Fun, Family, and Fishing in Mexico 5

Hola!!  I just returned from the Van Wormers resort Hotel Palmas De Cortez on Baja Mexico's East Cape.  I took the family down last week for a little relaxation and a little competition in the 3rd annual Salt Patrol Marlin Tournament.  We had a great time and I have to say it was great meeting all of the Outdoor Line listeners at the tournament. 

The first stop was for a little visit in Cabo where the kid's got to wrestle with the King of the Jungle! Hey Mckenzie, is your finger in that lions mouth?

After a couple of days in Cabo it was off to beautiful Hotel Palmas De Cortez for the tournament.

Finally, the day for the tournament came. I had heard that the marlin bite had been slow so we decided to head out for some dorado and wahoo to try to pick up some quick points.  After about an hour run we spotted two dorado on the surface and after quickly tossing a few live baits we immediatley hooked up with a double.  Mason and Madden made short work of'em and we were off to a good start.

After getting the dorado boated we set out our trolling pattern with some dorado jigs and one diving plug to try and pick up a wahoo.  After about 10 minutes of trolling the rod with the plug on it went off and I was able to boat this nice 29lb hoo. 

After a day of lounging by the pool, the girls decided to join us on the boat as we decided to try to get in to some serious billfish action.  After a slow morning, and a few questions for the captain we were told to be patient and wait till noon.  It wasn't 5 minutes past noon when we saw a sailfish come up in the spread.  A quick toss of a live bait and we were hooked up.  This time Mason was on the rod for his first billfish ever.

After seeing the acrobatic show from Mason's sailfish I could feel the excitement from the girl's as they anticipated getting their shot at a billfish. About 40 minutes later Mia got her shot and performed like an old salt. I have to get the girls out on the water more, they are naturals.

Not to be outdone, Madden found a sucker that had fallen off of one of the sailfish in a tuna tube.

I wish that I could have the third day back.  I had Bob Uptagrafft on the boat to do some filming so I wanted to make sure I got lot's of action for the camera.  The Malin bite had been a little slow so we made the decision to chase dorado and wahoo again.  This was the wrong call as the marlin bite went off and we had another slow day.  Nothing more frustrating than coming back in and seeing all those marlin flags flying on other boats while you have little to show for the days efforts.  Madden did manage a nice dorado on the last day.

Team Bite Me won the tounament with an unbelievable final afternoon.  Hopefully we will have a video of their heroics and a report from the Marlin Whisperer.  You won't believe this story!!! All in all it was a great trip but it was time to come home to a nice little surprise as my friend Lee Yarbrough with LS Yarbro General Contractor put the finishing touches on my new grill.  Lee does great work and has made many improvments on three of the houses that I have lived in since moving to Seattle.  Give him a call at 425-765-3896.