Mixed Bag Aboard Valerie

Not everybody is up for marlin, in fact many of our anglers request "eating fish" and thankfully at this time of year we can usually oblige. Pictured here are Don Richardson & Dwight Thaker from Bellavista, Arkansas. They had a couple of nice seabass, a sizeable yellowtail and triggerfish. Whatever they caught you can tell they had a great time.

Mixed Bag for Valerie today, including this seabass. These guys will have enough fish to feed a lot of people.

Recession What Recession?

When we showed up for work the other day it looked like we had a new neighbor, but they were on the large side and blocked the view from our office.  We checked it out and Attessa belongs to Dennis R. Washington (born 1934)  a Montana-based industrialist and philanthropist who owns, or co-owns controlling interest in, a large consortium of privately held companies collectively known as the Washington Companies and, in Canada, another collection of companies known as the Washington Marine Group. With an estimated current net worth of around $4.2 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 58th-richest person in America. The overall length of Attessa is 225 feet and   she is a Feadship launched in 1998 and acclaimed as one of the finest Feadships ever, Aviva (former name) suffered a fire in the Red Sea in May 2000. Despite this happening in the middle of the night, Aviva’s crew succeeded in putting out the fire and saving the vessel. After Aviva had returned to Holland, De Voogt Yacht Services facilitated the surveys required to assess damage levels. Once insurance issues were resolved, the yacht was sold to Dennis Washington in April 2003 who then did a total refit and improved the now newly named Attessa. Cabo is still the one of the best places to hang out and totally safe, or people like this guy would not be here.

Swordfish On Tracy Ann



Tracy Ann with Swordfish from left to right mate Julio Castro Jr., Captain Julio Castro, Deckhand Martin Gonzalez, anglers Rick Morris & Bruce Kesler from Braselton, Georgia USA



Rick Morris & Bruce Kesler from Braselton Georgia did not know what they were in for when they boarded "Tracy Ann" on May 1st. Sure they had expectations of marlin, Cabo is famous for marlin...the weather was beautiful as they left the dock. They made a stop on the way out to pick up some live bait, caballito or horse-jack was the only type available, so they dropped ten into the bait well and were on their way to the 11.50 spot, which had produced some fish the previous day. It wasn't long before they spotted a striped marlin, cast a live bait to it and soon had a hook up. They fought the fish to the boat and estimated it at 170 lbs before successfully releasing it. They then proceeded to troll again as did other boats from our fleet fishing the same area. Valerie and Tracy Ann spotted the swordfish sunning itself on the surface at the same time. The guys on Valerie cast a bait but the fish did not take it, they were circling back to offer another bait, when Tracy Ann swooped in right behind them, cast a bait, which landed right on the bill of the fish and it bit; probably more from annoyance than hunger....but who cares, they were hooked up. They struggled with this very strong fish for over six hours before finally landing it, making it back just before dark. The crew was thrilled; swordfish are such a prized catch. This one was estimated at 270 lbs. Chic McsSherry however, the angler on the Valerie was not thrilled. Chic is from Scotland and a long-time friend and regular angler, he whined to me "That was my fish, I saw it first, it was my fish". This is one of the few billfish he has not caught and this would have been a crowning achievement for him, but that's the way it goes sometimes first-timers get them. Nevetherless, Chic didn't have too much to complain about, he ended up releasing five striped marlin that day.