Having been born in 1960 in Cuba to parents (Enrique & Esperanza Fuentes) who shared a passion for fishing, I grew up with the Fishing Life Style! I was no fluke that the passion passed on to me would stay with me my entire life.
In 1968 my parents decided to leave Havana to avoid the communist regime and come to the free land of the USA.
When we are born, we can’t walk, can’t talk, or feed ourselves. We are mainly taught by our parents or others that share both their knowledge and experience and I was fortunate enough as a child to have plenty of that.
As a kid, that passion for fishing had me riding my bike to Venice Pier to catch Bonito, Herring, Mackerel and anything that would put a bend on my first rod & reel combo given to me by my loving dad! That was 1970. In Cuba, we hand lined, so that Abu Garcia-Mitchell 300 Combo was my Cadillac.
In 1972, I started fishing the live bait dock at MDR where I eventually fished the fleet. It was there that I met my mentors and it was there that my knowledge of the local fishery went through the roof.
Captains Frenchy Magellan, Wayne Koneig, Bobby Yoshihiro and Del Haag taught me everything I needed to know about my passion, Fishing!
The Santa Monica Bay as well as the local SoCal Islands became my every weekend stumping grounds with the local fleet from New Port to Oxnard.
I have been blessed to have the opportunity to hone my skills in the science of Fishing over the last five decades, learning and trying to perfect the different techniques and presentations as the Fishing industry has changed over the years and pass it on to other, but especially my granddaughter, Lucy!
I have been fortunate to gather a wealth of knowledge and experienced over the last five decades which I love sharing with my fellow anglers, from fishing the surf, to the bays to the inshore scene in SoCal. At 61 years of age, I’m still learning from both young and old. There’s always someone else in this industry that can teach a thing or two, so I always strive to keep a humble attitude and not try to be a Fishing God!
My Passion and Love of the Fishing Life Style burns bright still. All because some wonderful people took the time to pass on their passion, knowledge, experience and love for the sport of Fishing to a little kid that rode his bike to the piers & docks 50 years ago!
I have friends and family and memories in this industry that I will cherish and last a lifetime!
Just like my mentors did for me 50 years ago, I am humbled and proud by the opportunity to share my Passion, Knowledge and Love for Fishing with those humble enough to want to learn. And I absolutely loved it, so I will always be grateful to both my parents who passed this passion on to me!
In closing, if you are one of those accomplished anglers that have gathered the knowledge and experience, please share that passion with the new generations, and especially kids, so you can put a smile on their faces and affect their lives in a positive way. I promise you it will fill your hearts!