Where I come from, a 10 pound fish is something to brag about. The whole idea of heading to Baja on the hunt for 100+ pound marlin was a little unnerving. Couple that with the fact that Jim Sammons swore revenge after he almost drowned on the Ottawa River, and you can probably understand why I was a little nervous. In fact, had I know that he would seek revenge in Baja, I might have left him in the hole a little longer…

On our Baja trip we had Jock Bradley taking photos, while Will Richardson and Lisa Utronki shot video. Matt Moyer, Howard McKim and I were there to fish with Jim… and hopefully catch some big ones!

Things got off to a pretty dark start. We arrived in LA to catch our flight to Cabo. Jock Bradley (the incredible photographer who has been capturing the whole project in stills) was waiting at our gate with dire news—a hurricane was on a direct course for Cabo and building in intensity. Great!  Just what we needed for marlin fishing… 120 MPH winds and monster swell.  Of course, we decided it was too late to change plans at this point, and so we hopped on the short flight with about 40 other people, all of whom, like us, were questioning their own judgement having decided to travel directly into the path of a hurricane to go fishing…

It was hard to believe a massive storm was coming our way. The weather in Baja was gorgeous. Blue bird skies, 90+ degree heat, and a very light breeze to help cool things down a little. We made our way directly to Hotel Punta Colorada www.vanwormerresorts.com), where Jim Sammons runs his kayak fishing trips out of. Hotel Punta Colorada sits perched above a beautiful beach, overlooking the Sea of Cortez, and is the closest hotel to Punta Arena, one of the most well known saltwater fishing destinations in the world.

We headed out on the first morning, knowing that we had better catch a lot of fish on that day, because we may not be able to get on the water in the days to come. Things started off well. Jim caught himself a nice Snapper, and then I hooked up with my first Dorado. What a great fish!  The Dorado jumped around like a small mouth bass on acid.

Next, Howard’s rod got bent. We were all pretty close, but I don’t think any of us realized how good of a fish he had hooked up. Then it happened. A 300lb blue marlin exploded out of the water in front of Howard. It continued to jump for about 20 minutes before diving deep and going into lock down mode about 100 feet below.

We followed for a while, and then we discovered a floating branch under which a school of bait fish had congregated. Before our eyes, the bait fish were attacked by a school of hungry Dorado. With little sardines on our hooks, Matt Moyer and I both threw a line into the mayhem and immediately hooked up and landed a couple of beauties (which later made one incredible dinner for the crew!).

After playing the Dorado’s for a while, we realized Howard had been dragged pretty far away, and so we needed to put the hammer down and paddle hard to catch up. Of course, we weren’t going to paddle without trolling some live bait. That’s when the next round of fun began. Our radios had been silent for a while as the chatter from our excitement of Howard’s hook up had died down a bit. He was now getting methodically towed deeper into the Sea of Cortez. The silence was broken by an excited Matt Moyer whispering excitedly, “I got a fish chasing my bait. Hold on… It’s a marlin!”  A few moments later, Matt sung the words we all love to hear into the radio, “Fish ON!”

Matt hooked up with a striped marlin, about 130lb in size. What it gave up to Howard’s blue marlin in girth, it made up for in action.

Matt’s fight lasted about 50 minutes. Jim Sammons came in at the very end to help Matt land it. Smart decision… landing a marlin safely is definitely a two person job.

To revive and release the fish, Jim held its bill while the power boat towed Jim slowly. It didn’t take long for the marlin to start kicking a little. As soon as Jim let go, the marlin swam off into the deep blue.

By this point, Howard was almost out of view. Lisa Utronki (who was the second video camera) was in a kayak, hooked up to Howard’s kayak. Towing two kayaks at the same time didn’t seem to bother the big blue very much at all. In order to catch up with Howard and Lisa, the rest of us had to hop onto the powerboats and zip over.

After 4 hours of fighting, which saw Howard towed almost 10 miles, the wind and waves started to pick up. Word came down from the boat captains that we had about 1.5 hours to land the fish before having to cut the line and head in. Using only 20# test, Howard wasn’t in a great position to start forcing the issue with the marlin, but he really didn’t have a choice. So, Howard started pressuring the fish. Not long afterwards, Howard barked, “Coming up!”  A moment later, the blue marlin made its first appearance in 3 hours with an enormous eruption. By this point, Howard had taken in a lot of the line, and so the marlin was jumping much closer. It was easier to appreciate the actual size of the fish—which was huge. It must have jumped about 20 times and then started to show signs of tiring. Howard got the marlin fairly close to the leader when it made another mad dash and managed to break the line.

Although Howard could have been bummed out with the finish, the whole experience had been so amazing for everyone that there was very little disappointment with the way things ended.

The next day brought good and bad news. The hurricane had changed course and was heading out to sea. We probably weren’t going to get hit nearly as hard as we’d feared. The bad news was that winds were picking up and the seas were rough. This was probably our last day of fishing for a little while.

The rough seas overnight had prevented the locals from catching bait fish, and so our day started with a trip to find squid for bait. Pulling up 20 – 30 pound Humboldt Squid from 100-150 feet below is a hell of a workout. It was especially trying for me, as I was using reels with a different retrieve than I was used to. Let me tell you, if you want to feel like a spaz for a while, grab a reel with the opposite retrieve than what you’re used to!  Of course, I got my first squid to the surface and then it broke free, and so I had to do the whole thing again.

By the time we got out to the fishing grounds, the seas were rough and the fishing was tricky. We fought the conditions for about 4-5 hours before giving up and heading in.

For the next 4 days, there would be no fishing for us. The swell was too big to get the powerboats out. Although we were bumming, our sanity was maintained by the fact that the swell that kept the power boats grounded made for excellent kayak surfing. We spent about 3 hours a day beating ourselves up on the beach break in front of Punta Colorada.

The last day for Howard, Jock and Matt was still a no-go for the power boats, and so we trucked our kayaks to a more sheltered beach. We fought a lot of wind and paddled hard all morning to little avail. Howard managed to hook up with a nice 80lb hammerhead shark, which he had to cut free at the end, but otherwise the fishing was slow.

With our team down to half its original size, the power boats were able to launch the next day and so we headed up to try our luck with some tuna. It was still very windy, but we found a somewhat sheltered bay with a deep reef that was well known for tuna fishing. We yo-yo’d all morning and caught a wide range of fish. Jim caught a good snapper, amber jack, and opa. I caught my first needle fish, trumpet fish, and then ended with a beautiful 30lb roosterfish.

The weather certainly wasn’t on our side this trip, but with that said, I really can’t think of a better place to get land locked!  Furthermore, the benefits of kayak fishing once again proved themselves. While all the other anglers hung out on shore, we played in the surf until our arms were ready to fall off.  You can’t always be a kid, but with kayaks, you sure can play like one!