Game On!!!

I woke up really feeling the pressure this morning.  What if this and what if that?  Captain Larry had us out around 8 AM with a light NNWesterly blowing.  Twenty minutes from rounding the island's west tip, I settled into one of the fly bridge chairs with a long lens and expected to wait.  Two minutes later we spotted birds and ran the last mile or so to catch them.  The next hour was like a cardio work out. I would jump in a few yards from the birds and sail's backs tearing up the surface and seconds later they were gone.  Back in the boat and chase the action only for it to happen again, and again, and again.  I could get close enough to see the sails and just make out the bait ball and they would seem to intentionally herd the sardines away from me into the current and light.  After I rolled through the marlin door in the transom for the 10th time and lay exhausted on the deck, Larry suggested a break.  While I got my breath back he stalked the school following the birds, barely at idle.  Soon enough, as we have seen so many times in the past, the sardines took refuge under the hull.  With things seemingly under control, I leopard-crawled back through the hole in the transom like a sea lion leaving a warm rock.  Below the boat were easily a hundred sailfish biding their time waiting for the boat to move so they could reengage the large silver ball of bait under the hull.

Larry kicked the Fish n' Fool into gear and moved off the pot.  The game was back on.  This time the bait was using me a home base.  This is a question I have about bait balls: how can they tell the difference between the enemy and a friendly?  We've seen this in many destinations with many different fish around the world. The next hour plus was spent in the middle of the bait and a combination of scuba and free diving. each giving the camera a different perspective.  I got "hit" for the first time today by a bill from a sail.  It was more like a soft sweep across my forearm, thanks to the wetsuit it was nothing, caused by a last minute change in direction from the fish (and my sitting the the middle of its food source!).  Still interesting enough to realize that they are not in 100% control of those sharp pointed bills at all times.  Of today's encounters the biggest thing that hit me was sound-- the pop and swoosh of a strike and the crackle of a sardine being crushed in a sailfish's mouth.  There were other big things like flank markings and colors and their relationship to the amount of sun light that was present.  Bright silvers and contrasting black flanks in the cloudy dark early morning, giving way to dull browns and drab greens as the the sun became brighter, but this is a whole new blog subject.

I consider myself very blessed and lucky to be able to spend this time in the water with such incredible creatures and remain driven by that fact that EVERY encounter brings some new understanding for me.  I will post  a few pix from today but stay tuned for the full gallery at the end of the trip.