CRANKY IN COSTA RICA – part five

CRANKY IN COSTA RICA – part five

Yes there were four parts already, right here.  This is it...promise

http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/2016/03/cranky-in-costa-rica-part-one.html

http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/2016/03/cranky-in-costa-rica-part-two.html

http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/2016/03/cranky-in-costa-rica-part-three.html

http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/2016/03/cranky-in-costa-rica-part-four.html 



Catching…again

On our third and final day we were back to sailfish catching.  We shipped out on the same boat with Captain Alex and mate Panther.  The catching was as good as it was the first day.

I’m not sure if the fish attacked the baits differently than they did on day one, or if we were better at spotting them, because on many occasions we could follow the fish’s tail and fin as it swam up to the bait.  This was exciting to say the least.

Captain Alex always saw the fish before it took the bait.  When I was up top with him I could tell when a fish was near.  It was like the calm before the storm. 

One particular time there was a lull of over an hour between strikes.  Panther was half way up a ladder resting.  I was on top talking to Alex.

“A h   l i i k e   N e w   Y o r r k.   M y   b r r o t h e r   l i v e s   i n   

N e w   Y o r r k.

H e ‘ s  a  d o c t o r  a t…”

Suddenly he went silent.  Panther slowly came down off the ladder.  I saw nothing, but knew something was up.

“O n   t h e    r i i g h t   P a n t h e r.”

Wham!  FISH ON!!

This day, like the first we each brought four fish to the boat, another total of sixteen.  Catching a fish is fun, but watching is just as exciting, sometimes more.  When you are bringing in the fish you have to watch the reel to know when to let the fish run, and when to crank in line.  You miss many of the spectacular jumps and tail walking during the process.  Watching these fish take out line and jump is worth the price of admission.  Sometimes the fish would seem to be down deep and suddenly he would be leaping three feet out of the water and seventy-five yards from the boat.

Sometimes while fighting a fish, another fish would leap out of the water and you didn’t know if there were two hooked, or one was just leaping while attacking bait fish.

Sailfish were not all we saw.  There was a manta ray,

There were dolphins swimming and leaping around the boat.

 

We saw several turtles,

And on two occasions a thresher shark leaped straight up four feet out of the water multiple times in a row. 

In short, catching or not catching, there was always something to see and to be amazed about.

At the end of this day, I think we were all ready to head home.  I know I am too old and too weak of back to haul these fish in without a few days rest.

I am not much for photography and especially videos.  I prefer to just enjoy the moment and not worry about saving it.  To give you a taste of what this catching is about, I stole this video from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq6RfbqTUPc

Enjoy…we sure did!

Once again thanks to my brother for this great trip.  This more than makes up for when I was just a little tyke and you would hold me down and drop lugies on me…or when you left me on Catalina Island and told me some baby goats were really wild boar and could rip me apart…or when you got boxing gloves for you birthday and knocked me out for about a minute…or when you told me killer whales would bash in the boat and eat us all…or for many atomic wedgies!  This more than covers all that.

I have just one more thing to say to you.  You may be a great brother, but

I GOT ALL THE SPACEMEN!!*



*Unless you are one of maybe sixteen non- relatives who have read "Maybe It's Just Me!" this means nothing to you.  I guess I'll have to post that story soon.