In addition to the everyday life we enjoy in Mexico, we seek out other diversions to keep us entertained. This article is about my first time fishing from a boat, as well as an epic evening of food and wine at a local all-inclusive resort.
Ahoy There!
I’ve had numerous opportunities to go deep-sea fishing as I have travelled the world. Tales of others’ experiences always kept me from venturing out for myself. Reports of long rides on rocky seas or being sun-baked on a boat with little shade or coming home with nothing, left me with little desire to fork over the big buck$ to try it out.
I finally succumbed to pressure this fall when my kids came to visit and declared they wanted to try deep-sea fishing. My disinterest wasn’t enough to overcome their desire to give it a try. With help from a local friend, Diana arranged for a 4-hour trip for the boys and me, which left directly from the beach in front of our condo, and the pricing wasn’t as bad as I feared (Diana made sure of that by paying the captain herself, but she refused to go on the boat).
No Luck To Begin With
Our first spot yielded almost nothing. We were trolling not far off our beach (Yay, no long boat ride!) for about an hour with barely a nibble. In the end, we caught 3 small fish: a grouper, an almaco jack, and a bluefin tuna, shown below. Were it not for our later success, I probably would have disavowed all knowledge of this expedition and destroyed said evidence. Not an auspicious start.
Take Two
The captain then advised us to give up on deep-sea fishing and try shallow line fishing in another spot. He also suggested he dice up the bluefin to use for bait. Um, ok, it’s not like we would get more than a couple sandwiches from it.
The fish finder the captain was using showed a place where there was a big school, so we dropped anchor. He hooked up each of us with a rod with two hooks and told us to let the line drop for 5 seconds and then pull it back up.
It’s Raining Fish
As soon as we started with the new technique, we had immediate success. MASSIVE success. We couldn’t believe how well we were doing. Each of us caught two fish at a time more than once. At first, nearly every time we put in the line, we came up with a fish. Trigger fish, all of them trigger fish. Apparently, they are in the area for a couple of months around Xmas. The captain and mate could barely cut bait fast enough to get our hooks ready.
Eventually, our success rate dwindled. I surmised we had hooked all the dumb fish, and the remaining ones knew how to nibble off the bait without getting the hook set. In the end, we landed 36 trigger fish in addition to the original 3 larger fish. What a haul!
Trigger Fish Three Ways
Once back on land, the captain, mate, and more helpers spent about 45 minutes filleting all the fish. We gave a pile of filets to the helpers in exchange for their efforts and took another pile back to our condo across the street to enjoy later.
To celebrate our prowess as fishermen, the family went next door to a beach club restaurant where they charged $15pp to prepare our catch three ways: ceviche, grilled, and tempura fried, along with sides to fill out our meal. It was a great way to end our fishing foray. Even better, we are still reliving our glorious day as we periodically defrost a bag of trigger fish filets and rustle up some fish tacos.
Fiesta de Vino!
As I have mentioned a few times, I’m a bit spoiled when it comes to wine availability and events. Living so long near the Northern California wine country (heck, there was a vineyard across the street from our last house), I got to experience visit many wineries and attend many wine events. Mexico, for all of its appeal to us, just isn’t in the same class as the US and France for wine.
So, I must say I was quite impressed with the Winefest event we attended in early December at the Fives Resort, which is about a 20 min drive from our condo. Given the $75pp cost and prior local wine event experiences, I was a bit dubious about the value. But, my building manager, a wine lover from Bordeaux, insisted we go and offered to get us a group discount. Boy, am I glad he did.
The party started promptly 6:00 and people were lined up outside the gate beforehand. Once we were in, we snagged a glass of bubbly they were handing out and scurried to grab a table as we were told they were a hot commodity. The theme was “white” and many people complied, but I wondered about the sense of so much white clothing where there was also a lot of red wine. Diana and I made it through the night unscathed, so it all worked out.
So Much Food and Wine
There were several food stations spread out over the grounds. There was an Argentine grill, a pizza and pasta station, and charcuterie. A whole bluefin tuna was cut up by the sushi chefs and doled out liberally. There was also a large desert station with a chocolate fountain, as you can see below. It was hard to choose amongst all the options.
And then there was the wine, so much wine. At least a dozen wineries and distributors were pouring. I sought out the French, Spanish, and Chilean options mostly. Many of the distributors carry some of my favorite brands from the US. Sadly, they didn’t have any at this event. I did manage to get contact info for the local distributor for Silver Oak and similar wines, so there may be a splurge or two in my future.
The Show
In addition to the food and drink, there were things for the eyes and ears to feast on. Colorful displays and characters walking around on stilts. There were a couple of bands playing, with the main one playing from the roof of the entry hall. All in all, it was a fabulous night, and I hope I will be able to attend again.
Beachside Mariachis
Another unexpected gem came about one evening around Xmas. I noted from our condo that I could hear a mariachi band, which is unusual in our area. Stepping out onto our balcony, I surmised the band was playing at a private party at our beach club. Although it was not very loud on the balcony, I was able to hear them pretty well, so I chose have seat and enjoy the serenade.
Much to my surprise, the band played for a solid hour. Starting with many of the mariachi standards, they moved on to songs that were new to me, although the party goers knew them. It was quite a lovely surprise and a very pleasant way to end the day, listening to them play from the comfort of my balcony chair.
Where would you go deep-sea fishing, given the opportunity?
