Night Fishing

Plenty of the locals live off of the sea. They head out in their fishing boats just before dark, and if the fishing is good, they fish all night and come back at 6AM in the morning. Boats of all sizes go out-- from the size of a college sailboat to a small pirate ship (and they look like them too). I was bored and looking for a cultural experience a week ago, so I weasled my way onto one of these boats. I arranged everything through a friend of a friend in Spanish, and I really had no idea what to expect.

I showed up in a tiny pueblo at 5PM looking for Don Pedro. I was the only gringo in the town, and as I walked down the street heads turned. Apparently everyone knew to look out for me, and almost immediately after getting off the local bus, I found a friend and he took me to Don Pedro. After an intense argument with an older man about how homosexuals are normal people and should be treated normally (I have no idea how the convo started), Don Pedro pulled me away for us to go fishing.

After seeing the boat, I debated leaving immediately. It was an all wooden boat that was a little smaller than a rowboat. It was sitting on the beach. And it had no motor. We pushed the boat as close as we could to the water, got in, waited for a big wave to come, and then pushed off the sand and rowed furiously. Thankfully, after a couple minutes of rowing, we got to a boat a little bigger, sturdier, and with a motor. For those of you on the NU Sailing Team, the boat was about the same size as the crashboat we use for practice.

The four of us motored out to sea, anchored, and waited till dark. Once everything was pitch black, they lit lamps on either side of the boat and watched the fish come to the light. Through a combination of fishing with fishing line (no poles) and a net at the end of a stick, we caught about 20 small fish from 7PM to 10PM. At 10PM, we moved locations to fish for the bigger fish with the smaller fish. If the fishing is good, they can catch 20-30 big fish, between one and a half and three feet long. When this happens, the boat is literally full of fish, and they stay out until 6AM. That night the fishing was horrendous. We only caught three large fish, and by 3AM we gave up and motored in. I slept that night on the guys couch, woke up early the next morning, hitchhicked back to Montañita, and made it home 15 minutes before my 8AM class.

These guys do this every night. With a little bit of gas, some line, and bait for small fish, these guys can go out there and catch enough big fish to make a living. While it was a great experience, I am very grateful that it is not my nightly routine.