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Victory at sea for Bad Dog as Ensenada's own hunts albacore
BY ROBIN WADE/WON Staff WriterPublished: Jun 22, 2009
ENSENADA— Fishing out of Ensenada, last week Bad Dog raised its first albacore flag when angler Joseph Carter reeled in a small tuna. Starting out at The Gap for squid, Berkley Pro's Elite Captain Steve “Bad Dog” Ross took his wife Gail, Joseph "Wahoo" Carter and first mate Juan Lu on an over-nighter they're not likely to forget anytime soon.
"We departed the marina at 4 p.m. with three scoops of a sardine/mackerel mix and headed for The Gap with the GPS recording the up and down of the bottom structure until I found the 900-foot deep canyon. Immediately, I found the Humboldt squid hovering at 500 feet and we lowered one squid lure down with the intention of hurting Joseph's arms," Ross said.
Bahia de Todos Santos had very green 59-degree water that day with light winds blowing at about 5 knots but building as the day progressed. "In about 10 minutes he got hooked up to a freight train and he surrendered the rod butt to its holder and let the swell raise the squid. It must have taken him 20 minutes to get this 35 pounder onto the deck. He dropped down again, to a final deck count of six and we took off at 7 p.m. heading for The Bumps for some first of the year albacore trolling with the fleet," Ross said. The 80-mile journey took them until first light, after taking turns at the wheel for naps.
"I began trolling Vanian's 976BITE numbers and found a concentration of albacore. There were many of them at 500 feet deep. The whole screen was full of albacore down below to 1,000 feet but I didn't meter any kind of food for them to eat. As I worked my way onto the high spots, the fish began to thin out so I headed west and at 7 a.m. an albacore inhaled a black feather with a double hook rigged in my special daisy chain fashion (two smaller lures in front of the larger hooked lure and a Moldcraft bird leading the chain). I was trolling seven lures rigged that way."
Carter grabbed the hooked up rod while first mate Juan Lu and Ross's wife reeled in the other lines. That one was put on ice and the rest of the day was spent dragging around in the bluest of blue offshore waters at 63 degrees in vain, as the winds increased. "Nothing like being 90 miles offshore and watching the weather get worse with white caps and swells increasing in size, and their intervals getting shorter," Ross said.
As the day progressed, San Diego's Royal Star showed up and three hours later the Shogun showed up as well. "We began our return home sail at 3 p.m. as now it had become rough, choppy, and plain old bad weather." As day turned into night, Ross maintained his heading with two other boats as targets on his radar screen and the Reel Love (with 4 albacore onboard and a 28-pound yellowtail) picking up the rear 15 miles behind him. Clouds hid the moonlight as they progressed at 9 knots, crashing through swells he never saw. "I was glued to the radar with the Punta Banda rocks as my destination on my GPS. The boat behind me didn't return my call but cinched up tight on my radar to the rear of me, and the guy on the right of me began cruising closer and closer to me with no answer on the radio either as the three of us just focused on our headings to the Rocks," he said.
Ross arrived back in their slip at midnight. "A boat called the Predator had also just arrived (father and son in a 40-plus footer) and they told me of their perilous trip with waves coming over the top. Two hours later I found myself in my trailer with legs that could barely carry me one more step," Ross said. For their efforts, they caught 1 albacore and 6 squid. The next day he said the wind came up again and he was sure it was Victory At Sea conditions again.
Sticking closer to port, Jay Johnson and his friend Rick Martinez from San Diego fished the outcroppings this past week with plastics on 15- and 20-pound test line on the Vonny 1 finding 7 monster calico to 8 pounds. On single hook dropper loops with anchovies and squid, they caught reds, lings, and treefish.
"On Tuesday Chuck Beck fished on the Vonny I with Beto with bottom rigs and managed plenty of good taco meat, reds, lings, etc. And on Wednesday "Calico" Brian Foley from Campo La Joya fished on the Vonny IV with Hector, they were hot on lings weighing from 5 to 10 pounds on white/scampi tails," said Ivan Villarino from Vonny's Fleet.
Swine Flu renegades hit Cedros Island
-- CEDROS ISLAND: Returning from a recent trip here, anglers traveling with Cedros OUTDOOR Adventures (www.cedrosoutdooradventures.com) discovered that the fishing season on Cedros Island was in full swing. Enjoying nearly perfect weather, Swine Flu renegades Barney Gatlin and Ricardo Barbera from Piru, CA caught an abundance of choice gamefish including viejas, bonitos, calico, and lots of yellowtail. 
"Not long after we departed on Lalo Mata and his son Javier's new 28-foot panga near the arroyo Limantour on the eastern coast, we got a couple of nice yellowtail (36 and 27 pounds), and a 4-pound calico, said Jose Angel.
"On the second day we departed at 7 a.m., and decided to try the southwestern side of the island, by Bajo de San Agustin. There, we fished on the kelp beds for calico bass and vieja. After a few hours we headed back to the eastern side of the island, following the birds to score several bonitos, a big blanco, some calico, and a couple of yellowtails of up to 20 pounds. It was a very diverse catch using Rapalas provided by the local fishing store (this small store has hand-selected items that are known to work locally). That night back at the hotel restaurant, the cooks grilled some of our fresh yellowtail for us," Angel said.
Their last day of fishing was a yellowtail bonanza, with several simultaneous bites at Arroyo Limantour and San Carlos. "Hitting the water early with today’s captain Ricardo Aguilar, the anglers were amazed to find themselves snagging one yellowtail about every 15 minutes for practically the whole morning between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Some were over 25 pounds, some were kept, some released, and a few escaped, but the experience was intense, and gratifying with a final haul of more than 80 pounds of prime yellowtail filet," he said. That night’s dinner featured Cedros Island abalone prepared sashimi-style and also as escabeche with onions, lime and cilantro.
The wind was mild on this trip, with only a bit of fog early in the morning on the southwest side of the island. Water temperatures ranged between 60 and 65 degrees. "The west and south side of the island were easy to navigate and fish. Calico were biting freely in the kelp beds and the yellowtail were moving around the island, it was a great trip. Our best catches were off the eastern shore and in general, not far from the town of Cedros."
Cedros OUTDOOR Adventures’ provides all-inclusive guided fishing packages affording safe, comfortable, and easy traveling. "We fly you there, so you can fish that same day. This is not only a business; we proudly support the local economy by partnering withy them and using local services and products," Angel said.
In other Baja fishing action:
-- CABO SAN LUCAS: Despite higher water temperatures this past week, billfishing was still not as consistent as anglers would have liked it to be. Pisces anglers did however; have an 87 percent success rate and 33 percent of the charters were able to catch striped marlin and 1 sailfish though. Fishing locations switched back and forth between Destiladeras up past Punta Gorda on the Cortez side, to just a few miles offshore on the pacific just beyond the arch of Cabo.
The C Rod was top marlin boat for the Pisces Fleet with three released, plus two 20-pound tuna. "They fished just four miles off of Land’s End, with the marlin caught on live bait (caballito) and the tuna on blue and white lures," said Tracy Ehrenberg from the fleet. Another boat that did well was the La Brisa with 2 marlin per day on days fished. Other catches this past week for the fleet included a mix of 1 marlin, plus a dorado or two with a smattering of tuna. "Pisces anglers caught a total of 18 striped marlin and sailfish, with all but the sail released," Ehrenberg said.
"Dorado were the most plentiful sport fish in the waters off Cabo, which was great, as they are great eating and are currently of good size, with fish over 40 pounds not uncommon. Dorado of the week, was caught aboard the Adriana by Derek Smedley from Mucknall, England, weighing in at just under 60 pounds, he also released a striped marlin," she said. Fifty-six percent of her charters caught doardo ranging in size from 20 to 45 pounds and numbers were between one and five fish.
Tuna catches were the best they have been in a while, with thirty-six percent of the Pisces boats catching between one and three fish in the 18- to 25-pound class.
Reporting for the Gaviota Sportfishing Fleet and Fish Cabo Flee, Larry Edwards said
Roberto Marquez, Jr., (son of the owner of the Fish Cabo Fleet) landed the fleet's first verifiable blue marlin for the season while fishing aboard the Tuna Time with Captain Christian Lopez.
In addition to the small blue marlin, the group of angling friends also released a
striper, landed a couple of dorado and a few yellowfin, all within just a few miles of the Cabo San Lucas Harbor," Edwards said. The blue, taken just outside the drop-off at Cabeza Ballena, weighed-in at about 170 pounds, as it had inhaled an artificial and was unable to be released.
-- EAST CAPE: Congratulations go out to Team Awesome out of Baja's Awesome Sportfishing and East Cape RV Resort for winning the Let’s Talk Hook-Up Tournament held at Rancho Leonero this past week. Awesome's Capt. Filiberto ‘Fili’ and Marinero Marco Antonio showed their client Chris Kugel and his friends, including Hector Lopez of the San Diego Rod & Reel Club, what East Cape fishing is all about. A fun and unique tournament, teams report totals from their best two out of three days.
"Awesome caught our first blue marlin of the season, weighing in at 350 pounds, our first sailfish of the season, a big, beautiful, blue dorado, and then finished off the day with 12 roosters. The second day found the Awesome offshore and into a long awaited, highly anticipated, plentiful school of tuna, 12 tuna were in the boat when not one but two 100-pound hungry monsters competed for the anglers’ single bait. The thought of the evenings’ sashimi kept the anglers happy through the grueling two-hour fight when at the leader, bam, snap, and the big mean tuna monster returned to the deep. Satisfied with the 12 samples in the boat, the team was still happy," said Theresa Comber from Baja's Awesome Sportfishing.
Reporting for hotels Palmas De Cortez, Playa Del, Punta Colorada, and the Villas De Cortez, Eddie Dalmau said this past week the fishing seemed to have slowed down just a bit. "We are still seeing lots of marlin but the numbers on the other species have fallen of just a bit. The good news is that the fish that are coming in are big. One guest landed 5 dorado and released another five. The five that came in were all over 43 pounds.
Most of the good fishing was to the north of Palmas De Cortez, where guests found some nice dorado, roosters, cabrilla, and even a few sierra. "The one species that is in full swing are the billfish. One guest went for the grand slam (striped marlin, sail fish, and blue marlin) in one day, but fell short when his blue marlin broke off after only a one minute fight.”
Mike Rieser of Baja Fly-fishing Co. said the fishing season is reaching a state of maturity as indicated by the first topical depression forming to the south of us. "Our fly-fishing clients landed some dorado earlier in the week, with the numbers dropping in the last few days," he said.
"The roosterfish are here with some large ones among the schools. The catching, as always, with roosters has been challenging. The beach is producing a few roosters with lots of larger fish cruising the first wave trough," Rieser said.
Gary Graham of Baja on the Fly said the offshore action is all happening, according to an IM received from Mark Rayor of Vista Sea Sport. "Marlin and good sized dorado are biting and from 25 to 50 miles the porpoise are holding schools of yellowfin tuna to 30 pounds with a few fatties above 50 pounds mixed in," Graham said.
-- LA PAZ: If you were looking for dorado come here, as that was the predominantly hot biter this week for both of Tailhunter Las Arenas and Tailhunter La Paz fleets. "There were bunches of fish as well as scattered fish under patches or areas of sargasso weed or under any floating structure such as buoys or floating debris.
Sometimes, the best way to get them was trolling feathers, but also slowly dragging a nice messy slab of bonito generated some vicious strikes from big bulls or marlin which were also in the area eating bait as well as smaller dorado. Once you got the boat hooked up, then throw bait and hopefully the school comes charging said Tailhunter International's owner Jonathan Roldan.
-- LORETO: WON reader Don Bear said dorado fishing here this past week had been uneven, as schools were frequently located, but not frequently enough to be called a sure thing. "Billfish, especially sailfish, were present in great numbers and virtually a sure thing. Sardina were easily netted in or around the marina, while mackerel and jurelitos were obtained within a couple of miles of town, but with some effort to fill the bait tank."
Water temperatures are increasing, with a range of 81 to 83 degrees early in the week, rising to 83 and 84 degrees as the week progressed. Many days were breezy, with white capping conditions and a confused 3- to 4-foot chop while other days were flat calm.
"I fished with Capitan Martinez and others on my World Cat on Saturday, Monday, and Thursday with a total 3-day catch of 20 dorado (all in excess of 10 pounds and up to 25 pounds), 3 sailfish, and 1 striped marlin. Saturday and Thursday saw uncomfortable chop, while Monday was beautiful," Bear said.
"On Monday, neighbors John and Howard Moorers joined us. A slow day turned hot at 11:30 when we spotted a log that held a school of 20-pounders, of which 11 were caught before the fish suddenly disappeared. On Thursday another neighbor Kent Baker and his guests from Escondido, Don Heller and sons Austin and Ryan, were onboard for a very slow day. The highlight was a double hookup with a sailfish and a striped marlin; both of which were tagged and released by Heller (sailfish) and son Austin (marlin). All 3 days we fished about 20 miles into the NE quadrant from Isla Coronado, covering the Bajo de Boyas and the Bajo de Pta. Lobos."
-- MAGDALENA BAY: Small yellows had a field day under the bird schools at the Entrada, but the afternoon winds make for a wet bumpy ride home according to Gary Graham of Baja on the Fly.
"While the winds continued to rip on the outside, preventing anyone from fishing the dorado or small tuna that have shown up, the grouper remain on the chew, still nothing gigantic but fun fishing anyway. A snook here and there can be found and the halibut are off the sand beaches at Belchers," he said.
-- SAN FELIPE & NORTHERN SEA OF CORTEZ: Tom Ward from The Longfin said Tony Reyes's boat the Jose Andres returned Friday evening from a 6-day charter led by Chartermaster Jeff Clary from Santa Ana, CA with 16 anglers.
"Their catch included 252 yellowtail to 27 pounds, 3 grouper to 101 pounds, 2 black sea bass to 240 pounds, 2 white sea bass to 20 pounds, 55 cabrilla weighing up to 16 pounds, 20 giant squid to 35 pounds, 48 red snapper to 14 pounds, 2 broomtail grouper, 18 sheepshead, 349 bass, 2 sharks, and 20 miscellaneous fish. They also released 86 fish," he said.
-- SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS): Ocean conditions varied this past week, some winds out of the north and south, water temperatures varied from 73 degrees on the Pacific to as high as 88 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. The cleanest blue water was now being found to the north of Punta Gorda.
"Most of the fishing action is now centered on the areas from the Gordo Banks, La Fortuna, Iman, and from San Luis to Vinorama. There have been good supplies of mullet and caballito, but sardina continue to be scarce. The fishing grounds have had increased concentrations of bolito, which proved to be very productive baitfish for a variety of gamefish," said Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas.
The inshore fishing was mainly for smaller roosterfish and a few other species of jacks, but with the lack of smaller baitfish, most charters concentrated on the offshore fishing grounds, although most of the time they have been within a few miles of shore.
"Dorado have increased in numbers, but it is still has not been a wide open bite and has been unpredictable as where they are being found from day to day. The sizes have ranged from juveniles up to 50-pound bulls and the fish have been striking lures and various baits with similar percentages. Trolling with live or dead bolito has produced some of the larger specimens. Most charters are accounting for a couple of dorado, sometimes many more than that. It's important to practice catch and release with smaller dorado, especially the smaller females," he said.
Brictson said yellowfin tuna are being seen breezing with traveling porpoise, but more often they have not been interested in striking. "Some yellowfin were taken by blind strikes, but still with no consistency. We look for these fish to become much more prevalent as the summer season gets into full swing."
As water temperatures dropped back down from 88 to about 82 degrees around the areas from San Luis to Vinorama in the last couple of days this has triggered the elusive wahoo to become more active. Anglers targeting these speedsters with the properly rigged terminal tackle, mainly higher speed trolling lures such as Rapalas and skirted lead heads, reported having multiple strikes and the fish that were landed weighed in the 20- to 40-pound range.
The billfish action improved in recent days, despite the warmer water there were good numbers of striped marlin hanging around, striking on trolling lures and baits, particularly eager to strike on bolito. Said Brictson, "A black marlin that was estimated to weigh close to 500 pounds was hooked into on the Outer Gordo Bank by panga skipper Jesus Pino, who along with his clients battled the fish for a couple hours before passing it off to his brother Chame Pino on another super panga, they were using 50-pound main line and a 100-pound fluorocarbon leader, after fighting the monster for five hours they had it right at the panga but it was still too strong, it went back down deep, then after applying maximum pressure in a win or lose deal they had it back to the boat and ended up breaking the line right at the knot. Oh well, the fish lived to fight another day and it made for a great fish story."
The combined panga fleets launching from the La Playita and Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out 44 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a total fish count of 7 yellowfin tuna, 55 dorado, 8 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 13 amberjack, 21 various pargo species, 2 golden jack, 3 island jack, 18 jack crevalle, 8 cabrilla, 4 sierra, 12 bonito, 3 yellowtail, 17 wahoo and 28 roosterfish.
-- SAN QUINTIN: Capt. Juan Cook found some albacore 32 miles of the point just out side the famed Tuna Hole. "I'm sorry I have to say this but yes, they were the first of the year. My friends from Los Vegas, Larry Hanson, and Mark Edison brought Hanson's new World Cat 33-foot boat to fish in San Quintin," Cook said. 
"We went looking for albacore at the 304 spot and trolled for a few miles and found nothing so we decided to go to the Tuna Hole. We started trolling 2 miles before the spot and found fish 2 miles past it. There was a huge area of fish feeding and boiling all around and flying fish were flying out of the water, it was awesome. We hooked 12 and landed 9 tuna. The big ones were I'm guessing 23 pounds and the rest in the 18- to 20-pound range.
Readers: To have your reports included in the Baja report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com.
MAINLAND MEXICO FISHING REPORT
Strike out or strike it rich San Carlos's Tortuga Island increases the odds
--SAN CARLOS (SONORA): It was a week of mixed results in San Carlos as some boats were striking out, while others were striking it rich. Definitely getting closer to Tortuga Island increased anglers odds of good dorado fishing. A dead whale provided excellent action for two days and the reef running southeast of San Pedro was still holding some dorado under frigates.
"Dorado farther out were being caught under floating debris, long lines, or just out there chasing flying fish, as good schools of bait are starting to show up," said Bryan Replogle for Team Margarita.
"We passed at least a half dozen marlin one day in the 150- to 200-pound range with not a one showing interest. We were a little south of everyone else at a 160- to 190-degree heading. At about 25 to 30 miles out we passed several individual and pairs of sails. Each time we hooked up we'd landing two out of four. With the water warming now (81 to 83 degrees) they should show up in greater numbers. Hopefully the marlin will start biting too, which some have. We also spotted sails within a mile, where the bait is starting to get thick," he said.
"Unusually, there has been a good bite for bonita in close from Doble Point to San Antonio and some decent sierra have also been mixed in. One boat that I know of went bottom fishing in 280 feet of water with great results," Replogle said.
Replogle said there was plenty of other marine life out there as well. "We easily spotted 100 whales the other day. They started breaching and getting very active in the afternoon. The dolphin were all around, and even some marlin were jumping (or trying to get out of the way) of the large pods."
In other mainland Mexico fishing action:
— PUERTO VALLARTA: Sean Martin of PV Sportfishing said everything is out there right now. The bigger blue marlin have moved in and the sailfish have thinned out but are still there along with nice 50- to 140-pound yellowfin tuna.
"The crew tagged and released 9 blue marlin last week and boated two. The average size was 300 or maybe 350 pounds but the biggest one we caught was 446 pounds," Marin said. "The dorado are also growing in number and size, 30- to 60-pound dorado have found a nice feeding ground about 20 miles north of El Morro."
Martin said they are gearing up for the third annual marlin and tuna tournament this Aug. 13-15 with a $10,000 grand prize. For more information contact them at info@puertovallartafish.com.
--- CANCUN TO COZUMEL AREA: Fleet Manager Armando Gutierrez, reporting for the Marina El Cid said reports in for 8 fishing trips included 1 blue marlin, 3 dorado, 5 king mackerel, 2 barracuda, 7 triggerfish, and 7 red snappers. "Seven of the eight trips were short, 4-hour fishing trips in nearby waters. Anglers continue to be nowhere in sight," he said.
Sea temperatures are holding stable at 84 degrees with light tropical surface breezes to 12 knots. Rigged ballyhoo continues to be the bait of choice for all of the area's species.
-- IXTAPA-ZIHUATANEJO FISH: According to Captain Temo Verboonen, the tuna and marlin have all but disappeared from the area, but the sailfish are making a showing
within two miles of the entrance to Zihuatanejo Bay. "The rainbow runners are biting well, along with dorado around the Morro de Potosi or white rocks," said Larry Edwards, reporting for the Independent Sportfishing Fleet.
The roosterfish bite has gained momentum in the mouth of the Valentin River, 15 miles south of Zihuatanejo and there are also big schools of bonito and jack cravelle. "The roosters are mixing in with the jacks in the deeper water and the live bonito are working well in the Z-wing downriggers. Still, very few boats fishing the area right now, making it more difficult to keep track of the fish," Edwards said.
"The 84-degree blue water is just a couple of miles off the beach. The big surprise this week was that most of the sailfish being caught were in the 'not so clean' water, only about one mile off the beach," said fly-fishing guide Ed Kunze. "The fish counts are reflecting only a 1 or 2 sailfish per boat per day average, but the numbers are misleading. Within the first few minutes after leaving Zihuatanejo Bay, most of the boats have passed right by the fish," he said. Ben and Austin Gaffney of NC fished with Santiago on the panga Gitana, releasing 3 sailfish, and 3 small dorado.
"Roosterfish action is still very good. Jay Eshbach, fishing with Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos, took 3 roosters and a couple of dorado," Kunze said.
— MAZATLAN: Reporting for The Aries Sportfishing Fleet, Larry Edwards said dorado counts continue to explode in Mazatlan, with every boat reporting limits of dorado and numerous releases at the shark buoys.
Dorado were eager for anything that goes in the water, live bait, strip bait, cut bait, streamers, feathers, in general, if it moves, it gets bit. Sailfish preferred the rigged trolling baits.
Readers: To have your reports included in the Mexico report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com.
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ENSENADA— Fishing out of Ensenada, last week Bad Dog raised its first albacore flag when angler Joseph Carter reeled in a small tuna. Starting out at The Gap for squid, Berkley Pro's Elite Captain Steve “Bad Dog” Ross took his wife Gail, Joseph "Wahoo" Carter and first mate Juan Lu on an over-nighter they're not likely to forget anytime soon.
"We departed the marina at 4 p.m. with three scoops of a sardine/mackerel mix and headed for The Gap with the GPS recording the up and down of the bottom structure until I found the 900-foot deep canyon. Immediately, I found the Humboldt squid hovering at 500 feet and we lowered one squid lure down with the intention of hurting Joseph's arms," Ross said. Bahia de Todos Santos had very green 59-degree water that day with light winds blowing at about 5 knots but building as the day progressed. "In about 10 minutes he got hooked up to a freight train and he surrendered the rod butt to its holder and let the swell raise the squid. It must have taken him 20 minutes to get this 35 pounder onto the deck. He dropped down again, to a final deck count of six and we took off at 7 p.m. heading for The Bumps for some first of the year albacore trolling with the fleet," Ross said. The 80-mile journey took them until first light, after taking turns at the wheel for naps. "I began trolling Vanian's 976BITE numbers and found a concentration of albacore. There were many of them at 500 feet deep. The whole screen was full of albacore down below to 1,000 feet but I didn't meter any kind of food for them to eat. As I worked my way onto the high spots, the fish began to thin out so I headed west and at 7 a.m. an albacore inhaled a black feather with a double hook rigged in my special daisy chain fashion (two smaller lures in front of the larger hooked lure and a Moldcraft bird leading the chain). I was trolling seven lures rigged that way." Carter grabbed the hooked up rod while first mate Juan Lu and Ross's wife reeled in the other lines. That one was put on ice and the rest of the day was spent dragging around in the bluest of blue offshore waters at 63 degrees in vain, as the winds increased. "Nothing like being 90 miles offshore and watching the weather get worse with white caps and swells increasing in size, and their intervals getting shorter," Ross said. As the day progressed, San Diego's Royal Star showed up and three hours later the Shogun showed up as well. "We began our return home sail at 3 p.m. as now it had become rough, choppy, and plain old bad weather." As day turned into night, Ross maintained his heading with two other boats as targets on his radar screen and the Reel Love (with 4 albacore onboard and a 28-pound yellowtail) picking up the rear 15 miles behind him. Clouds hid the moonlight as they progressed at 9 knots, crashing through swells he never saw. "I was glued to the radar with the Punta Banda rocks as my destination on my GPS. The boat behind me didn't return my call but cinched up tight on my radar to the rear of me, and the guy on the right of me began cruising closer and closer to me with no answer on the radio either as the three of us just focused on our headings to the Rocks," he said. Ross arrived back in their slip at midnight. "A boat called the Predator had also just arrived (father and son in a 40-plus footer) and they told me of their perilous trip with waves coming over the top. Two hours later I found myself in my trailer with legs that could barely carry me one more step," Ross said. For their efforts, they caught 1 albacore and 6 squid. The next day he said the wind came up again and he was sure it was Victory At Sea conditions again. Sticking closer to port, Jay Johnson and his friend Rick Martinez from San Diego fished the outcroppings this past week with plastics on 15- and 20-pound test line on the Vonny 1 finding 7 monster calico to 8 pounds. On single hook dropper loops with anchovies and squid, they caught reds, lings, and treefish. "On Tuesday Chuck Beck fished on the Vonny I with Beto with bottom rigs and managed plenty of good taco meat, reds, lings, etc. And on Wednesday "Calico" Brian Foley from Campo La Joya fished on the Vonny IV with Hector, they were hot on lings weighing from 5 to 10 pounds on white/scampi tails," said Ivan Villarino from Vonny's Fleet. Swine Flu renegades hit Cedros Island -- CEDROS ISLAND: Returning from a recent trip here, anglers traveling with Cedros OUTDOOR Adventures (www.cedrosoutdooradventures.com) discovered that the fishing season on Cedros Island was in full swing. Enjoying nearly perfect weather, Swine Flu renegades Barney Gatlin and Ricardo Barbera from Piru, CA caught an abundance of choice gamefish including viejas, bonitos, calico, and lots of yellowtail. "Not long after we departed on Lalo Mata and his son Javier's new 28-foot panga near the arroyo Limantour on the eastern coast, we got a couple of nice yellowtail (36 and 27 pounds), and a 4-pound calico, said Jose Angel. "On the second day we departed at 7 a.m., and decided to try the southwestern side of the island, by Bajo de San Agustin. There, we fished on the kelp beds for calico bass and vieja. After a few hours we headed back to the eastern side of the island, following the birds to score several bonitos, a big blanco, some calico, and a couple of yellowtails of up to 20 pounds. It was a very diverse catch using Rapalas provided by the local fishing store (this small store has hand-selected items that are known to work locally). That night back at the hotel restaurant, the cooks grilled some of our fresh yellowtail for us," Angel said. Their last day of fishing was a yellowtail bonanza, with several simultaneous bites at Arroyo Limantour and San Carlos. "Hitting the water early with today’s captain Ricardo Aguilar, the anglers were amazed to find themselves snagging one yellowtail about every 15 minutes for practically the whole morning between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Some were over 25 pounds, some were kept, some released, and a few escaped, but the experience was intense, and gratifying with a final haul of more than 80 pounds of prime yellowtail filet," he said. That night’s dinner featured Cedros Island abalone prepared sashimi-style and also as escabeche with onions, lime and cilantro. The wind was mild on this trip, with only a bit of fog early in the morning on the southwest side of the island. Water temperatures ranged between 60 and 65 degrees. "The west and south side of the island were easy to navigate and fish. Calico were biting freely in the kelp beds and the yellowtail were moving around the island, it was a great trip. Our best catches were off the eastern shore and in general, not far from the town of Cedros." Cedros OUTDOOR Adventures’ provides all-inclusive guided fishing packages affording safe, comfortable, and easy traveling. "We fly you there, so you can fish that same day. This is not only a business; we proudly support the local economy by partnering withy them and using local services and products," Angel said. In other Baja fishing action: -- CABO SAN LUCAS: Despite higher water temperatures this past week, billfishing was still not as consistent as anglers would have liked it to be. Pisces anglers did however; have an 87 percent success rate and 33 percent of the charters were able to catch striped marlin and 1 sailfish though. Fishing locations switched back and forth between Destiladeras up past Punta Gorda on the Cortez side, to just a few miles offshore on the pacific just beyond the arch of Cabo. The C Rod was top marlin boat for the Pisces Fleet with three released, plus two 20-pound tuna. "They fished just four miles off of Land’s End, with the marlin caught on live bait (caballito) and the tuna on blue and white lures," said Tracy Ehrenberg from the fleet. Another boat that did well was the La Brisa with 2 marlin per day on days fished. Other catches this past week for the fleet included a mix of 1 marlin, plus a dorado or two with a smattering of tuna. "Pisces anglers caught a total of 18 striped marlin and sailfish, with all but the sail released," Ehrenberg said. "Dorado were the most plentiful sport fish in the waters off Cabo, which was great, as they are great eating and are currently of good size, with fish over 40 pounds not uncommon. Dorado of the week, was caught aboard the Adriana by Derek Smedley from Mucknall, England, weighing in at just under 60 pounds, he also released a striped marlin," she said. Fifty-six percent of her charters caught doardo ranging in size from 20 to 45 pounds and numbers were between one and five fish. Tuna catches were the best they have been in a while, with thirty-six percent of the Pisces boats catching between one and three fish in the 18- to 25-pound class. Reporting for the Gaviota Sportfishing Fleet and Fish Cabo Flee, Larry Edwards said Roberto Marquez, Jr., (son of the owner of the Fish Cabo Fleet) landed the fleet's first verifiable blue marlin for the season while fishing aboard the Tuna Time with Captain Christian Lopez. In addition to the small blue marlin, the group of angling friends also released a striper, landed a couple of dorado and a few yellowfin, all within just a few miles of the Cabo San Lucas Harbor," Edwards said. The blue, taken just outside the drop-off at Cabeza Ballena, weighed-in at about 170 pounds, as it had inhaled an artificial and was unable to be released. -- EAST CAPE: Congratulations go out to Team Awesome out of Baja's Awesome Sportfishing and East Cape RV Resort for winning the Let’s Talk Hook-Up Tournament held at Rancho Leonero this past week. Awesome's Capt. Filiberto ‘Fili’ and Marinero Marco Antonio showed their client Chris Kugel and his friends, including Hector Lopez of the San Diego Rod & Reel Club, what East Cape fishing is all about. A fun and unique tournament, teams report totals from their best two out of three days. "Awesome caught our first blue marlin of the season, weighing in at 350 pounds, our first sailfish of the season, a big, beautiful, blue dorado, and then finished off the day with 12 roosters. The second day found the Awesome offshore and into a long awaited, highly anticipated, plentiful school of tuna, 12 tuna were in the boat when not one but two 100-pound hungry monsters competed for the anglers’ single bait. The thought of the evenings’ sashimi kept the anglers happy through the grueling two-hour fight when at the leader, bam, snap, and the big mean tuna monster returned to the deep. Satisfied with the 12 samples in the boat, the team was still happy," said Theresa Comber from Baja's Awesome Sportfishing. Reporting for hotels Palmas De Cortez, Playa Del, Punta Colorada, and the Villas De Cortez, Eddie Dalmau said this past week the fishing seemed to have slowed down just a bit. "We are still seeing lots of marlin but the numbers on the other species have fallen of just a bit. The good news is that the fish that are coming in are big. One guest landed 5 dorado and released another five. The five that came in were all over 43 pounds. Most of the good fishing was to the north of Palmas De Cortez, where guests found some nice dorado, roosters, cabrilla, and even a few sierra. "The one species that is in full swing are the billfish. One guest went for the grand slam (striped marlin, sail fish, and blue marlin) in one day, but fell short when his blue marlin broke off after only a one minute fight.” Mike Rieser of Baja Fly-fishing Co. said the fishing season is reaching a state of maturity as indicated by the first topical depression forming to the south of us. "Our fly-fishing clients landed some dorado earlier in the week, with the numbers dropping in the last few days," he said. "The roosterfish are here with some large ones among the schools. The catching, as always, with roosters has been challenging. The beach is producing a few roosters with lots of larger fish cruising the first wave trough," Rieser said. Gary Graham of Baja on the Fly said the offshore action is all happening, according to an IM received from Mark Rayor of Vista Sea Sport. "Marlin and good sized dorado are biting and from 25 to 50 miles the porpoise are holding schools of yellowfin tuna to 30 pounds with a few fatties above 50 pounds mixed in," Graham said. -- LA PAZ: If you were looking for dorado come here, as that was the predominantly hot biter this week for both of Tailhunter Las Arenas and Tailhunter La Paz fleets. "There were bunches of fish as well as scattered fish under patches or areas of sargasso weed or under any floating structure such as buoys or floating debris. Sometimes, the best way to get them was trolling feathers, but also slowly dragging a nice messy slab of bonito generated some vicious strikes from big bulls or marlin which were also in the area eating bait as well as smaller dorado. Once you got the boat hooked up, then throw bait and hopefully the school comes charging said Tailhunter International's owner Jonathan Roldan. -- LORETO: WON reader Don Bear said dorado fishing here this past week had been uneven, as schools were frequently located, but not frequently enough to be called a sure thing. "Billfish, especially sailfish, were present in great numbers and virtually a sure thing. Sardina were easily netted in or around the marina, while mackerel and jurelitos were obtained within a couple of miles of town, but with some effort to fill the bait tank." Water temperatures are increasing, with a range of 81 to 83 degrees early in the week, rising to 83 and 84 degrees as the week progressed. Many days were breezy, with white capping conditions and a confused 3- to 4-foot chop while other days were flat calm. "I fished with Capitan Martinez and others on my World Cat on Saturday, Monday, and Thursday with a total 3-day catch of 20 dorado (all in excess of 10 pounds and up to 25 pounds), 3 sailfish, and 1 striped marlin. Saturday and Thursday saw uncomfortable chop, while Monday was beautiful," Bear said. "On Monday, neighbors John and Howard Moorers joined us. A slow day turned hot at 11:30 when we spotted a log that held a school of 20-pounders, of which 11 were caught before the fish suddenly disappeared. On Thursday another neighbor Kent Baker and his guests from Escondido, Don Heller and sons Austin and Ryan, were onboard for a very slow day. The highlight was a double hookup with a sailfish and a striped marlin; both of which were tagged and released by Heller (sailfish) and son Austin (marlin). All 3 days we fished about 20 miles into the NE quadrant from Isla Coronado, covering the Bajo de Boyas and the Bajo de Pta. Lobos." -- MAGDALENA BAY: Small yellows had a field day under the bird schools at the Entrada, but the afternoon winds make for a wet bumpy ride home according to Gary Graham of Baja on the Fly. "While the winds continued to rip on the outside, preventing anyone from fishing the dorado or small tuna that have shown up, the grouper remain on the chew, still nothing gigantic but fun fishing anyway. A snook here and there can be found and the halibut are off the sand beaches at Belchers," he said. -- SAN FELIPE & NORTHERN SEA OF CORTEZ: Tom Ward from The Longfin said Tony Reyes's boat the Jose Andres returned Friday evening from a 6-day charter led by Chartermaster Jeff Clary from Santa Ana, CA with 16 anglers. "Their catch included 252 yellowtail to 27 pounds, 3 grouper to 101 pounds, 2 black sea bass to 240 pounds, 2 white sea bass to 20 pounds, 55 cabrilla weighing up to 16 pounds, 20 giant squid to 35 pounds, 48 red snapper to 14 pounds, 2 broomtail grouper, 18 sheepshead, 349 bass, 2 sharks, and 20 miscellaneous fish. They also released 86 fish," he said. -- SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS): Ocean conditions varied this past week, some winds out of the north and south, water temperatures varied from 73 degrees on the Pacific to as high as 88 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. The cleanest blue water was now being found to the north of Punta Gorda. "Most of the fishing action is now centered on the areas from the Gordo Banks, La Fortuna, Iman, and from San Luis to Vinorama. There have been good supplies of mullet and caballito, but sardina continue to be scarce. The fishing grounds have had increased concentrations of bolito, which proved to be very productive baitfish for a variety of gamefish," said Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas. The inshore fishing was mainly for smaller roosterfish and a few other species of jacks, but with the lack of smaller baitfish, most charters concentrated on the offshore fishing grounds, although most of the time they have been within a few miles of shore. "Dorado have increased in numbers, but it is still has not been a wide open bite and has been unpredictable as where they are being found from day to day. The sizes have ranged from juveniles up to 50-pound bulls and the fish have been striking lures and various baits with similar percentages. Trolling with live or dead bolito has produced some of the larger specimens. Most charters are accounting for a couple of dorado, sometimes many more than that. It's important to practice catch and release with smaller dorado, especially the smaller females," he said. Brictson said yellowfin tuna are being seen breezing with traveling porpoise, but more often they have not been interested in striking. "Some yellowfin were taken by blind strikes, but still with no consistency. We look for these fish to become much more prevalent as the summer season gets into full swing." As water temperatures dropped back down from 88 to about 82 degrees around the areas from San Luis to Vinorama in the last couple of days this has triggered the elusive wahoo to become more active. Anglers targeting these speedsters with the properly rigged terminal tackle, mainly higher speed trolling lures such as Rapalas and skirted lead heads, reported having multiple strikes and the fish that were landed weighed in the 20- to 40-pound range. The billfish action improved in recent days, despite the warmer water there were good numbers of striped marlin hanging around, striking on trolling lures and baits, particularly eager to strike on bolito. Said Brictson, "A black marlin that was estimated to weigh close to 500 pounds was hooked into on the Outer Gordo Bank by panga skipper Jesus Pino, who along with his clients battled the fish for a couple hours before passing it off to his brother Chame Pino on another super panga, they were using 50-pound main line and a 100-pound fluorocarbon leader, after fighting the monster for five hours they had it right at the panga but it was still too strong, it went back down deep, then after applying maximum pressure in a win or lose deal they had it back to the boat and ended up breaking the line right at the knot. Oh well, the fish lived to fight another day and it made for a great fish story." The combined panga fleets launching from the La Playita and Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out 44 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a total fish count of 7 yellowfin tuna, 55 dorado, 8 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 13 amberjack, 21 various pargo species, 2 golden jack, 3 island jack, 18 jack crevalle, 8 cabrilla, 4 sierra, 12 bonito, 3 yellowtail, 17 wahoo and 28 roosterfish. -- SAN QUINTIN: Capt. Juan Cook found some albacore 32 miles of the point just out side the famed Tuna Hole. "I'm sorry I have to say this but yes, they were the first of the year. My friends from Los Vegas, Larry Hanson, and Mark Edison brought Hanson's new World Cat 33-foot boat to fish in San Quintin," Cook said. "We went looking for albacore at the 304 spot and trolled for a few miles and found nothing so we decided to go to the Tuna Hole. We started trolling 2 miles before the spot and found fish 2 miles past it. There was a huge area of fish feeding and boiling all around and flying fish were flying out of the water, it was awesome. We hooked 12 and landed 9 tuna. The big ones were I'm guessing 23 pounds and the rest in the 18- to 20-pound range. Readers: To have your reports included in the Baja report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com. MAINLAND MEXICO FISHING REPORT Strike out or strike it rich San Carlos's Tortuga Island increases the odds --SAN CARLOS (SONORA): It was a week of mixed results in San Carlos as some boats were striking out, while others were striking it rich. Definitely getting closer to Tortuga Island increased anglers odds of good dorado fishing. A dead whale provided excellent action for two days and the reef running southeast of San Pedro was still holding some dorado under frigates. "Dorado farther out were being caught under floating debris, long lines, or just out there chasing flying fish, as good schools of bait are starting to show up," said Bryan Replogle for Team Margarita. "We passed at least a half dozen marlin one day in the 150- to 200-pound range with not a one showing interest. We were a little south of everyone else at a 160- to 190-degree heading. At about 25 to 30 miles out we passed several individual and pairs of sails. Each time we hooked up we'd landing two out of four. With the water warming now (81 to 83 degrees) they should show up in greater numbers. Hopefully the marlin will start biting too, which some have. We also spotted sails within a mile, where the bait is starting to get thick," he said. "Unusually, there has been a good bite for bonita in close from Doble Point to San Antonio and some decent sierra have also been mixed in. One boat that I know of went bottom fishing in 280 feet of water with great results," Replogle said. Replogle said there was plenty of other marine life out there as well. "We easily spotted 100 whales the other day. They started breaching and getting very active in the afternoon. The dolphin were all around, and even some marlin were jumping (or trying to get out of the way) of the large pods." In other mainland Mexico fishing action: — PUERTO VALLARTA: Sean Martin of PV Sportfishing said everything is out there right now. The bigger blue marlin have moved in and the sailfish have thinned out but are still there along with nice 50- to 140-pound yellowfin tuna. "The crew tagged and released 9 blue marlin last week and boated two. The average size was 300 or maybe 350 pounds but the biggest one we caught was 446 pounds," Marin said. "The dorado are also growing in number and size, 30- to 60-pound dorado have found a nice feeding ground about 20 miles north of El Morro." Martin said they are gearing up for the third annual marlin and tuna tournament this Aug. 13-15 with a $10,000 grand prize. For more information contact them at info@puertovallartafish.com. --- CANCUN TO COZUMEL AREA: Fleet Manager Armando Gutierrez, reporting for the Marina El Cid said reports in for 8 fishing trips included 1 blue marlin, 3 dorado, 5 king mackerel, 2 barracuda, 7 triggerfish, and 7 red snappers. "Seven of the eight trips were short, 4-hour fishing trips in nearby waters. Anglers continue to be nowhere in sight," he said. Sea temperatures are holding stable at 84 degrees with light tropical surface breezes to 12 knots. Rigged ballyhoo continues to be the bait of choice for all of the area's species. -- IXTAPA-ZIHUATANEJO FISH: According to Captain Temo Verboonen, the tuna and marlin have all but disappeared from the area, but the sailfish are making a showing within two miles of the entrance to Zihuatanejo Bay. "The rainbow runners are biting well, along with dorado around the Morro de Potosi or white rocks," said Larry Edwards, reporting for the Independent Sportfishing Fleet. The roosterfish bite has gained momentum in the mouth of the Valentin River, 15 miles south of Zihuatanejo and there are also big schools of bonito and jack cravelle. "The roosters are mixing in with the jacks in the deeper water and the live bonito are working well in the Z-wing downriggers. Still, very few boats fishing the area right now, making it more difficult to keep track of the fish," Edwards said. "The 84-degree blue water is just a couple of miles off the beach. The big surprise this week was that most of the sailfish being caught were in the 'not so clean' water, only about one mile off the beach," said fly-fishing guide Ed Kunze. "The fish counts are reflecting only a 1 or 2 sailfish per boat per day average, but the numbers are misleading. Within the first few minutes after leaving Zihuatanejo Bay, most of the boats have passed right by the fish," he said. Ben and Austin Gaffney of NC fished with Santiago on the panga Gitana, releasing 3 sailfish, and 3 small dorado. "Roosterfish action is still very good. Jay Eshbach, fishing with Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos, took 3 roosters and a couple of dorado," Kunze said. — MAZATLAN: Reporting for The Aries Sportfishing Fleet, Larry Edwards said dorado counts continue to explode in Mazatlan, with every boat reporting limits of dorado and numerous releases at the shark buoys. Dorado were eager for anything that goes in the water, live bait, strip bait, cut bait, streamers, feathers, in general, if it moves, it gets bit. Sailfish preferred the rigged trolling baits. Readers: To have your reports included in the Mexico report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com. |
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