New Years Eve fell on Saturday, our Preparation Day, and what better way to close out the year than to go fishing! Our friend from the office, Daniel, invited us to go fishing with him and his girlfriend Lucia in the Pacific Ocean south of Lima. We got up early for a 5:00am departure and headed south driving on the Pan American Highway until we exited for Pucusana. Daniel has done this before so he found a captain willing to take us and after a quick pit stop, we were off into the Pacific!
Our target species were rockfish and our skipper knew just where to take us. We were treated to pelicans and other shorebirds, a few sea lions, and a school of porpoises who quietly spent a good portion of the morning with us once we anchored and started fishing.
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| The harbor at Pucusana, Peru |
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| Daniel, the skipper, and Lucia |
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| Peter, James and John were fisherman--why not us too? |
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| Colorful fishing fleet at anchor in the harbor |
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| Laundry day |
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Beautiful home on the point of the harbor
Owners of a grocery store chain here (Wong) |
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| Our anchor to stay in place with the waves and current |
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| Fishing tackle was a little different than what I have used in the past. |
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Sand fleas were the carnada (bait) of choice (live)
These are also known as mole crabs. |
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| Lucia's was bigger |
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Mary getting some fish action as well
Notice how rugged the coastline is here.
Most of coastal Peru that we have seen is cliffs dropping into the ocean. |
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| And increasing size |
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| Still smiling after several hours! |
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| Laundry is almost dry as we return to harbor |
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| Part of a cooperative fishing fleet |
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| Mary with our skipper |
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| The fisherman's unloading dock and cleaning facility |
We took our catch to the dock where the commercial fisherman unload and weigh their catch. There is a large room there where women clean the commercial (and recreational) catch. We were able to have two grocery sacks full of rockfish cleaned for 8 soles (about $2.40). We had been successful enough that we also left the captain enough to fill another grocery sack as well.
We got some ice to cover the fish for the cooler in the trunk of the car and after an ice cream, headed back to Lima with our friends, then had lunch together before parting until the New Year. A wonderful way to spend the morning here in Peru! Happy New Year to all!
