GillBilly Video: Todos Santos Surfing Adventure

A George Blair Video Production

There will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home.
Roderick Haig-Brown

GillBilly Slideshow: Baja Girls Softball Part 3

Even if you've been fishing for three hours and haven't gotten anything except poison ivy and sunburn, you're still better off than the worm.

GillBilly Slideshow: Baja Girls Softball Part 2

Fishing is a... discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish.
Herbert Hoover

GillBilly Slideshow: Baja Girls Softball Part 1

I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there.
Robert Altman

GillBilly Slideshow: Punta Brava Tiger Woods Golf Development Adventure

An angler is a man who spends rainy days sitting around on the muddy banks of rivers doing nothing because his wife won't let him do it at home.

GillBilly Slideshow: Todos Santos Surfing Adventure

All fishermen are liars; it's an occupational disease with them like housemaid's knee or editor's ulcers.
Beatrice Cook

GillBilly Slideshow: Ensenada Baja 1000 Photos

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.
Henry David Thoreau

GillBilly Style Turkey Day Tuna Surprise

Grilled Albacore with Peach Salsa

Tired of all the same board of fare on your plate at Thanksgiving? Do you still have a freezer full of fish from the summer and fall fishing season? How about a surprise for your visiting relatives this year. Southerners might be surprised to learn that California, not Georgia, produces more peaches than any other U.S. state. Oh sure, the South is long on peanuts, but whose ever heard of Goober Salsa? This recipe works well with any fruit in season – whatever looks good in market. The salsa is great on any fish, but GillBilly is partial to pairing it with freshly caught grilled albacore or yellowfin tuna.

Ingredients;

4 servings

4 6 - 8 ounce albacore steaks
olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 medium peaches; skin removed and flesh chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 green onions; white part and about half of the green part, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions: Rub fish with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place on a medium-hot grill for 3 -4 minutes, flip over and cook 1 – 2 minutes more. To prepare salsa, combine remaining ingredients and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. To serve, place fish on plate and spoon salsa over middle half.

Calling fishing a hobby is like calling brain surgery a job.
Paul Schullery

A GillBilly Thanksgiving Wish from Mexico

GillBilly Chronicals: Remembering JFK

GillBilly Chronicals: Olympic swimmer - Oceans need our help

It's no secret that U.S. Olympic swimmer and gold medalist Aaron Peirsol has a deep love for the water. That's why the California native has parlayed his interest — and status as a sports figure — into causes to save our planet's oceans. Here, he talks about environmental awareness, education, and his most recent project, Race for the Oceans.

Q: When did your relationship with the water really begin?

A: I have always had a very natural connection to the water, and that connection stems from the ocean itself. I think a more pertinent question would be “Did I ever not have a relationship with the water?”

Q: Can you give a quick rundown of the ocean/water preservation programs and organizations you’ve been involved with?

A: I began working with Oceana, which is the largest international organization that is dedicated to solving the oceans’ problems, about three years ago. As opposed to spreading themselves thin over many environmental issues, Oceana's decision to solely work on the world's oceans enables them to work toward achieving measurable change by conducting specific, fact-based campaigns with fixed deadlines and articulated goals.

Q: What made you decide to lend your time and effort to these causes? Why oceans?

A: I grew up in an area of a lot of growth, in Orange County, California, and spent most of my youth on the beach. I had witnessed the degradation of our Back Bay and the increased number of closed beach days over the years and had come to my own realization that people should make a stand for the things they love and want to see survive infinite generations.

Q: What are you trying to achieve with your involvement? What do you get out of it, personally?

A: I think the best thing I can hope to achieve is to educate, or make aware, as many people as possible on how the little things they do every day really do affect our environment, and how easy it is to fix some of those things. Bringing a canvas bag to the grocery store is a simple and incredibly effective solution. So is being aware of what you dump in your storm drains. Other things include knowing which fish you buy at the store are sustainable. It's no secret our fish populations are dwindling more every year.

Q: What made you decide to become a spokesperson for Oceana?

A: I was incredibly impressed with their scope of what they could do on the international level for conservation. The fact that they used lobbying as a tool to get their message across also seemed extremely effective. And they were really receptive to me when I came to them and asked what I could do to help.

Q: What’s happening to the Earth’s oceans? Why is it so important to save them?

A: It's a case of many oceans around the world being degraded by negligence. The ocean is the lifeblood of our world. If we were to lose our fish that we appreciate so much by overfishing; or if we were to lose some of our favorite beaches to overbuilding and pollution, then how would we feel? It's become a case of not knowing what you've got until it's gone. But by no means is it too late. We can still maintain our coasts and oceans for the generations to come, who deserve what we have.

Q: What needs to happen to clean them up? What can the average person do to help?

A: I believe it's a matter of collective involvement. What I said about the little things making a big difference; I believe that to be very true. I’m a part of a program called Toyota’s Engines of Change Program. The message is that anyone can make a difference in their community or for whatever cause they feel strongly about. Everyone can be an Engine of Change.

For me, I work with Oceana to help save the oceans. But anyone can help. The canvas bags at the grocery market; the buying of sustainable fish at the market; and even the knowledge that every river does lead to an ocean. It really is the easy things that can add up to be a lot. They don't cost a lot of money, just a little time, and a willingness to make a change. It doesn't matter that you live in Oklahoma or Iowa; everyone has a profound effect on the ocean, and the environment in general. Recycling seems easy enough, but here in Austin we only just received recycling bins large enough to take all of our recyclables. There is still a long way to go.

Q: Your Race for the Oceans event just happened last weekend (congrats!). What was the goal of the event, and how did it turn out?

A: On top of just being able to spend a long weekend at Fort Myers Beach, the goal was to raise awareness of the state of our oceans, which I do feel looks incredibly promising. The Lee County government and their sports commission supported this event and helped us get it off the ground. That was a wonderful partnership for us and I can’t say enough great things about their support for this cause and this event. And sponsors like PureSport and B of A [Bank of America], who truly cared about this cause, made all the difference in the world. They had volunteers there to help and made donations to the cause. Truly those supports made all this possible, and hopefully will help us continue for many years to come. With this past weekend being the inaugural event, and it going as well as it did, I think that maybe I can make a positive impact on a much larger scale. The folks that showed up for the event and even the ones just on the beach seemed real receptive to the cause.

Q: Do you think your celebrity status has helped get your message out?

A: The original goal was to get the swimming community involved in the event as much as possible, and I think that my past accolades have helped a bit in that regard. Nonetheless, I think people would be receptive to this cause regardless. The folks at my Race for the Oceans last weekend seemed quite enthusiastic about the event and the cause it represents, to the point where it reinvigorates me to continue to make a difference.

Q: What’s next for you, as an activist? As an athlete?

A: This was only the first Race for the Oceans, and I hope and plan to have many more. As an athlete, I'll be wet, and I’ll be back in the water soon enough to train.

A scene from Peirsol's Race for the Oceans event at Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.

If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.
Doug Larson

GillBilly Style Catfish Wrap with Avocado and Tomato Salsa

How you cook the fish is your call, but GillBilly prefers the smoky flavor of grilled fish. However you decide to cook it, just don’t cook it too long! The coleslaw makes it cool, creamy and crunchy.

The biggest tortillas you can find work best. If all you can locate are smaller ones, allow two per person and go easy on the stuffing.

Ingredients

4 servings

1 1/2 pounds catfish fillets

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon pepper

1 lemon, juice only

1 lime, juice only

2 cups prepared coleslaw (I like the creamy kind)

hot sauce, Tabasco, etc.

1 cup shredded cheddar and Jack cheeses

4 large warm flour tortillas

Avocado and Tomato Salsa

2 ripe, but firm avocados, peeled and diced

2 limes, juice only

1 cup cherry or pear tomatoes, halved and drained (toss gently in a colander)

1/4 cup red onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

Combine ingredients in a bowl and toss gently.

Instructions

Rub fish with olive oil and lemon pepper. Grill or cook in a hot well-oiled pan until just done. While cooking, squeeze lemon and lime juice over fish. To prepare wraps, lay out a warm tortilla and put cooked fish along the bottom third of the tortilla, leaving about 2 inches of space between the fish and the bottom edge of the tortilla. Stuffing ingredients must be flat, not mounded. Spoon some coleslaw onto the fish, add a dash or two of hot sauce and top with cheese. Spoon some of the salsa onto the cheese. Fold the bottom edge over the stuffing and fold one of the sides over towards the center to keep the stuffing from falling out. Continue rolling snugly from the bottom and serve with additional salsa on the side.

I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there.

Robert Altman