You seem to have quite a quandry here…….Cow trip or Variety?
I have done both and enjoy both but to be honest with you it sure is fun to fish a variety trip when you get a chance to fish Ball Slapper Dorado and then end up around Alijos and get into that nice 50-100 pound Yellow Fin Tuna along with some Wahoo ( my favorite type of fishing) and some really big Yellowtail and Grouper on the bottom…then you run into the Ridge and fish the high spots for wahoo, BIG GROUPER and if your lucky…the Pargo attack the boat. Pargo are a fantastic eating fish and are great fun on light line. You leave the Ridge and head up toward Natividad and then Cedros and Benitos for some off the hook surface iron action on the Yellowtail….sight fishing is a riot. Maybe a few drops for WSB and then hit a drift for Reds. That is a really fun trip and you get to use a wide variety of equipment and techniques on the various fish da jour.
Fishing Cows is a different game all together…..you will run straight down to the lower banks with maybe a brief stop halfway for a dorado or two and some reds……the galley loves it and the lunch and dinner is awesome with fresh Dorado or Reds and then it is running time. Get down on the banks and start looking for mammals and if you find them….it is mano y mano. Big fish will test you and your gear to the limits and sometimes they will break your heart BUT………when that big old son of a bitch is doing circles and you are doing circles and it becomes a test of wills and you make that last crank and lift and 3 or 4 gaffs sink into a cow and he lights up…….WOW. That is a rush like no other. You flylined a big Mac on BIG GEAR with 130 pound string and you beat a COW in his element………it doesn’t get better than that.
The downside is that if the fish are down or the moon is wrong….and yes the moon does effect the cows on the lower banks or if they are loaded up on red crab or boxfish…it can make for a long, long, long trip.
I think you learn more about fish fighting technique on a big fish trip and you sure as hell learn alot more about rigging for BIG FISH on a Cow Trip. Variety trips you can fish what I would call a more normal terminal tackle idea………Cows……..Splicing, Crimping, Kite Leaders, Loop to Loops, Knots and Hooks, Rods and Reels have to been dialed in сто % as there is zero margin for error.
Now that I have you scratching your head I would really suggest that you start with a variety trip so you can experience the whole spectrum of fish catching and more importantly the various styles of fishing ie; Fishing a harness or belt versus fishing the rail with no harness or belt at all.
Have fun and be sure to write a report and let us all know about your trip….regardless of the type.
Oh Yeah…..I forgot….it’s all BS without Pictures
