We enjoy our road trips… mainly because we find excuses to mess with each other. I found this clip the other day from our road trip to Cambria for the Central Coast Slam Down in 2018. Joe was a bit sleepy and Tommy and I just couldn\’t stop ourselves from scaring the shit out of Joe. If you missed our Facebook post… check it out.
It is hard to believe that we are only four (4) weeks away from kicking this party off. Thank goodness we have been planning for months otherwise this is the part where I would start freaking out.
In other news… Brian @ Crafted Fishing Rods has been giving us sneak peeks at the Louisiana giveaway rod and we freaking love it! Someone is going to score one hell of a unique setup. If you haven\’t already done so… enter to win the rod.
This segment is a three (3) part series containing behind the scenes (B.T.S.) information regarding the planning that is going into our Louisiana adventure.
We are getting a lot of questions about what we plan on doing while visiting Louisiana. Are you going to New Orleans, are you fishing the Mississippi River, are you only fishing for redfish and the list goes on and on.
In short, we have worked out just about every detail we can consider ahead of this trip. This means that our focus on this trip is to simply live the experience for ourselves and capture amazing content so that we can tell our story. This is crucial to our process. Most of our customers tell us… we watched you guys on Field Trips w/ Robert Field on YouTube. This is all the motivation we need to keep making great Field Trips content.
We have a lot of California guys coming on this trip to help us connect with the West coast audience. We want to inspire our left coast anglers to get out on the road or to jump on a plane and live the same experience we did.
Fishing Agenda
At least three (3) days of fishing with the core team.
Up to two (2) additional fishing days with various folks.
Primarily inshore fishing for redfish, black drum, sheephead, speckled trout and flounder.
Keep Up With Us
Follow along with Fish Village as we head to Louisiana for a week of marsh fishing with 15 of our closest friends. Joe and Mike will be heading to Houston first for a visit with some friends. We will be posting updates, videos and pics along the way.
This idea started months ago and to think that we are only five (5) weeks out is sort of bonkers. To say that we are operating with \”maximum effort\” is an understatement. The team is killing it, it is a sight to behold.
The details about the road trip are firming up… we are most definitely stopping by the Houston area for a bit to visit a couple of our new partners. Heath from Buggs Fishing is going to show us around his shop and how to use his lures. Wouldn\’t you know it… our boy Rex lives a few miles down the road from Heath – PERFECT!
Keep an eye out this week for a big giveaway announcement related to our Louisiana trip… you guys will dig it!
This is exciting news… \”insert clearing voice sounds\”
Fish Village is heading to Louisiana… ummmm via the 10 freeway. Yup, you heard that right; we are going on a road trip.
Times are a changing… how many people do you know that drove somewhere new this year? How many people do you know that rented an RV for the first time or re-visited their love for camping? So why fight it… let\’s roll. Let\’s get out there and see America, one road, one person, one fish at a time.
This trip is focused on creating adventures for all of you in Louisiana. This means marsh kayak fishing, inshore kayak fishing and more.
Get ready for a lot of Louisiana content because we are throwing our A-game at this project!
Eight (8) days on a boat with nine (9) other kayak anglers in one of the most untouched remote fishing grounds on this planet. Previously my longest mothership trip was a short three (3) day trip to the San Clemente Islands, which are about 70 miles offshore from San Diego. So I embarked on this journey with a nervous excitement.
I will be honest prior to my trip I knew very little about New Zealand, and even less of their fishing grounds. Luckily, I was with Aaron Covacich, Captain of the Bounty Hunter. Captain Aaron is one of the best Captains in New Zealand waters, and he is experienced in serving the unique needs of kayak anglers on a mothership trip. Throughout my 8 day journey I was repeatedly impressed by how well Captain Aaron knew the fishing grounds around the Great Barrier Islands. The waters around the Great Barrier Islands is what they call \”Big Water,\” so you would not want to do this with a novice captain. Captain Aaron not only knew how to expertly navigate these waters, but he put us on to some of the best fishing I have ever seen.
Some of you may thinking 8 days of straight kayak fishing might be too much for you, but the days on the Bounty Hunter passed quicker than I hoped. Also the great thing about mothership trips is the flexibility you have with your day. You can easily come back to the boat anytime for a hot shower and a nap, or even an afternoon of boat fishing. Captain Aaron went above and beyond each day make sure we were well fed and equipped for our day. We were treated to daily Kingfish sashimi, and there was always a hot cup of coffee or tea waiting for you when you came back from your day of kayak fishing.
A few lessons learned on the trip…
First thing you need to know before visiting New Zealand is the fact that they are fiercely protective of their ecosystem, so their customs is very strict in what they allow into the country. Plants, seeds, teas, most types of food products are usually not allowed. Even dirty camping equipment or muddy hiking boots may be subject to quarantine. Also, if you forget to declare any of these items you could be subject to a $400 NZD fine, so do yourself a favor and do a little research online to be sure you are aware of all current restrictions.
Fishing equipment can be subject to quarantine if it looks dirty or used, luckily this is only applicable to fresh water fishing equipment. So be sure when going through customs you make it clear that your fishing gear is for saltwater fishing only.
Lastly, make sure you apply for a NZeTa (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority) at least 72 hours prior to your arrival. A travel Visa is not required for U.S. citizens, but they do require you to apply for entry prior to your arrival. This can be done online or through a mobile application for a cost of $35 NZD. You can find more information at the following url: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/nzeta.
I know we always talk about the \”bucket-list\” trip, but this truly qualifies for that title. The fishing, the people and pure beauty of New Zealand will leave you with life long memories. As we discussed the New Zealand people go through great lengths to protect the purity of their land. Most of the smaller islands are off limits to humans in an effort to protect its prehistoric ecosystem. In fact some people refer to these islands as the real jurassic park. This amazing ecosystem of plant and animal life has remained untouched for literally thousands of years. During my days of fishing I was constantly amazing at the beauty of the landscapes and marine life, but the most amazing sight of the whole trip was the night sky. These remote islands are free from any light pollution allowing you see thousands of stars each night. For the first time in my life I was able to see the Milky Way with my naked eye. This along was worth the price of admission of this trip.
In my next blog posting I will walk you through my first few days at sea as we head out to our final destination the Mokohinau Islands, a tract of some of the most remote fishing grounds in the Southern Hemisphere.
For those of us on the West coast of the United States and especially California… Cedros Island is a well known mecca for some insane Baja style fishing. For all of those that don\’t know what Cedros Island is all about… let me shed some light on that for you.
Cedros Island is home to a wild, low pressure fishery that only a few locals can discern. The San Diego fishing fleet used to come to Cedros and wack em\’, but those days are gone and the island is left to a handful of island fishing operations and only one kayak fishing outfitter… Cedros Kayak Fishing.
I brought my partners Nic Gadouas, Robert Field of YakFish TV and our good friend Jesse Landry to the island to give them their first taste of Cedros Island fishing. I was fortunate enough to come a few years back when Jeff Mariani was just getting started. I have been itching to get back and help Jeff\’s dream become a reality. He laid the foundation, put in the time and now he is starting to see a lot of returning groups including team Fish Village.
From the very get go, the boys knew this trip was different. For starters, you don\’t have boarding passes because Jeff arranges a private charter for the group. Groups range from 4-6 anglers which makes it perfect for buddy trips. It also makes for a cozy 2 hour flight over Baja California and the great Pacific Ocean. We drove down to Otay Mesa just southeast of San Diego and used the CBX Cross Border Crossing terminal which makes the airport portion of your trip a breeze.
The CBX terminal looks and feels like a airport terminal, but it isn\’t. It is a safe place to get dropped off or leave your car, and after a few easy steps, you are at the Tijuana International Airport. Sounds crazy right… but it is super easy. We pay the CBX crossing fee, get visas using an automated kiosk, we await to hear from the pilot that they are ready, cross showing our receipt, run through immigration and then finally you walk straight to the plane. We arrive in the middle of Tijuana International Airport with modern food restaurants… even a Starbucks. 2 hours later we are on Cedros Island. I can\’t stress enough how easy and stress free this experience is.
Two very loud hours later we land on the island greeted by the team sitting at the end of the tarmack. Within minutes we opened the doors, unloaded our gear and was handed an ice cold Tecate. Just what the doctor ordered.
One of the best parts of this trip is the lack of airport nonsense. Within 10 minutes of landing we are in Jeff\’s truck heading to his place. A quick 10 minute drive later we were at Casa de Mariani. Jeff is a builder by trade and you can tell once you step on his property. It feels like an oasis on a desolate arid island. We got the quick tour and found ourselves stuffing our faces (OK, admittedly it was me) with some delicious authentic bean and cheese burritos… Simplistic, yet delicious.
We shared war stories and prepped our gear for 2.5 days of fishing. There may have been a few tequila shots in between there as well. We geared up and prepared to battle massive island yellowtail. Last time I was there my arm practically fell off from speed winding in heavy irons attached with yellowtail attached. The faster you worked the iron, the bigger the yellows got.
Initially the bite was slow until we heard Jeff hooting and hollering… he is louder than me which just fires me up. Jeff stuck a good size yellow and then it turned on. The boys on the pangas started wacking em and then Rob stuck one. We were throwing surface irons, huge swimbaits and stick baits and the bonito were destroying them. Only a few lucky casts got through to our target species. Jesse and I got destroyed by the bonito, it went from fun, to not funny to funny again. Though we landed a few quality fish… we knew the island had a lot more in store for us.
We changed gears the next day and charged across the channel to Chester\’s magical calico fantasy land. Rob and Nic have very little calico experience which hindered them for about 10 minutes. Because once they got all up in the kelp and figured out how to get the calico\’s fired up it was on like Donkey Kong. For those that haven\’t fished with Jeff, his energy is unreal. He gets so fired up for every fish. That energy spreads across the group like illness… a fish catching illness.
2 fish, 5 fish, 10 fish, 20 fish… a PB, another PB, ANOTHER PB. It was a riot. Reebs weedless Persuaders were the ticket to fun town for me. I have had this big bag of weedless swim baits for a couple of years now and never really got to use them… until now. Burned through about 10 in a few hours. Those toothy critters destroy plastics… it is just part of the game. Jeff and the crew proved that if your plastic had good action and you acted like a bait fish… the calico\’s couldn\’t resist.
Any freshwater bass fisherman should consider doing this trip. These feisty guys rip line, bust leaders and dance out of the water when they are agitated. I am not a bass guy, but when I go to Cedros… I am a bass guy! By the looks of Rob (below), I would say that he really likes calico bass fishing now too. Did I mention that I love my Canon R. #nofilter
On our last day we ditched the yaks (because we only had about 4 hours) and we jumped on the pangas to head out in search of California sheephead and a few more species to knock off the list. Conditions were damn near perfection, glassy water, little to no wind, clear skies and biting fish. We got to jigging and started convincing some whitefish to eat our Catch Beta Bugs. These lures have proven to be successful in multiple fisheries across the US, and Australia, New Zealand and now Mexico.
We mixed up jigging with some chunk bait bottom fishing and that is when the fishing factory started up. Sheephead after sheephead fell for the ol\’ classic chunk bait and switch. They got the bait, but they also got hooked. I turned that delicious sheephead into some of the best ceviche I have ever made.
We made a few stops, fly the drone and then proceeded to wack a few more yellowtail before we called it quits for the day. Jesse finished the day with a couple more yellows ripping a surface iron as fast as you could wind. What more can you ask for. We laughed, we slayed, we mowed down some delicious Mexican cuisine, we released a lot of fish and we captured it all for you to see.
Robert Field\’s Field Trips: Cedros Island Mexico is live now on YouTube, check out the first episode here. These pics are just a taste of the quality content we captured during our short 4 day trip. I can\’t wait to see the rest of Rob\’s series. #lovingit