Big Fish

The year is 1992, I'm 27 years old and my wife and I are going on our first vacation since our honeymoon.  We decide on Ixtapa, Mexico (If you don't know by now, I love Mexico). Ixtapa is a relatively new resort area in Mexico that was dug out of the beach for tourism in 1975. Right next to Ixtapa is an old fishing village called Zihuatanejo. (For Shawshank Redemption fans, that's were Andy and Red finally meet at the end of the movie). Well, my wife and I went there one day to tour the shops and restaurants and I see that you can go deep sea fishing. I've always wanted to go deep sea fishing. The problem is, my wife has absolutely no desire to go deep sea fishing. Oh well, another time. A few days into our trip, we meet a nice older couple( older meaning they were in their early 40's) on a Sunset Booze Cruise. They were from San Francisco and we got to know them a bit. I mentioned that I really would love to go deep sea fishing and the man says, "No Way? We're going tomorrow morning in Zihuatanejo. Come with us!" So I agreed.  I was to meet them at their hotel at 7:00 A.M. and we would go to the harbor. We get to the harbor and the 3 of us board a boat that doesn't look like the deep sea fishing boats I've seen on TV. I'm expecting a huge boat with rods and reels, a little kitchen and all the comforts of a large tour boat. Nope. This boat was about 18 feet long, had a motor that looked like the love child of a snow blower and riding mower. No kitchen and the only bathroom was a funnel. Yes, a funnel. There were 3 chairs and 3 rods. The Captain was a nice Mexican man who had another fellow with him as his 1st mate. I was a bit skeptical. (not as skeptical as my wife who's husband went off in Mexico with 2 strangers on a fishing trip-Sounds like a Lifetime Movie). The Captain says to us, "You will all catch big fish today or I give you your money back." Quite a guarantee. Well, off we go at about 7:30 A.M. and we head out to sea. For the next 3 hours nothing. No bites, no nibbles, no nothing. I can talk to anyone about almost anything but even I was running out of conversation. All of a sudden, we hear ZINGGGGGGGGGG coming off my reel. The next thing I know, I feel a sharp tug and then I see the most amazing thing. A swordfish jumps out of the water, twisting and turning. Everyone on the boat runs to me. The swordfish  dives back into the water and the fight is on. The Captain is giving me instructions on how to pull and reel this huge fish in. I'm pulling and reeling, pulling and reeling. This wasn't easy. I can't believe how strong this fish is. It was the equivalent of trying to reel in a really pissed off refrigerator. I mean I'm working hard. This fight is at the 40 minute mark and I say to the Captain "Turn on the motor!" He says "What?" I now say louder "TURN ON THE MOTOR AND LET'S PULL THIS BASTARD IN!" He says, "No Senor, you must be a man and pull him in yourself" Oh great! I'm my fighting this monster and the Captain is giving me life lessons. Finally, with my arms and back exhausted, I get the swordfish close to the boat. The next scene I was not prepared for. As the swordfish  is up against the boat, the Captain and his 1st mate take out 2 clubs and start giving this fish the wood shampoo. I mean ,I felt like I was watching the fish version of the Rodney King incident. The fish is subdued and they bring him onto the boat. I go to the front of the boat where there are some floatation seat mats and just lay down on them. I'm beat. I stayed there for another 40 minutes half napping, half dying. In the meantime the Captain was a man of his word. The man who invited me caught an Ahi Tuna(which he and his wife ate that night at their hotel) and his wife also caught a swordfish. We get back to the harbor and I took the picture you see I've attached. ( you may also notice the boats in the background. Those are the same boats that  we were just on.). The people at the harbor figured this swordfish was about 8' and 95 lbs. I didn't want to have the swordfish stuffed and mounted because it would have cost over $2,500 and it's basically a fiberglass mold of the fish you caught.(Plus I didn't have that kind of money to blow on a stuffed fish). So the picture would have to do. I did ask what they would do with the swordfish and my new friends said that the Captain and 1st mate would keep it and use it for food. I'm not sure I need to do that again but it was definitely an experience of a lifetime.