I read with amusement in last week’s Albuquerque Journal about some skullduggery by two contestants in an Ohio walleye fishing tournament. The two claimed to have won the tournament by catching fish that weighed more than those of any of the other contestants.
After some eyebrows were raised because the winning fish seemed to be much heavier than comparably sized walleye, they were slit open to reveal that someone had added weight to them with some lead pellets and fillets from another fish. The contestants were disqualified and are now facing charges.
I focused on this because my wife and I just returned from Northern New Mexico on a great fly fishing adventure with another couple, Dave and Gloria, who we’ve known for years.
All of us caught nice fish on the trip. Gloria had the biggest and Margo caught the most. None of them were stuffed with lead pellets or fillets from other fish. All were returned to the river.
The fish we caught were on the Rio Costilla, about 45 miles north of Taos near the Colorado border. It was beautiful fall weather, with a new dusting of snow on top of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and vibrant fall colors in the valley.
No, I won’t tell you exactly where our best fishing spots were or even the name of the place we stayed. I will, however, guarantee that our fishing stories will get bigger — not heavier.
aero-cordero.com 