphins and yellowfin tuna. The rods bend over and start to sing. We pounce like cats and shout our instructions to the bewildered crew as we bring them one by one to the gaff. But Ken has tied in to a leviathan that goes deep and stays down for the next hour plus. 30 lb line and rod are tested to their limit and whenever Ken gets some line back the fish is quick to regain it and then some. Finally it starts to come up and after much battling back and forth its 30 feet off the side the boat. We estimate him at 70 pounds but the scars and broken gaff hooks in his side show he is no ordinary tuna. Just when we are convinced its in the bag the line goes limp for no reason and he gives us one last snear before swimming off to freedom. It could have been worse. Had Jerry been on the rod he´d be lying on the floor in the fetal position, whimpering from the pain of the fight and defeat. We have had several feeds of fish and I for one have a new appreciation for tuna, especially sashimi and the way they blacken it while being raw in the middle. Fantastic. Must go now as Ken needs to eat as he´s not quite recovered from his beating. Adios amigos. Dearest Senor Dick. We would love to send you pictures from our fishing ventures but you must comprendo this is but a poor fishing village and does not have the technology to do such a thing. As you know I would never embellish a fishing story and you can take my word as fact. We only got 3 tuna yesterday but they were the grandest of the trip and quite frankly there was no more room in the boat with them on the deck so we came in early. We are finished fishing now which is good as Ken keeps slipping in and out of consious as catching tuna of that size is phisically demanding even for men like ourselves. Hope the snows not too deep in Brownsville and your canals not froze over. Senor Neeeeeil.
Leading up to my Aunt Donna’s trip there was much “piss-taking” towards my dad about his sister catching a marlin before him.
Hola Amigo: I was fishing yesterday on Dr. Fish, a panga that was arranged by Grace. As Francisco was booked she told me it was a good boat. I young guy named Himee met me and led me to the boat. His padre who is the Captain was waiting there. Himee was the mate and as they were junior and senior..........his father´s name was Himee. (You remember from Get Smart?) Anyway they told me there were no dorado around as the waters gotten colder but there may be tuna as they prefer the cooler water, which I was not aware of. We first went out from Los Arcos to 250 feet of water to try for Yellowtail, not to be confused with yellowfin. A wise old fisherman (okay, Dick) once told me how he was taught by an old indian how to catch lake trout when they´ve gone deep. I originally just thought this was just another "Dick Story" but found out it actually had some truth behind it. Get your lure to the bottom then crank like hell to retrieve your lure as fast as you can half way to the surface then put it back down and try again. I hooked up right away on my first retrieve and caught a 20 pounder. Himee senior hooked one a few minutes later and changed rods with me but half way up a sea lion grabbed it and spent the next 15 minutes ripping it to shreds 200 yards from the boat. We finally got the hook back from the motherf........magnificent creature and got back to fishing somewhere else. We fished 2 pods of dolphins until we finally found tuna about 6 miles offshore. I got 3 with the largest going on 20 pounds or so. I invited a young guy from Germany and an old guy from B.C. to join me for dinner last night at The Tiki Bar. We had tuna sashimi and sushi 3 ways along with some seared. Washed down with 2 buckets of cerveca (10 beer) the bill was $32. It was awesome. Do you have a small alarm clock you can bring down with you? I borrowed one here but we might not get one at Siesta Suites. Francisco or Gricelda become available on the 24th I´ll take it and cancel for the 25th. If you really want to go on the tuesday we can likely book with Himee. I´ll keep posted on what´s happening and play it by ear. Please talk to you sister as I feel she may have trouble when she comes down here fishing. The yellowtail fishing is not easy work. Neither is the yellowfin as you constantly jig the rod for action. After a days fishing I can´t imagine her packing Jerry back to the hotel by herself. This type of fishing as you know is not for the ordinary man or woman, and Jerry would be a quivering mass after 8 hours on the water. She may need a backup plan. See you at Siesta Suites on Monday. Senior Neeeeil.
Really though, I think we are all in love with the tuna now. So here is one of my favorite tuna recipes.
Tuna Titaki
Mix in a large bowl:
3-4 tbls spoons soya sauce
2-3 cloves crushed or finely chopped garlic
1 small thumb of grated or finely chopped ginger (equivalent to about 2 tsps)
1 tbs olive (or your favorite) oil
2 tsp brown sugar
2-3 tbls balsamic vinegar
½ of a mandarin or very small sweet orange peeled and diced
juice from half a lime (1tbs)
3-4 chopped green onion
1/2 small red onion thinly sliced a handful of cilantro chopped
Sear the tuna about ¼ inch through all the way around. Slick about ¼ inch thick and toss into dressing. Serve with avocado and/or with salad greens and sprouts.
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