The fact that Jose was still waiting for us at the dock, more than an hour after sunset, was surprising. When I saw the digital camera in his hand I knew why. “How big”? I asked. He ignored me and asked how we’d done. “Terrible”, I responded, “Now let’s see it Jose”. With a sly smirk he coyly responded, “See what? Why are you getting in so late? We were worried. Let’s go eat”.

The torture continued on the way to the restaurant, over fajitas, back at the trailer, and over coffee the following morning. In short, the spot they’d chosen to duck out of the wind just so happened to be chalk-full of big, hungry, double-digit fish, the apex of which was an immaculate 30+ pounder! Though the pictures are great, the story that accompanies them is second to none, unfortunately, it’s not mine to tell and one that only Jose can rightfully do justice.

By morning the wind was gone but it was still bitter cold outside. I took the opportunity to brew an extra couple cups of coffee and fill a third travel mug. Though both Brandon & I drink our coffee black, I dumped as many sugar packs as I could find into the additional mug.

As I opened the trailer door to brave the cold and make my coffee run to Jose’s truck, there he was standing in the doorway about to knock. I handed him the steaming mug, he smiled, took a sip, and then laughed, “I will take you to the spot”.

Between 2 boats & 4 fly lines it didn’t take long at all to scour last night’s bucket to determine that indeed, the fish had moved out. We hadn’t really expected them to still be there, but it’s one of those things that if you don’t check it will be in the back of your mind all day, “what if… “.

We went our separate ways for the most part at this point and Jose & Gabriel found some nice fish scattered throughout the day.