SALT REPORT

Published: Aug 31, 2010 BAJA UPDATE: Bumpy rides on the Sea of Cortez, but the bite’s still holding! La Paz, Cedros Island, Erendira, San Jose, East Cape,

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WON ROBIN WADE WEEKLY REPORT Yellowfin tuna continue to dominate the action, Hurricane Frank no threat By Robin Wade/WON Staff Writer ERENDIRA — Things are picking up in the area with improved action found on white seabass here and in San Quintin and Camalu. In Ensenada it was the first word of tuna off Colonet that was getting everyone excited. Down south there was a stall in the action for a few days while everyone watched and waited for Hurricane Frank fizzle out. Then, it was back to the tuna. A group of 20 anglers made their way down to Don Eddie's on their annual trek here to fish and eat at Don Eddie's newly opened restaurant. Don Eddie's the Mona Lisa, Panchita, Sofia, the Pinta I as well as the Fanny IV all took out people from Dr. Gadler and Marquez’s group. “All the boats were fishing over by Tranquilo in 53-degree water,” said Marita Melville for Don Eddy’s Landing. “They caught lots of anchovies and squid for bait over there and when the boats came back they had limits of bottomfish including, sand bass, sugar bass, rockcod, lingcod, sheepshead and whitefish,” Melville said. “On the Panchita with Capt, Roman Gonzalez, Eduardo Calixto caught a 19-pound white seabass. On the Pinta I with Capt. Jaime Garcia, Tony Marquez caught a 36-pound white seabass. Everyone had a great time fishing here in San Quintin.” Longtime WON reader Jac Arnold from San Diego sent in this report regarding a phenomenal fishing adventure he, co-workers and friends had in Erendira. “On the spur of the moment we decided to head south with the assumption of yellows or albacore but after consulting the Baja section in WON, we nixed the trip to San Quintin since it sounded slow and headed farther south,” Arnold said. “I hadn’t been down there in over 10 years and I was quite excited.” The group was “winging it” and after a night’s campout on the bluffs, it was off to find a boat early the next day. “I asked a guy standing by the ramp and he made a call for me, enter Isaac Avilla. He was the most professional, well equipped and courteous pangero I have ever had the pleasure of fishing with. After an hour and a half of freezing (one of us dressed for winter-like weather) in very choppy seas he put us on the fish right away. At times it was wide open on lings and red rockcod and at one point all five of us and the skipper were all hooked up with lingcod, 6 fish on! We ended up with at least 60 decent-sized fish which we took to his home, he cleaned them and we had a feast there. He was truly an incredible fisherman that is very friendly and knowledgeable,” Arnold said. They decided against another night in the cold and headed for San Felipe. “There it was the opposite extreme, around 100 degrees and very humid. We slept in the dessert outside of town with the plan of going to Puertocitos in the morning to fish. Well over an hour later of treacherous roads revealed that there isn’t really a Puertocitos anymore like I remembered as a kid.” “We went back to San Felipe, had some shrimp tacos and got a great room for $30 with a great view of the gulf on one side and the mountains on the other. We were the only non-Mexicans in all of San Felipe which was very strange, especially when I remember the place being packed to the gills with college kids. San Felipe was a fun party but the experience of meeting Avilla and fishing with him in non-stop action was the highlight of the trip. I truly am looking forward to heading back down there soon.” NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT!--Long-time WON reader and general contractor Jac Arnold took a friend and his crew to Erendira for a different kind of work, hauling in limits of bottomfishing. From left to right Ryan Harkin, Shane McGuire, Ethan Adams, Kyle Vezie and WON reader Jac Arnold. PHOTO COURTESY OF JAC ARNOLD. In other Baja fishing action: • CABO SAN LUCAS: It was cloudy, hot and humid as Hurricane Frank pushed southwest swells towards Cabo. By Saturday afternoon the National Hurricane Center had issued its last advisory for what was now called Tropical Depression Frank. Water temperatures on the Pacific side to Cabo Falso were at 84 degrees and rising to 85 and 86 degrees by Cabo and up to the Gorda Banks, then rising to 87 and 88 degrees above the banks. The billfish catches were right at average, one per boat per fishing day for the Gaviota Sportfishing and Fish Cabo fleets. “The Gaviota VI landed a blue marlin for angler Jaime Blay of Santa Fe, NM, it was his first blue marlin,” said Larry Edwards for the fleets. The 250 pounder was caught while fishing with Capt. Plutarco Cesena and taken on 50-pound test, following a 90-minute battle. “The blue took an artificial off the Herradura area,” Edwards said. Tuna Time, skippered by Capt. Lopez had 2 wahoo, 1 mako shark, limits of dorado and released a striper off the edge of the Jaime Bank on the Pacific side of Cabo. “The dorado counts were up a bit this past week and some of the fish were of nice quality, approaching the 45-pound mark,” Edwards said. Their overall combined catches for a total of 10 charters included 1 blue marlin, 9 stripers released, 2 sharks, 3 wahoo, 3 yellowfin tuna and 56 dorado. “We had partly cloudy skies as we waited to see what Hurricane Frank was going to deliver for us,” said Capt. Landrum from Fly Hooker Sportfishing. “Fortunately it was downgraded to a tropical depression well to the west and south of us and while we had clouds and swells from it. The news was the size of the swells kicked up by Hurricane Frank. They were large enough that the Port Captain kept the Port closed until it was light enough to see well on Friday, but these were storm swells and spaced well apart. But they were still large enough to get the beach bars wet inside when a big sets came in,” Landrum said. “Bait was still tough to get, at least good bait was. There were some caballito but the bait guys were really proud of them, enough so that on a trip I went on we were only able to get 7 baits and it still cost $30.00.” Yellowfin tuna fishing remained consistent, with some quality fish in the 100-pound-plus class still being found in the San Jose area between the Gorda Banks and the Inman Banks, but most of them have been smaller, ranging in size from 15 to 30 pounds. “Tuna were found elsewhere as well, with fish showing from the south by the 1,000 fathom line to the San Jaime Banks area. While that action has not been wide open, everyone who went looking for them seems to have been able to catch a few. There were some decent fish over 100 pounds found in small pods of porpoise to the southwest of the 95 Spot several days this past week, and there were even more fish in the 60- to 80-pound class as well so it is looking better for the larger tuna this year,” he said. Sailfish have been showing up for the past several weeks as the water has gotten warmer. Most have been found on the Cortez side around the 95 and 1150 spots by boats working the areas for blue marlin. “There have also been quite a few striped marlin in the same areas, strange since the water is so warm there.” As far as big fish were concerned, the blacks were still out there, and several in the 400-pound class were caught at both the Gorda Banks and the Inman Banks, mostly by tuna chasers. “The same areas have been producing quite a few small blue marlin in the 200-pound class as well. These fish are probably feeding on the small football-sized yellowfin that have been in the area.” A scattering of wahoo were reported along the drop off in front of Cabo San Lucas Bay and just to the north of the arch, between there and the lighthouse. “Dark lures trolled while cruising out or back home seemed to do the trick, you just had to go about 10 to 13 knots instead of the normal trolling speed of 8 knots or cruising speed of 18 knots. The fish averaged 40 pounds and while not every boat got bit, those that put in the time had some action as a reward,” Landrum said. A few small dorado were taken on the Pacific side close in. “I had reports of larger scattered fish being found offshore, but there was nothing solid or consistent reported.” “We got lucky and avoided anything from Hurricane Frank, now keep those fingers crossed. If our weather holds we should see some great fishing coming up as the moon wanes.” • CAMALU:—WON reader Dennis Leith of Downey decided to take a trip to Camalu last week with friend Al Montoya to fish with Capt. Memo Zepeda. “It was Montoya’s first trip there and he was not disappointed,” Leith said. “The lingcod bite was exceptionally good the first day with lots of quality fish and the big reds and huge whitefish cooperated as well.”  “When we got back to the beach we saw another panga that found a group of diving birds on the way in and they caught a dozen white seabass off of it. Needless to say, our second day started out looking for them. We went to the area they had been to and quickly got a couple small ones. The problem was there were so many barracuda that you got bit by them before the seabass could get to your jig. We saw several more nice ones in the water and I finally hooked a nice one but the jig popped at the boat.” After the bite died they opted to go back out and get some more bottomfish. “We loaded up again and got a nice surprise 25-pound halibut on a jig. Great weather, great fishing and a great captain made our trip fantastic. The water is warming and cleaning up and the surface fish are here.” Capt. Memo can be reached at 011 521 616-109 8537.     • CEDROS ISLAND: Yellowtail fishing continues to be stellar here with lots of action and fish commonly weighing in the high 30s. “This trip we fished mostly in the northwest region. We tried the south once, but there were no bites at Raton Banks or in the kelp beds,” said Jose Angel of Cedros OUTDOOR Adventures. “Our boats followed the boils all day close to Punta Norte, due to the still abundant bait (mostly sardine and mackerel) on the island. Double and triple hook-ups were common, as well as trains of yellowtail swimming by our boats. Something impressive considering the size and speed they can reach,” Angel said. Any jig or bait was bound to bring up a good yellowtail, locally known as jurel. “More effective were mint on white patterns, scrambled egg, and mackerel.” Water temperatures have been in the upper 50s with no wind (some days) and air temperatures in the 80s. “It has been just perfect for a short swim from the panga to the beach and a quick cool down,” he said. Cedros OUTDOOR Adventures has just announced they are extending their 2010 season to run into late October. You can check for trip openings on their website at cedrosoutdooradventures.com. EXTENDED SEASON AT CEDROS—Fishing at Cedros Island has been so good that Cedros OUTDOOR Adventures has decided to extend their 2010 season into late October. Just back from their trip are Loy Vincet, far left, Ken Donahue, Stanley Chao, and Robert Gillanders, far right, with some of their day's catch. The yellowtail were all reaching 30-plus pounds on this trip. PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDROS OUTDOOR • EAST CAPE: John Ireland from Rancho Leonero the area had another very good fishing week. “All the important gamefish that normally bite this time of year are around and biting aggressively. This has been one of our best fishing years I can recall,” Ireland said. And while weather was not an issue most of the week, by week’s end, a fizzled out Frank did send a sea of white caps and churned up the waters. “The tuna were spread both north and south. But they are also biting right off the hotel a half to a mile from the beach. The inside bite is producing fish from 10 to 50 pounds and the fish are biting very aggressively, most anglers are limiting by mid morning. Anglers are opting for the inside bite but the tuna taken outside are large, 100 pounders are not uncommon. Live sardine are by far the bait of choice inside while large chunks of squid are producing the larger yellowfin. “The dorado are schooling very close inside, and there’s been a very good bite for dodos weighing between 7 and 20 pounds. A few bulls weighing 40 pounds were also brought in.” The billfish, both stripers and blues are around but getting very little pressure as most anglers are targeting the tuna. Both blue and striped marlin are biting off the inside and outside banks. “Squid colored lures and caballito are both working.” He said. “The fleet is bringing about 1 wahoo a day to the cleaning table. The largest taken this week weighed 82 pounds. Most were taken on marlin lures, but a few were also caught on Rapalas.” Inshore fishing for big pargo were taken earlier in the week prior to a change in the weather. “There were lots of quality pompano in the 5- to 15-pound class. As usual for this year, big gallos were being released daily in the 50- to 70-pound range. Lots of action this week from the beach, very good shore fishing.” Lots of bait was available as well. Sardine, mullet, cabalitto and squid were all plentiful. “As Frank passed by our biggest impact has been bumpy boat rides,” said Mark Rayor from Visa Seasport. Many angler choose to take a day off from their labor intensive fishing and cool off underwater, getting a unique look at the fish they usually hunt for. “Prior to Hurricane Frank coming on the scene diving was simply spectacular. We were enjoying the best conditions all year with Tidy Bowl blue 88-degree water and 80 to 100 feet plus visibility. Sea life sightings have been the normal parade of large pelagic fish and huge schools of reef fish the Sea of Cortez is famous for. With any luck, conditions will be back to normal in a day or two with calms seas for both fishing and diving,” Rayor said.  BACK AT THE RANCH-- Mark Rubins and son Michael from Carlsbad, CA visited the East Cape and Rancho Leonero for what he called, “Some of the best fishing I’ve seen in years.” Each day we got all the yellowfin tuna we could want and then completed their day targeting the dorado, pompano, roosters and wahoo. PHOTO COURTESY OF WON READER MARK RUBINS. • ENSENADA: This past week the bottomfishing continued to be the mainstay for Vonny’s Fleet. Halibut came in on mouse trap rigs with anchovies and the whitefish with squid strips. “There was also a nice 23-pound white seabass caught on an aluminum jig tossed on the surface,” said Ivan Villarino from Vonny’s Fleet. Edgar Sanchez from the Coral Marine store reported that everyone in the store was getting excited about tuna. “The first word came in that tuna were off of Colonet,” Sanchez said. “Ed Heller of Cazador went south off Colonet and caught 8 yellowfin between 14 and 24 pounds on Friday. They were all caught between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. on cedar plugs, purple/black and green/black feathers on the troll,” he said. Reports on Saturday indicated that bluefin had moved up to the double 220 area. “The yellowfin continued to bite in Colonet area. Several boats out of the Marina Coral had gone south but late Saturday reports were not in yet. The water had warmed up to 68 to 69 degrees and some bluefin moved up as expected. Fishing out of Ensenada looked encouraging as there has also been a good bait supply at the bait barge of sardines.” • LA PAZ: As summer comes to a close, most tourists have returned home but there are still a lot of fishermen coming down. “Except for a few days when Hurricane Frank threatened, it was a pretty good week of fishing. Some guys actually had a spectacular week of fishing,” said Jonathan Roldan of Tailhunter International.   “The hurricane popped up mid-week about 600 km south of La Paz and kept us all glued to the news and our computers. It eventually petered out, but not before disrupting the fishing for a day or two with large swells and winds. We still caught fish but it was far from the kind of fishing we'd been having,” Roldan said.   Wahoo continued to be a bonus at the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island. Using big chunks of giant squid, tuna between 10 and 80 pounds could be caught within yards of the beach. “Marauding schools of free-swimming dorado would pop up at any time or be found in the current lines and around the buoys in a number of spots,” he said. Inshore, big roosters were in the surf and trophy pargo kept boiling to add to the mix and great variety by the end of the day. • LORETO: Few reports came out of the area as a tough bite continues but small dorado were found in the channel. The local breakwater fishing crowd are catching sierra in the morning, along with jacks. MAG BAY—Part-time Loreto resident Bill Erhardt hauled his boat over here out of frustration with the lack of fish in his area and filed this report. “Thursday I trailered a new boat from Loreto to Lopez Mateos to fish for 2 days in advance of Hurricane Frank, which has since fizzled out south of Cabo,” he said. “Around noon I caught my first wahoo of the season out of Lopez, actually two on a double hook-up. Those were the only wahoo I saw over 2 days, but it is still August and nice to have at least a few wahoo on the scene this early. Earlier in the day under a school of porpoise north of Thetis Bank I found yellowfin and put five between 20 and 25 pounds in the boat in an hour, or so,” he said. His total while fishing solo for the 2 days included 2 wahoo, 5 yellowfin, and 2 yellowtail. • SAN FELIPE: Tony's boat the TONY REYES just returned from a 6-day trip with 19 anglers. They had great weather on their trip except for Thursday afternoon. “Most of the fish came on live and cut bait,” said Tom Ward from The Long Fin in Orange. “Big yellowtail came aboard at the San Lorenzo Reef. Fishing was good at Partida, El Pulpito, Refugio, Snake Island and the Enchanted islands.” One of the highlights of the trip was when Joseph Martinez from Diamond Bar, CA. caught a 94-pound grouper using a big bonito for bait with his guide Ramon.   Total fish counts for the trip included 389 yellowtail, 10 cabrilla, 38 pargo, 409 bass, 1 white seabass, 14 dorado, the 1 grouper, 35 giant squid, 7 sheepshead, 26 whitefish, 41 triggerfish and 132 miscellaneous fish. • SAN JOSE DEL CABO (LOS CABOS): Hurricane Frank brewing to the south, weakened as it turned back towards the peninsula. “This means the humid conditions and storm swells will linger for several additional days as the system dissipates,” said Eric Brictson from Gordo Banks Pangas. Water conditions were mostly calm with variable ground swells of 8 to 10 feet and water temperatures averaged close to 85 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. “Local pangeros are driving up to La Ribera in the afternoon to net sardina off the beach in order to supply the La Playita fleets with fresh dead bait, which have been the ticket for catching the yellowfin tuna, as the tuna continued to dominate the action,” Brictson said. Fleets were fishing from Gordo Banks to Iman, drifting with the fresh dead bait. “The largest concentrations of tuna were found on the Iman Bank, where the fish here were generally between 20 to 35 pounds,” he said. Fish on Gordo Banks were not as numerous, but were weighing 30 to 100 or more pounds. “Most charters were finding anywhere from 4 to 10 yellowfin per morning with quite a few bonito and skipjack mixed in.” Most anglers were concentrating on the tuna action, as this was the best bet for filling up the fish box and coolers. But a few nice-sized dogtooth snapper were also landed off of the same spots where the tuna were schooling, as were a handful of amberjack and cabrilla. “Dorado were found spread out throughout the area, striking on trolled lures and bait once the smaller-sized schools were located. Most of the dorado were 15 pounds or less, but there were a few exceptions of larger bulls being accounted for,” he said. Wahoo were encountered on occasion while trolling lures over the structure near La Fortuna to Iman, weights ranged to 40 pounds. The billfish action produced a mix of striped, blue and black marlin, but sailfish have been surprisingly scarce this summer. “Black marlin up to 450 pounds were landed by the La Playita panga fleet in recent days, also at least one blue marlin of 400 pounds was accounted for. Most of these larger marlin were hooked into while trolling larger baitfish in the vicinity of the Gordo Banks; several were hooked into on trolled lures as well. There’s something about the full moon that always seem to make the black and blue marlin more active. They like the larger tidal swing that produces more upwelling on the high spots; this seems to make the whole food chain more lively.” The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita and Puerto Los Cabos sent out 58 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of 4 striped marlin, 3 blue marlin, 4 black marlin, 5 hammerhead, 54 dorado, 404 yellowfin tuna, 4 wahoo, 12 cabrilla, 10 amberjack, 6 dogtooth snapper, 11 huachinango and 42 bonito. YOU ALWAYS REMEMBER THE FIRST ONE--Cassidy Pierce from Arroyo Grande, CA and skipper Salvatore caught this beautiful little dorado on a recent trip off the Gordo Banks. She also caught a few bonito as well. It was the young Pierce’s first deep sea experience. PHOTO COURTESY OF PROUD GRANDFATHER AND WON READER JERRY PIERCE. • SANTA ROSALIA: The week started off with a real bang as far as yellowtail were concerned and although the fish were a little on the smaller than normal size, they made up for it with attitude and hunger. “I love to take out new people as I did this past week,” said Jim Anderson. “He thought he had hooked at least a 30 pounder and when he got it to the boat, he stared in disbelief that a 12 pounder could give such a valiant fight,” Anderson said. “Monday was the last day before a full moon and it generally means a strong bite and this Monday was no exception as all of the boats and native fishermen anchored out on the deeper reef north of San Marcos Island hauled in fish after fish. The action was good until the slack tide but by then everyone was worn out from hauling in fish all morning anyway.” Mixed in with the yellowtail were good numbers of red snapper (huachinango) but they were very difficult fish to catch. “They eat small pieces of squid that has to be cut just right and presented with lighter lines and smaller hooks. They kind of nibble and any pressure on the line sends them scurrying for cover. Some of the pangueros really have the touch developed but I, with my good equipment and electronics just had to sit and watch while getting taught by the experts. Although I did manage a few fish, my learning curve has a long way to go before I think I will do any damage to these populations,” he said. Dorado were harder to find but striped and blue marlin, as well as sailfish were still showing in pretty good numbers. “We are all watching Hurricane Frank with close attention, but except for some wind, there has not been much of an effect half way up the peninsula.” • SAN QUINTIN: It’s been a good week for white seabass anglers and we had lots of mixed action with seabass, huge barracuda, calico bass and rockfish,” said Capt. Kelly Catian of K&M Offshore Sportfishing. “The weather has been great with warm sunny days, although we had some fog in the morning. Water temperatures were pretty good with 60 degrees on the beach and up to 66 degrees outside,” Catian said. “There have been yellowtail at the high-spots like the 240 and 6 Fathom. Tuna were also reported just south of the Colonet basin and also southwest of the Tuna Hole so we should be getting some offshore action this coming week.” • BAHIA ASUNCION (Just south of Guerrero Negro): Shari Bondy of Campo Sirena reported big swells this past week, much to the delight of the local surfers but harder for boats to get out. “The water temperatures are still rising, now in the mid 70s and the area is alive with baitfish,” Bondy said. Pangas net fishing from local cooperatives, managed to get out and have been bringing in lots of nice-sized yellowtail. “Summer has finally gotten underway in the mid-coast area. Our yellowtail season runs from August through February but bottomfishing is good year-round here. Book early as we are very busy in the fall,” Bondy said. On Sunday anglers caught nice-sized calico and lots of bonito which were everywhere but the yellowtail weren’t biting. “Capt. Juan Arce said there was so much baitfish that the fish are full and the water was also very murky from the big swells last week.” Inshore, halibut are still being caught on the beaches. Readers: To have your reports included in the Baja report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com.