32 Sept 28 - Oct 12 , 2018 VOL . 37 • ISS . 21

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fishing as town empties of tourists as kids and families head back to school ,” related Jonathan Roldan of Tailhunter International in La Paz . “ Hot humid weather with temperatures in the high 90 ’ s and warm waters kept the fishing on the high counts , although afternoon localized tropical electrical and thunderstorms did pop up now and then . The storms usually came after everyone was already back from fishing ,” said Roldan . “ For our Tailhunter Las Arenas / Muertos Bay Fleet , it lived up to its reputation with the fishing spot literally about 100 yards off the beach and tuna breaking within sight of where we launch our pangas . Tuna ranged in size from 10-50 pounds , but the same area also produced some nicer dorado in the 15-25 pound class as well . It was also a hot spot for wahoo as we had several biters in the 30 pound size and a number of fish that bit through leaders ,” exclaimed Roldan . “ For our Tailhunter La Paz fleet , there dorado to be had . There ’ s smaller fish schooling right in the bay with larger fish out towards San Juan de la Costa and around the point at Punta Mejia . The smaller fish are as small as 5 pound “ doraditos ” that we mostly toss back , but fun to catch . They range up to about 20 pounds on the outside . There ’ s also some roosterfish biting around Bonanza Beach . But dorado are 90 % of the catch with some days better than others ,” Roldan concluded .

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This rare spearfish was caught and released off the East Cape on August 31 . Photo courtesy of the HOTELO PALMAS DE CORTEZ , Van Wormer Resorts .

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simple when I can . This is even reflected in my cooking , where if there is any more than five or six ingredients , I am not a big fan of that recipe .

Imagine my reaction , a couple of decades ago , when article after article coming out of Florida had pictures of

guide after guide , angler after angler , holding up their prize catches with a lip gripper device called the Boga Grip .

Sure , it looked cool , an all stainless steel looking mechanism with a contrasting foam grip , nestled so snuggly in their custom holsters , but where were the real men ; you know , the ones who grabbed their piscatorial prizes with

their bare hands ?

In my youth , it was a sign of a real man , a real outdoorsman , to walk around with a “ bassing thumb ”, you know , that raspy , red , slightly swollen thumb that came about by grasping too many bass or rockfish by the lower jaw . I remember going to the doctor for the annual physical and having ol ’ doc look at my thumbs and asking , “ What ’ s that ?”

Well , in the world of lip grippers , the Boga Grip reigned supreme , and I suppose it still does . Yes , it is still made out of stainless steel , it still has the nice foam grip , and it still has that very handy built-in scale that can be certified . But it also costs northward of a hundred bucks , a price that is pretty steep for something that can easily fall overboard .

Don ’ t get me wrong , lip grippers have been around for years and years , but most of them have been a variation of a pair of pliers , usually with an offset handle . These are fine for use on toothy critters , but they rely on your hand strength to keep a hold of the wiggling rascal you just caught , and few of us have that hand strength for anything over ten pounds .

The genius of the Boga Grip is its double reverse hinge design . ( I made that term up . Don ’ t go looking for an explanation in Wikipedia or anything .) Basically , you pull up on the sleeve and the jaws open up . Releasing the spring propelled sleeve clamps the stainless jaws onto the fish ’ s lower lip . The harder the fish pulls , the harder the jaws grip .

Genius design , really . ( The design reminds me of certain rock climbing apparatuses that do the same thing . I wonder if the designer of the Boga Grip got his idea from that ?)

The best thing about the Grip is its ability to hold the fish securely with

minimal contact , thus helping to preserve its protective slime coat in the case of catch and release .

As it seems with just about everything nowadays , if it can be made , someone will attempt to make it cheap . And such it is with the Boga Grip . A recent trip to Bass Pro Shops revealed no fewer than eight other lip grippers that followed the Boga Grip ” s design , and some were 1 / 10 of the price . Of course , not including the very , very accurate built-in scale does much to reduce the price , and I suspect that for the many dollars saved , a lot of anglers will forgo the scale .

Was I seduced by the dark side and buy a lip gripper ? You bet I was . I think over the years I have had my masculinity beaten out of me and no longer feel the need to sport a bassing thumb . Nowadays , I also do a lot more catch and release so the lip gripper makes sense . It only took a few decades to change my mind .