Boy I'd have to go to extreme lengths to paint a cheery description of our afternoon at Roca Partida. We had great fishing conditions, aside from the breezy twenty knots of northwest wind and standing 3 - 5 ft seas jacked up by strong current pushing directly into it, that induced memories of many great catches past. That was about it though. Without those memories to draw upon it would be difficult to maintain a favorable impression of this destination.

Everything necessary to make it happen, including minimal shark grief and abundant signs of fish and life, was in order to the degree that even I was surprised by the almost complete dearth of bigger fish that showed. A few standout 160 - 170's, and a few in the 60 - 100 pound class were all we could muster from a variety of solid anchor positions and plentiful time spent stationary with lines in the water. Of course the dependable hoards of small tuna kept things lively; plenty of tags went over the side in 5 - 18 pounders, but other than provide a slight release, and plenty of comic relief, they didn't do much to instill a sense of triumph.

So be it. Regardless of the paltry results on big fish it was the right move to make. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I would have to say that the best feature of the day was the spectacular sunset over the rock that motivated more than a few anglers to produce their cameras and immortalize the image.That and our departure that provided immediate relief from a relentless substantial roll on the anchor brought about by the strong current maintaining our position perfectly broadside in the seas. Though far from victory at sea, everyone earned their nautical stripes for the voyage today; especially Chef's Drew Rivera and Jeff Grant who didn't skip a beat turning out another stellar round of meals. Talk about grit. I'd love to see old Chef Gordon Ramsey give it a go in these conditions.

All in good humor of course. There are no anglers here unfamiliar with the stock peaks and valleys of fishing. And taking all things into account, it could have been far worse. I've been there. This was not bad relative to some of the nightmares I have endured. So, leaving the again untapped potential of Roca Partida behind, we set our final sights on San Benedicto where the voyage began. While throwing our eggs in that basket is a little dubious based on the majority of past results, last February, and plenty of successes many years ago, maintain my optimism that the big hit, the game ending blast, is a real possibility. At the very least we saw a huge amount of fish at "Smokey" on day one. That in itself is reason to believe.

Photos today feature another long time fishing veteran Fred Uno who pulled the trigger on the tagging adventure after many years of consideration, and many conversations we have shared on other voyages. Like so many other anglers who can't imagine what a good time and unique experience these voyages represent, Fred has a new perspective after sliding numerous 75 - 150 pound tuna back to freedom carrying tags with his name on them. A few days back Fred was telling me how glad he was for the opportunity to participate in this project. I can't agree more.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...

Photo Here...