Our two full days out with Capt. Bicho and Bicho Jr., I must honestly say were the highlight of our trip. First of all we were a little concerned about the pronunciation of his name!!! From the time I heard about him on this board I was referring to him as Capt. Bicho(Bike-o). When we talked about him to Severo he said it's pronounced Bitch-o which I felt very uncomfortable saying in front of my daughters!!!!
We were picked up on the dock at BB by Fishingsanpedro at 8am. We hopped on board & explained our confusion about the pronunciation of his name. Capt. Bicho, the friendly man that he is, informed us that it is Capt. Bicho(Beach-o) which thrilled me to pieces since I wouldn't have to say a name that would be an inner conflict for this gal!!!
I bet there are a lot of you boarders who have been calling this Capt. by a name that's mispronunciated…so before you laugh at me you might be laughing at yourself for addressing him totally wrong…but nowing Capt. Bicho…he'll answer to just about anything.
On our first day out with Bicho & son…we headed up north where, Severo had directed us in passing by, we'd find the sardines we needed for bait. In 3-4 casts, Capt. Bicho had enough bait for 2 days worth of fishing. He then headed to a spot inside the reef that we caught a snapper and our first trigger. This upset my daughter being that it was her favorite to see while snorkeling, and so if we caught a trigger it had to be released. We continued fishing going to different spots & trolling…however, I must say, the fishing was terrible and nothing that Capt. Bicho or we had any control over. A cold front was on it's way in and Capt. Bicho indicated that the fish were probably outside the reef and that it would be extremely rough & that he would head out. Now this gal goes fishing a lot at home…and the water was whitecapping inside the reef, so I knew exactly what we'd be in for and nixed that idea asking the Capt. to try other places inside the reef. We did but with no bites. It was approaching lunchtime and Capt. Bicho being the man who aims to please….went to a spot where Tom & he dove for crab taking the claws off of 2 and returning them to the water…now virtually defenseless but alive. Shortly after, one of Capt. Bicho's cousins was returning from some fishing ouside the reef and confirming my suspicions that it was a bad day to do so. They went in their cooler & handed over some of their catch, which added to ours, would definitely provide lunch. And it was all that it was described to be & more…Capt. Bicho's beach BBQ. These non-fish eaters were absolutely reformed as we gobbled up the tender snapper he so wonderfully prepared for us along with the crab claws, potatoes, and cole slaw etc. Capt. Bicho even prepared chicken that my girls cleaned from the bone…it was that good!!! And they even had some of the fish, that they had refused all their lives to even try, and asked for seconds!!! It was a feast and one that has my mouth salivating as I share.
After lunch, we packed up and headed for Shark Ray alley ....where we did some snorkeling. Capt. Bicho jumped right in with us showing us the sights. I have to say we only saw a few nurse sharks but tons of rays & schools of jacks (which I refer to jumping jacks) and snapper and squid and the most abundance of fish we'd seen all week!! Capt. Bicho then brought us to a spot where there were sea turtles and tons of conch shells that my girls dove for to bring home for their friends. They were empty ones that either were harvested or had been eaten by the sea turtles themselves. Here we found even a more abundance of rays than we saw at Shark Ray….and the girls and Tom swam with the turtles and rays while Bicho Jr. and I laughed in glee at the fun they were having. It was chilly and even when we got to Hol Chan none of us would get into the water…it was that chilly. We spent our time feeding the remainder of our sardines to the jacks who would jump out of the water even before the sardines would hit it. I was appalled at the people I saw from another boat walking all over he reef…there were at least 2 dozen of them, and the captain of their boat allowing this to happen. Even Capt. Bicho said that the Captain of that boat could get into big trouble….and when the Hol Chan Marine boat went over to the boat hosting this crowd…they left and the people continued climbing & walking all over that reef!!!! I deducted that it was a lot of people & thus a lot of $$$. I was pissed and sad that I had bared witness to such an occurrence. And it made me wonder if there would be a Hol Chan to visit 10 or 20 years from now if this were to continue to occur.
Anyway…if two days could be more different, it was the 2nd day we had with Capt. Bicho and Bicho Jr. This time he came with the sardines all ready to fish & it couldn't have been a more perfect day to try outside the reef!! The water was extremely calm and this time we had an additional passenger…BnBelize's daughter, along with us. Well as soon as we threw our lines in, we had ourselves fish. Triggers, groupers, yellowtailed snappers, Black Durgons….and yes even a barracuda pulled up to the boat hooked onto the snapper being reeled in!!! I'm telling you….we were actually amazed at the amount of fish that we were catching…it was enough to feed an army of people. This time we were given permission by our daughter to keep the larger triggers since she saw the abundance that were coming in on our lines!!!
Once we almost got that cuda…which by the way came on our guests line and ended up letting go before actually getting it onto the boat….we all decided it was time to go after the big fish!!! Capt. Bicho brought us inside the reef hooked up to 2 lines trolling…one with a sardine & the other with a snapper. Within minutes my husbands line sporting the sardine…was hooked onto something big!!! I turned around just in time to see the biggest cuda jumping out of the water some hundred yards behind the boat, obviously on Tom's line!! Bicho Jr.just about fell out of the boat in all the excitement. …and 5 minutes later we had ourselves a 15lb & 28 inch cuda being brought onto the boat by Capt. Bicho's gaft. Now...it was at this moment that I went for my camera shouting I had to get this pic for those at home who surely wouldn't believe it and Capt. Bicho said "No photos til he's dead" and before you knew it Bicho Jr. took out a makeshift Billyclub and the thump was heard followed by this gal's & ever gal on the boats screams!!! I turned to see the fish still moving followed by 2-3 more familiar thumps and a chorus of female screams
including mine….and Capt. Bicho said it was picture time!!! I was stunned….the fish was a beauty but I would've probably forewent the pic and released him but my husband and daughters had other things in mind…like getting some teeth for necklaces and pics to go home with. Capt. Bicho explained to us how one time he held onto a cuda for a pic it got his entire hand & they had to kill it in order to get it off which wasn't an easy task. And I grew to understand and took an abundance of pics to share with all this wonderful moment we had with Capt. Bicho & Bicho Jr. I must say, fishing with Capt. Bicho was the best, even when we weren't catching fish!!! And when you fish with him, he shares in the excitement as if it's the first time he's experienced it along with you!!!
Needless to say, we had plenty of fish to cook up for lunch this time and the food was fantastic & yummmmy. Capt. Bicho shared with us how he was a chef at Lily's in town for over 10 years. I was touched by how he had combined his two greatest gifts and made it into something so special…a day of fishing with a day of feasting….pure magic.
We left BnBelize behind with her mom and headed back out to Hol Chan which we had paid for but missed out on the other day. Bicho Jr. guided Tom & I through the reef and the girls stayed on board taking in Capt. Bicho's stories of running into a hammerhead & a gigantic manta ray and seeing a whale shark years ago. Hol Chan was absolutely amazing….saw all kinds of fish and the reef is absolutely awesome!!!
Our day went by so quickly…and we were saddened by the fact that it would be our last with Capt. Bicho. However, we were fortunate enough to have 2 full days and 2 Beach BBQ's which were truly the best meals we had during our stay.
Yes, Capt. Bicho, you are pure magic…and the memories we shared together will be permanently embedded in our memory and our hearts (even though this gal can't seem to find a way to embed them on this board). I did manage to put together an album which I feel truly honors the wonderful day Capt. Bicho and Bicho Jr. made for us. Thank you Capt. Bicho for 2 wonderful days!!! We'll be back….
https://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=365934561105&page=1&sort_order=
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