THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY

The Gods must be crazy. We are standing on a truly remote beach in remote Mexico. It's quite difficult to find the way here....even for the few rural local residents who live in stick huts. The only prints in the sand are turtle tracks and what looks suspiciously like puma tracks. Huge rock dragons, dinosaurs, and goblins ring the beach. The surrounding jungle looks like alien predators would choose to roam here. The waters plummet into dark depths only a few yards from shore. It gives one the feeling of standing on the edge of the earth.

Something glints in the sunlight. Something out of place. It's a glass Coke bottle. How did it get here? Did the Gods drop it from the sky? Will they be angry if it is not returned to them? Or, is it a gift from the Gods? Did they deliver it here as a good luck talisman that wards off the spirits of bad fishing?

It's been a poor fishing morning and noon is almost upon us. The hopes of catching some good fish are fading. I pick up the bottle and glance down the beach. Eric immediately has a fish hit and yells "rooster". He starts doing the fish dance and yodels that he sees a bunch of them. Hmmmmm. I tell Mark to touch the bottle. He strokes the bottle and sets off at a trot.

Eric gets another explosive strike right next to shore and hooks up with a nice rooster. Mark makes a cast and hooks up. Both Eric and Mark are into a big feeding school of roosters and jacks.

Poor Dave can't get a bump in the middle of all this. Hmmmmmm. I tell him to touch the bottle. Dave smiles and rubs it like a genie's lamp. Immediately he is fast onto a big fish.

I put the bottle in my pocket and begin casting. Roosterfish start attacking my lure. Hmmmm. Are the Gods crazy? Maybe not.

This is my second week in a row surf fishing the Mexican Pacific. I've never done this for two weeks in a row and it's a test of mettle and fortitude. I had some great friends join me for the first week Night Of The Iguana Sept 2008 and we all wore ourselves to a frazzle. Now, fresh horses have shown up for the second week and they are brim full of new enthusiasm and energy. Their batteries are fully charged so I will suck it up and get new wind in my sails. Part of WHAT allowed me to fish hard for two consecutive weeks was the terrific new rod from Breakawayusa.  It’s a dynamite 10’ 6” called the Omega.  I never thought a rod of this size could cast with the power and distance of bigger rods but this baby can do it!  And, it’s very light!  This is an outstanding long distance plugging rod!

The three fresh guys, Dave, Mark and my friend Eric from home are eager to hit the beaches and get into some big fish.  On the first morning, Eric uses his fly rod. He is a world traveled fly fisherman (Russian Siberia last year) and now he has visions of big tropical fish from the surf on a fly. He glances at the water and immediately starts blubbering that there are big fish feeding right at his feet. We yell "sic 'em" because we all want to see a fish pound on Eric and his fly rod. Eric makes a cast and a large boil engulfs his fly. The fish just begins to pull and it slips off. Eric moans and makes another cast. PAY DIRT! Something inhales the fly and takes off on a smoking run. The crowd cheers! Eric has a big 12-weight rod and it's got all it can handle. The single action reel is nothing but a spinning blur.

The smile on Eric’s face is going to take a long time to wipe off! I start taking photos of Eric and the all other guys hook up on fish. Eric will obviously be with this fish for a long time so I tell him I'll be back in about 30 minutes (guffaw) and head over to Mark and Dave.

Eric caught his fish on the fly in the dark.  It’s now light and the battle rages on.

I can’t imagine reeling in 300 yards of line with a single action fly reel.  At long last, Eric’s fly rod triumph lies on the beach.  It’s a bully crevalle with shoulders like The Hulk.  Crevalle are powerhouses with incredible endurance and this is a trophy on the fly!

We head down the beach and as the sun gets a little higher the roosterfish start feeding.  Crash!  Bang!  Pow!  It’s a roosterfish party!

It’s a terrible thing to have to catch big fish for a week in a tropical paradise but we managed to do it!

The bottle remains with me. I've kept it. It's a gift from the Gods and it will always go fishing with me. The Gods are not crazy.