GOING BACK IN TIME

I must jump back in time and away from fly fishing and to just FISHING.

Somehow you move from fishing to fly fishing. At some point, there is just a change. It feels like you have decided to hunt instead of fish as you are targeting the fish – especially in salt water.

I came across an old photo. West Coast of Mexico, sometime in early 90’s? Found this photo while looking in Fishing Folder for my African fishing trip for Tigerfish as well as my meetings there.

The large sail on the main page is my only sail on a fly for now. The one below is the first I caught (traditional rig) and was probably one of the little steps to fly fishing. Catch, love the water, and experience and then eventually I graduated to a fly rod.

This was my first large pelagic fish – at the time I don’t think I knew what they were.

Daniel Keller of Naples Florida with a Pelagic Fish

I can’t remember where it was out of – I know it was Mexico and I think it was Manzanillo.

The oddest thing is how I got on the boat. I remember getting up early to try to get on a charter boat since the prices were lower on charter boats (but they were targeting reef fish) but the prices were still above my budget at the time.

But a couple a couple heard me as they were boarding their chartered vessel for sails/wahoo and mahi asked me to join them on their trip out. It was just the wife and husband. Their English wasn’t that good, and my Spanish was non-existent at the time. The wife didn’t fish, and the husband needed somebody to fish and drink with.

I remember one of the highlights was fresh tuna sushi. Fantastic.

I had forgotten the fish, the trip, and the background – now maybe I will be able one day to also make someone’s day like this.

Pay it forward.