By Carlos Guadier
It was our last day at the Let’s Talk Hookup 2005 Palmas de Cortez Fall Spectacular. Team No Bananas just completed a great fishing trip placing Second the tournament. We were on our way in after another phenomenal day of catching and releasing 6 bill fish! Arms tired, I went down into the cabin to start packing up our gear when suddenly, I heard the boat’s engine ramp down. As I peeked up from the cabin Captain Mario told us un vez mas, one more time! It was a sight to behold as we saw birds crashing on bait balls and porpoise jumping everywhere. As we started soaking our big slabs of Humboldt Squid, our deckhand Luis spotted the Yellowfin tuna charging towards our boat and said “here come the big ones! We landed a few that were in the 60-80 lb class. With our last pass, Drew hooked up a big one and broke off on 100 lb test. After 45 minutes I was fortunate enough to land a 187 lb. Yellowfin, my personal best! This was perhaps one of our best days of fishing ever.
Team No Bananas core comprising of Drew Varos, Manny Gauder and me Carlos G
audier have had many memorable fish stories over the years. We have been fortunate to have been able to fish with Pete, Marty, Rick, John and Mark with the Let’s Talk Hookup sponsored trips to Baja and Alaska. We have many fond memories from each trip but what we cherish most are the great friendships we have made along the way. Our first trip was down to Punta Colorada, which I believe was back in 2002. It was the first time we met Pete Gray
and Marty Milner, the hosts of Let’s Talk Hookup back in the day. It was love a first bite as we fell in love with Baja and its people. From then on we began joining Pete and then Rick for more yearly fishing adventures at Rancho Leonero and Palmas de Cortez. We also decided to take the No Bananas show up to Alaska, Whaler’s Cove, to join Pete and Rick for a few years as well. All along we were blessed to have met the nicest people who not only shared our common interest in fishing, but also our love for family and friends and 
outdoor adventures.
At Rancho Leonero we had some amazing times with our friends, Jim and Judy Kanouse, Bob and Carol Blum, Pam and Phil Bensimon, etc. John and Jennifer Ireland had a beautiful resort which was reminiscent of old Mexico, and they were the most gracious hosts. The fishing was good, but we also had some great times out of the water. We even had a fun impromptu graduation ceremony for a nice young man from South Carolina. Will was there with his family, Blake, Dell and Sarah Caroline. Will was missing his high school commencement, but he said he would rather be there at the Ranch. Pam quickly put together a nice little ceremony for Will. I believe we may have all hummed “Pomp and Circumstance” together and Will had a makeshift cap with a small marlin lure as a tassel. It was a cool memory for us all, especially Will. Unfortunately, Rancho Leonero was sold a few years back, but we will always cherish our times there.
The Palmas de Cortez Fall Spectacular is also a friendly tournament; however, it does bring out some competitiveness as well. Team No Bananas adheres to a strict no bananas routine. We even purge out systems of bananas at least one month before we do any fishing! Knowing this our competition will usually try to sneak that bad luck fruit in our cooler or onto our boat. We all have fun with this as we’ll try to do the same.
Whaler’s Cove was a nice change up for us. It’s God’s Country up in Alaska. The scenery is picturesque, the wildlife is majestic, and the food is fantastic! The locals are also so warm and welcoming. Our Captain Kevin is from the local Tlingit tribe, and we had some great times with him and his wife Joy out on the water. We would share stories about culture, food and families. We have to go back to Alaska again. And I almost forgot to mention that the fishing was great. Halibut, salmon, cod, sablefish, oh my!
Over the years Team No Bananas has grown. Our friend Gregg Hostery, the Father of Team No Bananas, was finally able to join us for a few trips to Palmas. My friend Khan Tran was also a member. Drew’s wife Deb and his siter-in-law Cathe and her husband Scott Sherbern also joined the bunch. These two power couples held up Team No Bananas’ winning tradition. Unfortunately, last November we lost Scott and last May we also lost Deb. It was rough not having them around and they are sorely missed. They were with us though as some divine intervention helped us win the tournament this year. The Palmas trip is also a tribute to our good friend Rich Topp. We’ve also got to know Rich and his wonderful wife Peggy over the years, and we miss his camaraderie. We’ve lost other friends along the way, but we will always cherish the times we’ve shared together. While raising a toast for Deb, Drew summed it up best, that she would want all of us to live life to the fullest, “Live, Love, Fish, Laugh.”
