Part II happens just after the sailfish is landed in Part I.
During the cleaning of the sailfish an interesting thing happens. It must have been the blood in the water that attracted two very large dorado. I grab one of the casting rods thinking this would alert my companions, my mind is too busy formulating my plan of attack. My fishing compadres notice the fish and sound the alert but I am already on the case. The dorado are only five feet from the boat so I don’t have to strip out any line and I flop the fly out in front of the larger of the pair and it right away it attacks and inhales the fly. Now in my excitement I forget to let the dorado turn away to get a good hook set, and instead instantly jerk the fly from its mouth. Fortunately for me the hooks did not sting the fish and it actually excited it more. It looked as if someone had turned on a neon sign under the water and they switched from a slow circle of the boat to a slashing back and forth pattern. I pick out the large one again and cast 10 feet in front of him and let the fly sink a few inches and begin stripping. There is no hesitation in the dorado's strike. It grabs the fly, this time I wait for it to turn, and then strip set the hook. It is a solid hook set and the dorado is off and running. This is by far the largest dorado I have hooked to date. It clears the water by five feet before landing with a resounding “flop” back into the water and takes off with conviction. Capt. Troy has been gracious enough to be content with driving the boat, but now it is his turn. He grabs a rod and casts to my dorado's companion, hooks it and now we have a double. Unfortunately, his fish comes off after a short fight but continues to circle the boat. My fish is solidly hooked and after getting him back to boat after the initial run, it is jumping and pulling my arm off.
My fish seems to be keeping the other near the boat, so Capt. Troy is switching flies trying to get it to bite again. He has plenty of time because I don’t get the feeling that my fish is going to give up anytime soon. I am locked in an epic battle of wills and for the first time I’m not sure I am going to win this one. I am thankful that I grabbed a twelve weight and not the ten weight rod at this point. The fish is right below me turned sideways shaking its large head back and forth. After twenty minutes of this standoff I have had enough, something has to give. I am either going to break this rod, the line or my arm. Keep in mind this is not my rod. It is a brand new Winston that has its owners name custom printed on it that took months to get. As I begin horsing on the stubborn dorado I say, “These rods have a lifetime warranty against breakage don’t they?”
I have never put a bend in a rod the way I am bending this one. We are going to see if this new technology will stand a true field test. The $700 Winston looks more like the Shakespeare Ugly Sticks of old and the line is “singing” under the strain. At any moment I expect to hear the sickening crack of graphite breaking when the dorado begins to give ground. A few inches at a time I bring him up still sideways making it as difficult as he can. It finally succumbs, the rod is intact and I have my picture taken. My only worry is that I hope that I can revive this great fish. Much to my relief the instant I put it back into the water it shows signs of life and is swimming along with the boat with my hand around its tail. A few minutes later it puts on a burst of speed and swims out of my hand and back to the big blue.
I think the smiles on our faces say it all. For me this was the fish of the trip, even more satisfying then my first sailfish. Even more gratifying was the knowledge that it is still in the gene pool and hopefully will stay that way. These waters are full of illegal set lines. These are long lines of baited hooks set out by local fishermen and left out overnight. We saw both dorado and sailfish struggling on these lines. Payoffs to local officials result in no enforcement and this arrangement has been going on for many years. It’s unfortunate but understandable from a certain aspect I suppose.
The remaining few hours resulted in no hookups. The swells began to build and the sun was beginning to take its toll so we headed back to port. After four long days on the water, a tired, but happy Captain and crew.
Mexico Report Day 4 (Part II & Pics)
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