Last June 2009 - don't remember what day, Cesar up and told me. I'm goin' fishin' with my primo Raul. I'm gonna catch me a Blue Marlin, and out the door he went. Well, of course I didn't think he really was going to catch a thing, maybe a Pargo or two, but not a Marlin. Much to my surprise however, I get a call from Ricardo from the Cortez Club in La Paz- "Cesar caught a big stinkin' Marlin," he says. He wants you to meet him and take pictures! Unfortunately it was a Sunday and all the Marinas were closed, it wasn't a tournament and no one was prepared for this big huge fish!

We made some calls and managed to convince the owners of the Marina Palmar to allow Cesar and his cousins hang up the big Marlin and take a picture. There were no scales, no measurements. But I took pictures!! We figured somewhere around 300 kilos give or take, what say you? He caught it near "El canyon" by the Isla Espiritu Santo. The whole barrio EL Manglito got the news simultaneously - the Mitote blew through faster than a cat 5 hurricane. The excitement was more contagious than the new flu.

Someone showed up with a case of beer,and it turned into a fiesta! A nice American man who lived in the Marina donated his big huge fillet knife and a cousin began to fillet the fish, the Marlin was given to the Fishermen in the neighborhood, the majority being relatives of Cesar's. Most live off of fish or tourism which of course today is nil, due to the crisis-NO flu here by the way- come fishin!! Cesar is the little guy in the middle.

Capitan Cesar Marquez he is the short very dark little guy with the gold necklass in the middle! The two characters on each side of him are cousins. He has been fishing since he was a very little boy and comes from generations of fishermen. In fact he grew in the same neighborhood that John Steinbeck wrote about in the book the Pearl. His great grandfather found a giant pearl that apparently is one of the crown Jewels of England or Lizzie Taylors big pearl. The stories get bigger like the fish. I grew up here also. I am a gringa. I didn't know about the fisherman of the month until now, otherwise I would have sent the picture in ages ago. Take your time we did. These guys are really poor so there-in the reason for not releasing that marlin. But when he takes out the tourists we are now encouraging catch and release. Well, tell all we have no flu but lots of fish, we are surviving off of fish and what little we earn making lures "Palangares," money is tight but we eat like kings and I of course am the Queen! Thanks for your time, energy and effort, it takes dedication to do what your doing, yours Ramona!

Congrats Cesar on being the FinTalk.com Angler of the Month!