Sportsmanship First
Enrique Lima and his American friends came up with a code of conduct or fishing etiquette for visiting boats to abide by. 
 
"There was no catch-and-release in those years," Lima says. "I attended a tournament in Cozumel and saw hundreds of fish thrown away. It really struck me. We decided to create the code of conduct to protect the fishery."
 
Hank Manley, who owns Escapade, was the first Florida boat to arrive on the scene in Isla. "There were only six boats fishing then," Manley says. "The fishing was so good, there just wasn't any competition."
 
However, as more boats did show up, Manley saw crews doing things that he thought could potentially destroy the fishery. "As more boats came from Florida, they wanted to live-bait," he says. "I went to Enrique and explained to him the dangers of this fishing style. We wrote down how we thought the law should read, and in 1984 the law was passed. We just didn't want to see the fishery destroyed." 
 
The catch-and-release rule didn't cause as much confusion as outlawing the use of spinning rods, live bait and backing up to baitballs to pitch in baits.
 
"The etiquette rules help make a sport of it. If there's ever an issue here, it's usually over a ball of bait. It's up to the fishermen to show a little common sense and good sportsmanship," Bracher says.

Several visiting boats started leaving the dock earlier than local charter boats in the winter and would wrack up 20 catches or more before the rest of the fleet even arrived. Others would stay offshore until they tallied the most catches for the day. Some local charter boats began to grow upset with a few of the visiting boats. The end result caused a few scrums back at the dock, but for the most part those who wanted to fish with live baits or cast into the bait moved on to different areas. Everyone pretty much plays nice these days. 
 
"Down in Isla there's enough fish to just go out and troll. You don't need to live-bait," Doerzbacher says. "Circle hooks weren't used then, and if everyone fished live bait with J hooks, it would kill too many fish and deteriorate the fishery."
 
The code of conduct, which each visiting vessel must agree to, was way ahead of its time. Simple and direct, the five rules aim to "maintain the consistently good fishing especially with the large increase in the number of boats," as it reads. First off, all boats must troll without stopping to sink their baits or backing into a school of sailfish. No casting to feeding fish is allowed, and all billfish must be released except for world records. A new amendment plans to make circle hooks required on all baits, though nearly all the boats already use them.
 
Tactical Fishing
"There's a lot of prep work involved fishing here, and a good mate is key," Bracher says. "We fish with ballyhoo and dredges — that's a lot of rigging. And, the bonito and mackerel will bite you off. A lot of boats bring their regular mate down and hire a local guy once they get here."
 
The spread used by most of the boats in Isla mirrors the spread you'd see off Stuart or Fort Pierce, Florida: four to six rigged naked ballyhoo, maybe a squid-chain for a bridge teaser and a dredge off each corner. The secret isn't in the spread; you just need to find the fish.
 
In the winter, when the sails ball up sardines and cigar minnows, the frigate birds act like a beacon for sport-fishing boats. Captains such as Mendillo and Bracher can spot a single bird on the edge of the horizon. But they don't bother with high-flying frigates; they look for birds that are mostly stationary, working with just a few birds in tight bunches. "The frigates holding lower in the sky, just 15 feet or so off the water and not moving much — those are the birds on the sails," Bracher says.
 
Once you happen upon a baitball, you're greeted with a visual thrill that rivals anything you'd see on the Discovery Channel. Packs of 10 or more sails will use their fanning dorsal fins to corral the bait into tight balls and take turns picking away at the frantic baitfish. It's a well-orchestrated dance, and the sardines don't stand a chance. Trolling by the working fish often produces double and triple hookups. 
 
"There are basically two modes, either the fish ball the bait or they don't," Bracher says. "When they're balling bait, you won't get as many catches in between. When they're not balling bait, trolling is a very effective way to pick away at them while you move around, but you always have to be looking."
 
When the bite gets going, the numbers rack up quickly. "Our best day on Keen M was 76 sails trolling baits, but we have since set our limit at 50 releases a day," Mendillo says.
 
As April approaches, the sails move off the grounds northwest of Contoy and can usually be found 10 to 25 miles to the east and northeast of Isla. With a shorter run in the spring, things are a bit more laid-back. Most boats don't leave the dock until 9 a.m., so a night on the town won't necessarily ruin your fishing day. 
 
"If you want 30 or 40 bites a day, go in the winter. But it can get very rough at that time, and you can sleep in a bit in the spring," Doerzbacher says.
 
Whenever you choose to fish Isla, expect to find a dock full of crews that stick to the tradition laid out before them. "It was a group of first-class guys in the early days, and it was a privilege to be part of that," Doerzbacher says. "I'd say the best in world at that point. We just did what we did. We went fishing."