I was reminded today of the ancient cardinal rule of fishing. "Never leave fish to find fish" was prominent in it's significance as we toured the "Big C" for a big zero on the first round. Most disturbing was the fact that everything I blamed the lack of results on during the previous voyage was corrected; good water conditions, good sign of bait, good current direction - all the necessary components were aligned. So much so that we were licking our chops pre daylight eager to start the ball rolling with some hot and heavy action at the rail. Then daylight came and went with no fish; zero, nada, zip.

Needless to say such an affront was not welcomed with warm sentiment. To add insult to injury the weather was still uncooperative to say the least. Grasping hold of the fact that if anything were to happen it was on us to see to it we jumped on our horse when the obvious was obvious and began the methodical search. In the end the effort yielded a little of this, and a little of that, but nothing big; no big fish; no sign of big fish.

One can expect that the fantastic fishing experienced at Socorro was weighing heavy on my strategic thoughts throughout the day. There was no lamenting and no regret; this ride west was part of the program from the beginning. Among the objectives of this project is to distribute our stock of electronic "archival" tags at all four islands; to this end we succeeded today despite the overall lack luster results. But, knowing this did not prevent the wheels from turning in my ever occupied fishing mind. Honestly the thought of getting out of dodge was foremost from about mid day on. It couldn't be helped; the draw of that fishing we left behind was too strong.

Hastiness can lead to disaster however. A pre programmed fisherman is destined to drive by the obvious. Long experience has taught me this painful lesson on enough occasions. There is nothing like making a few passes around a zone, convincing yourself that it is dead, taking off in search of something better, then having a colleague or competitor roll in behind you and load up on what you obviously missed. Though the final part of this old lesson is not a present threat, the shred of wisdom I have gained over the past twenty four years, and a spot of tuna jumping on our bow literally seconds after I informed everyone that if we didn't see any sign within the next half hour we would depart for the inside, delayed our inevitable move back east.

At least one more morning will be dedicated to my beloved Clairon to prove beyond reasonable doubt that our effort will be better focused elsewhere. Though I probably sold the overall results of our day at Clarion a little short, similar to our day at Partida it will take nothing short of excellent to overshadow the action at Socorro. We did have a good time, we did meet our exact tagging objectives, and we did contribute a bunch of butterfly jigs to the local wahoo population before getting a few shots at decent grade yellowfin tuna late. And, to end the day on a beautiful note, we did wind up on the anchor in the flat calm lee enjoying the peace as only those who have endured a distinct thirty something hour butt kicking are able; life's little pleasures are so poignant at times.

Today's photo provides a little insight into angler Benz's unique sense of humor. When I say he is a laugh a minute I am speaking in literal terms. Here is Benz with one of his two nice yellowfin landed late in the day. Classic.

Tim Ekstrom

Photo Here...