Dell Menzies and Patsy Sparrow show that marlin fishing is
not just a man's sport ...
This year Patsy and I went on our usual January holiday.
This time it was to the Mexican Baja peninsula south of
California between the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean.
Our destination was Cabo San Lucas.
It was once a fishing village but has now become a very
Americanized tourist haven. Cabo San Lucas has five-star
hotels, and a marina which holds over 360 cruisers of all
sizes. Even the large cruise ships come in. There are 5
championship golf course and whale watching is popular.
Most of the people speak English as the tourists come from
the west coast of the USA and Canada. We stayed at the hotel
Plaza Los Glorias which is on the marina and in the centre
of town. The Mexican food is very good, with sea food, beans
and hot peppers. The drinks are bottled water, Margaritas
and beer.
The second day we were there we chartered a panga to go
deep sea fishing from a Mexican name Pablo who looked very
much like Zorba the Greek. A panga is an open 23' flat bottom
boat with 2 outboard motors on it. (50 hp) . The cost was
$180 US for 6 hours, and included a Captain named Chenko
who didn't speak a word of English. He supplied fishing
equipment and lures.
We started out at 6 am. on a nice clear day with little
surf. Chenko took us out on the Pacific Ocean about a mile.
Until around 9 we bounced around in the waves and I began
to think this was a waste of money. We were trolling with
4 rods using yellow eye bait and a 50 lb test line.
We then got a strike. Chenko set the hook while Patsy and
I reeled the other lines in. He pointed to the fishing chair
which had a rod holder and told me to get there. He then
handed me the rod and told me to "riba" which is Spanish
for reel in hard. It was relatively easy to reel in at first.
Then the fish leaped in the air and Chenko got very excited
and yelled "RIBA". The fish was about 150 yards away and
its whole body was out of the water, it was huge. The colour
was blue glimmering in the sun. When he dove the reeling
got much harder as he was pulling very hard and I was getting
exhausted. I told Patsy to take my place in the chair. She
started reeling with success for awhile until the fish decided
to make a run and that caused the drag to go out until it
was as far away as originally. I was standing behind her
yelling "Riba" and she said the fish was pulling so hard
that she couldn't reel.
After awhile she got tired and I took over. I then found
out what she meant when she said the fish was pulling hard.
Chenko would motor toward the fish and it became easier
to reel in but it was very hard work when the fish made
a run for it. Patsy took over getting in a good rhythm by
pulling up then lowering the rod and reeling in.
It got discouraging when the fish took a run for it and
we lost all that we had gained. I then took the reel. By
this time my adrenaline was flowing and I had extra energy
but still tired easily. I suggested to Patsy that we let
Chenko reel for awhile she said "NO WAY" and took over the
reel. We were now making progress and the fish was very
close to the boat Chenko told me to steer the boat while
he got out the gaffe and the club.
The fish was at the front of the boat and would move from
one side of the boat to the other. I was suppose to steer
so the fish was on the right side The fish in the water
was a very pretty iridescent turquoise, an aqua colour to
a brilliant royal blue, a colour that I will never forget.
Chenko got the gaffe into the fish and gave it some mighty
belts on the head with the club until it no longer moved.
It was dead.
Patsy was still holding the reel. Chenko move to the back
of the boat where the fish was still hooked and gaffed.
Patsy gave the reel to Chenko. He grabbed the fish behind
the gills and pulled it into the boat.
Chenko was about 5'6" with strong shoulders and arms. He
was about 30 years old and had been fishing all his life.
He was perspiring profusely and very excited that we had
caught such a big fish. The fish took up the whole back
of the boat and had a very long bill. Patsy patted the fish
and said it was very smooth and felt like leather (no scales).
It took us over a hour to bring the fish in. We considered
this the greatest feat of our lives. So Patsy and I sat
down and drank a beer to calm our nerves.. Chenko didn't
want one - I guess he had nerves of steel. Patsy said that
the battery in her camera went dead after two shots shortly
after we hooked the fish. I don't think we would have had
time to take pictures as we were so busy catching the fish.
We still had 2 more hours to fish. Chenko put a live mackerel
on a hook and let out 2 lines. Suddenly a fish jumped out
of the water about 500 yards away. He went full speed to
this area. We then hooked another fish not quite as big
as the last one. At this point we had some idea what to
do. While Patsy sat in the fishing chair and started to
reel in, I reeled in the other line then took my turn reeling
in the fish. Then Patsy took her turn and reeled in the
fish to the side of the boat. I steered while Chenko got
the gaffe and released the fish as only one marlin is allowed
per boat per day.
We returned to the dock at full speed bouncy bounce. In
the harbour dozens of pelicans welcomed us trying to get
at the live bait and the fish. I had a mop which I used
to keep them away. We docked and a large group of people
appeared. We got out and Chenko took the boat and the fish
to the weigh in station.
The locals tied a rope around the fish's tail and pulled
the fish up a ramp then raised it up on a scaffold to weigh
and measure it. The fish was a striped marlin 101" long
and 140 lbs. The average weight is 40 - 100 lbs. and they
are rarely over 130 lbs. Ours was considered a trophy fish.
A photographer for a fee took our picture after getting
information from Patsy to put on a blackboard. A taxidermy
man wanted to know if we wanted it mounted. The price was
so much an inch. He said it would cost us $840 US . He also
wanted to know what to do with the meat. I told him to give
it to Chenko as he was such a good captain. Pablo saw us
and came over and gave us a big hug and called us "novicia
fishing ladies"
We went to the hotel in the taxidermy mans truck and I
paid him with my visa $440 US. He said the fish would be
sent to Gray's Taxidermy in Pompono Beach, Florida. And
would be ready in about 3 months. That evening the pictures
were delivered to the hotel. We spent the next 2 weeks showing
the picture to everyone we met. The usual reaction were
expressions of disbelief. One man said his idea of a person
who caught such a big fish was a rich man on a cruiser with
a paunch who was chewing a cigar.
We went down to the fishing dock daily when the fishing
boats came in to check out the size of fish. None were bigger
than 100 lbs. Since then we received an invoice from Grays
they want $290 US extra to crate the fish and we will have
to pay shipping COD This could easily be the $2000 fish.
As Homer Simpson sang after catching General Sherman, "We
are the Champions".
On June 30, 1996 the marlin was delivered to Patsy's house
in Markdale and mounted on her front porch. The colour was
the same as we had seen it in the waters of the Pacific
Ocean. It now weights about 20 lbs and is finished with
the left side the other side is not finished and has a strong
hanger on that side. The fish was mounted in my living room
on October 14, 1996 and will be here until April 1997. The
arrangement is that I get the fish for the winter months
and Patsy gets it for the summer.
