After day 3...2...7...whatever, I had secured a 26 ft Panga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panga_(boat)) to take Johnny V and I out on the open ocean. We arrived at the beach at 7:15 a.m. and watched our 'panga' get pushed into the ocean, off of the beach, by an F150 that had a surfboard attached to the bumper for cushioning. Our guide Francisco (or something like that), took us to little inlets and threw out his circular net to catch sardines to use as bait for the day. His casting motions for live bait were unmatched by today's technologies of lures and flies. A sight of pure impressiveness! He took us out and explained that Mahi Mahi fishing had been slow this past week with the amount of commercial nets that had been raking the ocean. He suggested that we go for Mackeral as the action was 'bueno'. Being hung over and speaking no Spanish, Johnny V and I gave the nod. A 25 minute boat ride put us in the heart of the Mackeral catch (along with the other 50 pangas that were in the loop) south of Sayulita. As I was loading up a 10 weight fly rod for my first cast, Francisco (or whatever) screams Mahi Mahi..Mahi Mahi! His buddy (on another panga) called him on his cell phone (yes, cell phone) and said he spotted a pod of Mahi Mahi outside a school of tuna that was surfacing on a bait ball of sardines about 4 miles offshore and north of the town of Sayulita. 50 minutes later, we were in the heat. Hundreds of Bonito Tuna (tuna about 2-3 feet long) were salivating and going nuts. I've only seen this kind of shit on the Discovery Channel. Francisco (or whatever) baited us up and we were on the hunt. I say hunt because that's what it is was. He was throwing live sardines from the panga all around our line, screaming Mexican slures....pure amazement I was in. Next thing I know, Johnny V and I have 3 Bonito Tuna and 1 Mahi Mahi in the boat on ice. As the fishing slowed and the bait ball was devoured, I could only think about the dinners I was about to cook.....that's when Francisco (I think that was his name) said "eh, let's go fish for some Red Snapper". Um.....ok! So, we caught 5 Red Snapper's and headed in. He carved all of our fish to my specifications and we headed up the hill to throw the fish in our fridge. The next 3 night's were:
-Chip's, Guacamole, Mahi Mahi Ceviche and Tuna Sashimi
Grilled Red Snapper con Salsa Verde (in foil) and Rojo Caliente (whole) with all the taco fixins'
And Seared Tuna Ensalada
All this food absolutely sucked by the way!
Also during this time frame, I took a surfing lesson. Because I'm so cool, I surfed! Ya, I landed my first 2 of 3 waves and then face planted the next 90. If you gave me 4 cups of sugar, I'd been the perfect gringo brine. Serial holmes.
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