Red Rooster III – Fishing Trip
Date of Trip: Friday, February 12 to Sunday, February 28, 2010
(16/13 – ride down/fly back trip)
There is a mysterious nature about water. Water is everywhere and can take any size, shape or form. Water can be in the ground, on the ground or in the sky. Water can be in the form of mist, liquid or solid. Water can also be different colors. It is because of water rainbows are created. A person has once said that a rainbow is one of the most spectacular light shoes observed on earth. Rainbows can be observed whenever there are water drops in the air and sunlight shining from behind.
The sun rises, as well as sets on the water during my fishing trip. When the sun reflects off the water, it is the most beautiful view you’ll ever see. And on this fishing adventure, I am on this majestic water for many days. And my fellow fishermen and I have high hopes to catch the big fish.
As soon as we pass the lighthouse at Point Loma, I know we have 90 more hours to get to our destination, Clarion Island. Once we get near Clarion Island, we report to the Mexican military camp to notify them of our arrival. Once the routine procedural things are done, our fishing adventure begins!
It has been my experience that fishermen love to tell stories. Well, this trip created many stories to add to their collection they can share with loved ones. And since I am a fisherman, let me tell you a few stories about this trip….
Simultaneous catches: Whose fish it anyway?
I don’t think I have experienced simultaneous catches on a trip before, but how ironic that it happened twice in one trip. Two anglers happened to hook the same fish. But whose fish is it? In order to figure this out, they had to crank in the fish together and figure out who had first hooked the fish. Bong’s hook was inside the fish’s stomach, while the other fisherman’s hook was on the fish’s mouth. So it makes sense that the fish took Bong’s bait first, swallowed it and then bit the other fisherman’s bait next. So, Bong had dibs on the fish because his hook was already inside the fish’s stomach which means Bong likely hooked the fish first.
The second simultaneous catch happened to me and Mike. Both our hooks were on the fish’s mouth. The hooks were only about an eighth of an inch apart from each other. This scenario was not as clear cut as Bong’s incident because our hooks were almost in the exact same spot. So whose fish was it?
You better make sure to hold on tight.
While my friend Joe was fishing, his line became tangled. A deck hand helped him untangle his line. But as the deck hand was handing back Joe’s fishing pole, Joe’s hand slipped off the pole and let go of it. As Joe’s pole was falling into the ocean, Joe’s quick hands managed to grab the fishing line. But since his line was in free spool when all this happened, Joe had to keep pulling and pulling the line until it reached the end of the reel. When the line finally reached the end of the reel, he was then able to get his fishing pole back. Joe put a lot of hard work and effort to get his fishing pole back.
Just a little note about Joe, he is one of the reasons, I take these fishing trips. Among the Korean community, Joe is the leading long-range angler. Joe rounds up anglers within the Korean community to encourage us to go fishing. His fishing skills are superior and his knowledge is vast. This is evidenced by the fact that Joe was the jackpot winner of this trip. Congratulations!
This could only happen to a lucky man.
Here is a once in a blue moon story. Bong had hooked a fish. So to help reel the fish in, he needed to put on his harness. But in the midst of putting on his harness, the hooked fish had pulled so hard, Bong’s fishing pole fell into the ocean. Bong’s lost fishing gear probably cost well over a thousand dollars. Not only did he lose his gear, but the fish as well. But there’s no crying in fishing, and the show must go on.
About twenty minutes later, Bruce had hooked something. The line was pulling, so Bruce thought it was a fish. After a couple minutes of trying to reel it in, Bruce felt that there was something odd about this catch. But Bruce continued to crank it in and when he finally pulled his catch up – lo and behold, Bruce’s two ounce weight was hooked into Bong’s fishing reel. Bruce had not only caught Bong’s fishing pole but also the fish that was hooked by Bong’s fishing pole. Bruce caught a 2 for 1 special. Bong was so happy that his fishing gear was recovered that he bought a round of drinks for everyone. Bruce who is a former NFL player, was happy to return Bong’s fishing pole along with the fish. Bruce’s priority on this fishing trip was to make sure he got some proper exercise for his body and that’s what he got from this catch.
You do not want this to happen to you.
As Young was untangling his line, the line had accidentally wrapped around his middle finger. Well of course, right when that happened, a fish decided to bite his bait and run. The next thing we knew, the tip of Young’s finger was dangling off. Since we were in the middle of the ocean, there was no hospital or doctors available. But luckily the Mexican military camp at Clarion Island was able to help Young. Young was taken to the camp by skiff boat and got 19 stitches. His finger had to be wrapped in a lot of gauze. He was very lucky to be able to get treated. Fishing can be a dangerous sport; so we must always be vigilant throughout the trip not to get hurt.
Finally, I’d like to thank all the anglers on the Red Rooster III, some of which came to catch fish, others to relieve their stress or to relax.
Thank you to the deck hands who were so very helpful. I never needed to ask for help, they were always there. Thank you Fernando, Nick, Tom and Joe.
Thank you to Rick and Jaime for feeding and nurturing us to give us energy to fish.
And finally a big thank you to Captain Andy, who’ve I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with before. For his tireless effort in making sure we have a good time and a great catch!
Sincerely,
Jin S. Chang
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