PASSION AND PURPOSE

A singular dream results in an incredible global fishing tour

- DEBORAH HOOD

Mothership operations have existed for nearly 100 years, ever since Zane Grey began traveling to far-flung, exotic destinations aboard a sailing sloop he purchased in 1924 named Fisherman I. He retrofitted the yacht to accommodate two small fishing boats-a 32- and a 25-footer-which rode on deck cradles. Once launched from the larger sloop, the smaller craft offered the agility needed to maneuver on the marlin species he targeted, and the mothership-and-gameboat concept was introduced to the world. Since then, there have been a handful of globe-trotting operations that have traveled the oceans of the world to seek out the very best fishing destinations. A common denominator? The top two would have to be a passion for the sport and the means to successfully pursue it.

Anthony Hsieh has both, but passion has always been the driving force in his fishing career. As a teenager, he purchased a 17-foot Boston Whaler and trailered it from Southern California more than 1,000 miles down the Baja Peninsula to Cabo San Lucas, where he caught his first marlin. Pursuing that love of the game, Hsieh worked as a deckhand on Thunderbird, a charter boat out of California's Newport Beach Landing, catching bait and rigging it for the customers, among the many other usual charter-mate duties. It was on those same docks where he met the captains who would later become lifelong friends and mentors, such as Steve Lassley, who began his fishing career at just 15 years old.