Landon had been taken on a work fishing trip to Louisiana in October (Big Fish), and then in November, he and a couple co-workers were treated to Cabo! More fishing! Again, Landon sent some photos and a little write-up of his experience ...
(Thursday, November 14, 2024)We ended up having the trip moved forward one day due to poor weather expected on Sunday. The vendor changed our flights and everything to make it happen, which we were very thankful for. Not that we’re going to be here an extra day, but simply moved forward a day.Juan (coworker) and I left from SLC at about 7 am. Our flight was to Denver and then to Los Cabos. While in Denver, we met up with Johnathon and Kyle (the vendor that invited us on this trip). It was a quick layover in Denver with just enough time to get a quick breakfast sandwich to go. We boarded and then arrived in Cabo around noon.Kyle got us a shuttle and we were off to check in to the hotel we were to stay. It was about a 45 min drive, so I bought one of my favorite snacks for the ride: Japanese peanuts. Not sure why they’re referred as “Japanese” as they’re entirely Mexican. The only thing that matters is that I can enjoy them once again.We settled in very briefly to our room and left to go meet the crew at the boat. “Bull Rider” is a 60’ boat and has more square footage than my apartment lol. It is so big that the mileage for it is reversed.. Not how many miles you go with one gallon of gas, but it is actually four gallons to go one mile. Yikes.No fishing today, but simply a quick trip around the bay to sight see. It was a beautiful day and perfect weather to do so. This was the first time I met Rick, the owner of the company sponsoring this trip and owner of the boat as well. He’s a great guy with many stories.For dinner, we went to one of the restaurants near the dock, where Rick gave them some of the white fish they had caught last week to prepare for us. Some of it grilled and some battered and deep fried. It was all delicious.We finished up dinner, made a plan for tomorrow, and then Johnathon, Juan, and I left to see a bit of the town. Probably stayed out a bit later than we should’ve, but it was a fun time.
(Friday, November 15, 2024)
Up and on the boat early setting out by 6 am. Johnathon, Juan, and I were exhausted and not feeling well from our drinks last night. Whoops. This was also my first real test with motion sickness, so I was a bit nervous how it’d go.
The guys brought us some breakfast, but none of us were ready to risk eating yet. We all opted to take a nap while we set out for a 50-60 mile ride off the coast.Once the sun was up, I woke up, but was feeling awfully woozy. At this point, I couldn’t tell if it was the hangover or sea sickness. I went to the upper deck to go get some fresh air that helped a lot. I had taken Dramamine and put on some motion sickness patches too to hopefully prevent getting sea sick.Luckily, it ended up just being a little hang over for me. A couple hours in I was feeling much better. And then it was time to chum up the waters and set the lines.Right away, we had something on one of the lines. And it was big. It was a blue marlin. Juan went to work it first, because they told us the blue marlins fight hard. Juan lasted about five solid minutes before he tapped Johnathon to take over. For a fish this big, you have to use the boat controls to help you bring it in. They got the marlin in right beside the boat before it came loose. It was a bummer, but you can’t keep the marlins anyway.It took some time to get the next fish on the line, but sure enough we did. And then I was up. Mine was a striped marlin. Not as big as the blue, but at least we got mine up for a nice pic. Because of you didn’t get a pic, it didn’t happen lol. The striped ones don’t fight as hard as the blues, so I got it in by myself within five minutes. But my arms still had a nice pump.We were struggling to find tuna for a while. Then on the radio someone called out where they were biting, so we headed that way. Then it got crazy.To increase your odds, you put out more lines. Most of the day we had five lines out at one time. Once we found these schools of tuna, we would have them on the lines every few minutes. It was awesome. We sit for a minute, then there’s a bite and everyone jumps into action. Then another bite, and another! We had three fish on at the same time and it was chaos, but so fun at the same time.I honestly got to the point where I started to dread the sound of the reels of another fish on the line. My hands and arms were so tired and needed every second of rest they can get.Our haul was mostly small yellow finned tunas. Roughly 18” and weighed 15-20 lbs. I ended up bringing in the biggest tuna of the day. Just over 24”.When we finally called it a day, we headed back to shore with our haul. We went back to the hotel room, cleaned up, and left again for dinner. Rick took us to this Italian restaurant that was delicious. I ordered a shrimp scampi, but when I saw the lasagna that Johnathon order, I’ll admit I was jealous. It was a solid brick of lasagna. He shared a bit with me, but kept the rest and I don’t blame him. Luckily, Rick ordered a few to go to take as our lunch on the boat tomorrow.To end the day, we went back to the boat just to watch the Paul v. Tyson fight. It was quite underwhelming in my opinion. Rick and Johnathon fell asleep during it. Nor was it the outcome we hoped to see Tyson win.
The Subway is a classic semi-technical slot canyon hike in Zion National Park. To complete the hike you wade/swim/scramble/climb down the Left Fork of North Creek. The stream is the trail for most of the route. Some of the holes are deep enough that you do have to swim, and the water is cold.
The hike is somewhat like the famous Narrows, only more intense. You climb down waterfalls and scramble over boulders. Serious rappelling is not necessary but ropes come in handy to help get people over cliffs and to lower packs.Most canyoneers do this canyon from top down - it is very difficult to do it bottom up. A shuttle is required. You must have a permit to hike this canyon; permits can be obtained at any Visitor Center. Get detailed trail information before doing this hike. Only attempt this canyon if you are hiking with an experienced canyoneer.During the first part of the hike you stay on top of ridges and cross shallow washes, until you reach the of Left Fork Canyon and Russell Creek. That's where you scramble down the steep hillside into the slot. Once in the slot you just hike downstream, finding ways over or around obstacles. The semi-technical part of the route ends at the bottom of the Subway (at a spectacular small waterfall where canyon walls arch overhead and almost close to create a tunnel-effect - a subway). From there you continue hiking downstream past a large boulder covered with dinosaur tracks. Exit the canyon where you see a sign marking the trail up the ridge to the Left Fork Trailhead. It is a steep, hot climb out of the canyon.
Day one ended up being a long day. We landed in New Orleans and had to wait roughly an hour for a car rental. After that, we were all quite hungry. We went to Texas Roadhouse simply because it was on the way to our destination and had a big group. We finished eating, but I happened to be with the subgroup that stayed out late to visit Bourbon Street. That ended up going much later than I had hoped. We didn’t get to our lodge until 3 am and we needed to be up by 5:30 am for breakfast before heading out on the water.So after a mere two hour nap, we got up to get ready. The three who had been drinking didn’t get up in time to join us on the water today. I was paired up with one of the customers we invited and started catching speckled trout right away. Before I started catching the trout, I first caught a catfish, which needed to be released. The next fish I hooked after that I believe was the fish of the day for the whole group. It was a red fish bull, “bull” meaning it was too big to keep. It was 40” which is a gnarly fish to reel in. My partner was reeling in the trout super easy, but I had to fight this bull for a solid five minutes. My arms were so tired once I finally brought it in. I was a little nervous I wouldn’t be cut out to keep fishing the whole day, but that was by far the biggest fish I hooked.The spot we were getting the trout was amazing. We hit our limit of 30 within an hour. The rest of the day we looked for more red fish, but they were harder to find and trickier to reel in. Still an awesome time.Finishing off our time on the water, we returned to the lodge, showered up, and took care of a bit of work. Then for dinner they prepped some of the trout we caught and it was glorious. I wanted more, but was completely stuffed. The rest of the evening was pretty chill. A bit of drinking and playing games, but I was so ready to hit the hay.Day three was basically the same deal as day two. I was with two of the guys that missed the first day of fishing, so compared to them, I was feeling like a pro. We launched from a different area where there was a lot more open water. The first two spots we went to treated me so well. I’d cast my line and within seconds I’d have a bite. There were lots of small fish that we couldn’t keep, but I didn’t care. Just hooking a fish and reeling it in was a blast for me. Especially when I had a decent streak of five or six casts that I got to reel in. I didn’t hook anything crazy like the 40” red fish from day one, but I did reel in a decent 29” black fish that put up a fight. We made a competition of course for the biggest fish, but also for the fish with most spots. I thought that was lame compared to the biggest fish, until I reeled in one with 17 spots. Our guide hyped it up a lot and got me excited about it. To finish out the fishing for the day, we went to a very open area where we hooked up bigger fish. Oscar, one of the customers we invited on the trip reeled in the biggest fish on our boat. About a 31” red fish. To end the day back at the lodge, some of us tried to catch up on work and others just relaxed. A great day.
Per the race website: Antelope Island is home to 600 bison and the largest island on the Great Salt Lake. This course is a true marathon in that it is not all downhill like many. There are several rollers for the runners. The views of the race have the Great Salt Lake to the East and Antelope Island mountain on the West.
He said that his knee held up really well during the race, but that his shoes were rubbing pretty early one. Hot spot ... and big blister(s). He had to sit out pickleball that weekend.
- LCD Display & Touch Control: The wide slots toaster has a colorful LCD, so you can see the bread type, shade setting and the remaining time easily. You need to touch 6 buttons to select the mode you want. Memory function will keep the bread type and shade settings from the last toasting.
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