That night I searched the internet for information on bluewater fly fishing trips. I didn't find specific information any trips, but managed to find some references to some past trips run out of Fisherman's Landing in San Diego, California. From the search I got the telephone numbers for the Royal Polaris and Shogun boats, which have run fly fishing trips in the past. Both these boats are owned by California sport fishing legend Frank Lopreste.
The next morning I inquired with Andrea in the Shogun Sport fishing office about planned future long range bluewater fly fishing trips that might be running soon and hit pay dirt! She told me that Steve Abel of Abel Reel fame had set up a long range bluewater trip to in January 2005, but he been recently diagnosed with cancer and was going to cancel the trip when developer and bluewater fly fisherman John Hertzberg from Washington state stepped in a took over the trip. At my urging Andrea gave me John's telephone number and a quick call to him revealed that there was only one spot remaining! The biggest attraction for me was that Trey Combs was coming along on the trip as a co-host. Only one catch...John needed a check immediately from me for half of the trip cost before he could secure my spot! Hey, it was the trip of a lifetime for me so I did whatever was necessary; I called Visa to up my credit limit and took a cash advance for the balance of the trip.
John notified me upon receiving my check to inform me that I was the last person to be included! I was in! I couldn't believe it! For a week or so I couldn't get my head wrapped around the fact that I was one of 16 fly fisherman (19 people total) on this trip to the holy grail of bluewater fly fishing. The realization of my participation finally set-in and was quickly replaced with the stress that it was June and the trip was to begin in January and I needed to get going tying flies and acquiring new equipment or I was logistically not going to be ready!
After thoroughly researching the flies necessary for long range trip off Baja I began to understand that those recommended in Trey's book Bluewater Fly Fishing would be most appropriate so I began tying during off hours when work and family obligations would allow. I ended up with a dozen mylar/epoxy covered 2/0 poppers in silver, pink, blue over white, and green over white; a dozen 2/0 and four dozen 4/0 Sea Habit Bucktails and Sea Habit Deceivers in anchovy green, anchovy blue, pink lady, and white knight colors; and two dozen 6/0 Sea Habit Bucktail flies. In addition, I brought my wallet of false albacore and bonito flies just in case in needed even smaller flies.
On Ebay I found three important items that I used on my trip. The first was an Abel 4 anti-reverse big game fly reel and the second was a Sage Xi2 13 weight fly rod to go with the 8 and 10 weights that I already had. I chose a 13 weight because I wanted a rod big fight large hard pulling fish and small enough to cast for a large part of the day. The third essential piece of equipment was a quality tackle bag to hold all this equipment. The tackle bag was the most used and best investment I made for the trip.
I was helped tremendously by two fly shops near where I live. I was impressed by how much these guys knew about bluewater fly fishing, it was great to have excellent resources like this nearby. To round my equipment I needed, I bought a second 10 weight, a Temple Fork TiCr 4 piece, from nearby First Light Anglers, in Rowley, Massachusetts. I also bought fly lines, gel spun backing, leaders and lots of other miscellaneous equipment like mini-flashlights, knot tiers, and fly tying materials at Eldredge Bros. Fly Shop in nearby Cape Neddick, Maine.
Between family obligations, work, and fly tying the time from June to Christmas flew by as any in my life. Before I knew it I was a week away from the trip, but through hard work and help from others I was ready. The only left was to get threw the week and the flight to San Diego.