By Luis Vela
Two years ago I was lucky enough to take my first trip
down to Cabo San Lucas. I had always heard of what a fabulous
place it was and how much fun it was to go deep sea fishing.
Now, I grew up in South Texas near the gulf coast where
catching 27-32 inch redfish was something to brag about
when you went fishing. Nothing would make me happier than
going out to the bay and catching a fish, especially if
it was bigger than my older brother Tommy’s. We
had an on-going competition growing up on who could catch
the biggest fish.
Deep
sea fishing was always something I had wanted to do but
because my dad claims he gets seasick I was never given
the opportunity until my trip to Cabo. A great friend
of mine has fished in Cabo for years and recommended Red
Rum charter services to me. After talking to the people
from Red Rum we agreed on a date and things were set.
When the day came, I’m not going to lie, I was a
little nervous. Walking down the dock seeing some of the
boats that I had only seen on TV shows was exciting and
gave me an anxious feeling. After being introduced to
the crew and grabbing some beverages my friend and I were
off. The day was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky, water
was glassy and the laughter and jokes going around made
it one of those perfect unforgettable moments. “Cant
get any better than this” I told him. I had almost
forgotten that we were there to fish. The first mate on
the boat came down and started pulling on lines, grabbing
hooks, and telling us to get ready because this fish were
out there. I guess we underestimated what he meant.
As
soon as he set our first lines in the water we had a double
monster tuna hook up. The sound of the lines going out
and the commotion on the boat was overwhelming. We got
into a mess of tuna that day, catching one after another
for an hour straight. After we decided it was time to
head in the captain spotted a large group of squid. “Why
not” I said, this could be my only trip to Cabo
ever, and more so my only chance to deep sea fish. At
the end of the day, my friend and I had caught more tuna
and squid then we could even take home. The team at Red
Rum had given me the best experience I had ever had fishing.
So I thought.
Now I was “hooked”. I had to get back to Cabo
and I had to fish with Red Rum again. It took a whole
year for me to get a trip together. But, this trip was
going to be even more unique, my older brother Tommy who
had recently graduated was going to take some time off
from the “real-world” and join me. I got a
hold of Red Rum again and made sure I had a trip set up
before we landed in Cabo. Tommy isn’t only my older
brother but he is my best friend and I didn’t want
to disappoint him about the fishing I had bragged to him
about for over a year. Convincing him to ask for days
off at his first real job was easy because for a year
I held the bragging rights at the family table for having
caught the biggest fish. So when the day came I knew the
stakes were going to be high and the competition would
be on. What I didn’t know was how memorable our
trip was going to end up. Boy were we in for a treat!
Before
our trip we had talked to some friends of ours who had
taken a recent trip with Red Rum and they told us there
was a lot of marlin being caught. This just added to the
anxiety of our first deep sea fishing trip together and
naturally to our fishing rivalry. The night before our
trip Tommy and I could not stop talking about the trip
and how excited we were. A good friend of ours came along
with us who is in an devoted deep sea fisher and told
us the weather was perfect the night before and that we
should be in luck. He couldn’t have predicted it
any better. We arrived to the docks bright and early and
that familiar feeling of anxiety and excitement came across
me again. We were told that Rum Runnin’ was going
to be the boat we would be on. The three of us were off.
The unforgettable cruise out of the docks past the (don’t
know the name of those cliffs) reminded me of why I was
so relentless on going back and fishing with Red Rum again.
All three of us took a little shut-eye on the way out-
by the way Cabo has a great nightlife- but as soon as
we revitalized ourselves all the catching up and laughing
started up again. Tommy was in awe the whole time, and
being the little brother it made me a little cocky that
I had “been there, done that” so I acted calm
cool and collected. Inside I was the happiest brother
ever. I didn’t even care if we caught fish that
day. Not many brothers have the opportunity to share the
experience we were about to share.
Just like clock work the first mate came
down and strategically began setting up all the rods,
reels, and bait, making sure everything was in check and
we started to troll. Keeping my eye on Tommy the whole
time I could sense the excitement in him. Then it happened,
movement all over the boat, the captain directed the mate
to the spotted marlin which I still find impossible to
do. With his first cast they had him hooked. The three
of us looked at each other and my friend and I both pointed
at Tommy, since he was the rookie in the deep sea fishing
category, and sat him in the fighting seat. The fight
was on, fishing like Tommy had never imagined. “Reel
on the way down, pull up slow, reel down and pull up”
the mate coached him on. After at least 30 minutes of
this routine he started getting “the look”,
the “this fish is kicking my butt and I want to
pass the rod to someone else” look. With a few words
of encouragement and a few threats to what we would do
if he gave up he pushed on. Just then, we saw him breach
out of the water flapping and splashing not too far from
the boat. The beautiful stripped marlin was only 20 or
30 yards away. Around the 50th minute Tommy had successfully
reeled in his first stripped marlin. The mate and captain
brought it up to the boat for a quick photo and Tommy
gave it the goodbye kiss, and the release. An awesome
180 lb stripped marlin.
Our trip was officially a success; Tommy had caught and
released the first marlin in Vela history. I can say I
wasn’t upset that it wasn’t me but inside
I was praying that I would get my chance. Once the excitement
around the boat settled the traditional post catch beers
were opened. I started to make fun of Tommy because he
looked like he had just seen a ghost, and tauntingly he
said “who’s got the biggest fish now?”
Now I really wanted to get a bite. Before I could even
make a come back to his remark, that familiar commotion
started on the boat again. I looked at him, took one last
sip of beer and sat in the fighting chair before the fish
was even hooked! Luckily the mate again did a fantastic
job and passed the rod to me. Now, I’m about half
the size of Tommy so I kept thinking to myself, “this
fish can throw me into the water”, then the encouragement,
and threats, came on. I could feel my hands and forearms
squeezing out every ounce of juice they had, but I was
determined to bring the fish in. “There it is”
Tommy shouted, and I looked up and saw him, not too far
from the boat but far enough. “Are you kidding me”
I thought. Fortunately my fight with the marlin didn’t
last half as long as my brothers, but unfortunately to
my sadness Tommy’s stripped marlin was bigger than
mine. My whole life I have been teased on how much smaller
I am than Tommy and I guess that connection will always
be there!
After I brought up the fish took a snap shot with him,
and released him back in my brother opened his arms and
gave me a huge hug. I almost fainted because of how tired
I was after the fight. I couldn’t have asked for
a better ending to a perfect day. Nothing will ever compare
to fishing with my two best friends, and being able to
share the story of Tommy and I catching our first stripped
marlins on the same day in the same boat. I can not think
of a better memory that can top this one. Thanks to the
whole team at Red Rum, for making memories like these
happen all the time.
Now I know everyone is thinking that he has the bragging
rights now, but I have gotten the opportunity to go to
Cabo again in November without him this time to fish with
Red Rum and try to reel a marlin that will outsize his!
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