[rossman]

What a fantastic trip! Thanks for letting me tag along with the brotherhood.

Some random thoughts and observations:

1. The "Hardcore: award goes to the guys that came down on Friday and went home on Monday morning. The odds of having two straight days of fishable conditions in that part of the world in this time period are slim but the Fish Gods were smiling on us.

2. I arrived on Tues morning and it was blowing hard offshore and it was by far the hottest of the days. I was able to do a little fishing on Tues evening when the wind laid down and turned into a gentle onshore breeze. I was probably 3/4 mile from the launch and within a few seconds (I am not being overly dramatic here) the wind change from gentle breeze onshore to a 20 mph gale offshore. I could paddle as hard as I could, back to the launch and could make about 1 MPH. Unbelievable how quickly things change down there.

3. Anyone want a boat, motor and all the fishing gear you need? Tues afternoon, there was a couple of guys at the camp that had fished the morning and then beached their 18 ft center console with 90 hp outboard. They were busily cleaning fish and enjoying their adult beverages when the wind came up and the tide came up and they noticed that their boat was adrift well over a mile offshore. By the time they arranged for a chase boat from a local resort, the whole rig was long gone.

4. Can any 10 to 20 lb fish pull harder than those cabria and grouper off the "Rossman" point? I don't think so!

5. Imagine fresh water top water bass fishing in 5 feet of water and substitute 10 to 20 lb cabria in place of the bass.

6. My part of the"hood" had some real advantages. Electricity, albeit a little noisy. Raphael, the guy that ran the place, catered a couple meals to me. One nice mesquite smoked corbina, and one meal consisting of rice and beans, steak and french fries.

7. Why in hell didn't I fish on Monday morning?

8. Heading home on the new super highway I was following another Ford Ranger at 65 mph when his left rear tire exploded with such force that rubber and fender and bumper trim flew in all directions. He got under control and had a spare, so off I went.

9. Did every one else know that there is a stop sign where the new pavement ends and the older pavement starts in Puertecitos? Total surprise to me. I was rockin to the Dropkick Murphys and blew through it at 60 mph.

10. I should have pushed harder to get my son Troy to go along.

Once again, thanks for letting me tag along and let's do it again some time.

The Rossman