BajaNomad

Towed to sea by a great fish.

baitcast - 5-2-2013 at 02:19 PM

Right time of year for this bump


Not being able afford a boat in my early trips to willard bay,just next door to Gonzaga I did all my fishing from the beach, punta willard and walking distance from Papa Fernandez,s campo and it was there I met my first rooster-fish.

Every morning first light you could hear them coming,hunderds of mullet would be out front with a dozen or so huge pez-gallo in hot pursuit, the noise would wake us up every morning and if it didn,t my daughter would,"WAKE UP DAD THE ROOSTERS ARE HERE" and I would jump up and grab my rod and start throwing everything I owned at them and never a touch,what to do?

I began to put together the master plan no boat,what could I use to get off the beach? then I remembered a friend who had a one man life raft,problem fixed.

The following took place in front of PaPa,s casa 1966 or 67,I had the raft inflated and in the ready position,two outfits,one for snagging a mullet and the other for fishin,and here they come just like I knew they would,my heart rate started to climb just like I knew it would.

It didn,t take long to snag a mullet,pinned him on a hook an jumped in the raft and shoved off,I hadn,t went 50 yds when two big boys crashed the bait,an I was hooked up to a fish I had dreamt about for two years,everything was going to plan,but then he had other ideas an started steaming east toward the mouth of the bay doing a easy 40 knots.

I began hearing cheering from the camp "Dads got a rooster ya ya"but I think it was the other way around.

One man life rafts do not tow straight I found,they do slow spins and things were getting out of control,the line was heavy enough so no problem there,and as the man said "getting towed to sea by a large fish what a hoot"

To shorten the story,after he cleared the point he headed south with me a couple hunderd yds behind,sharp rocks an fishing line do not mix! and that was that.

I will never forget that morning and think of it often.
BAITCAST


_________________
Anyone can catch fish with a boat but only El Pescador Grandes can get them from the beach.

I hope when my time comes the old man will let me bring my rod and the water will be warm and

Cypress - 5-2-2013 at 03:09 PM

Thanks for the story.:D

chuckie - 5-2-2013 at 04:01 PM

LOVE Roosters..They were tearing up the bay on Monday, looked like a giant blender...Great story....

Correcamino - 5-2-2013 at 04:24 PM

Awesome story. Funny how stuff like this is a lot less "cool" while it's happening but way cool at the bar later! In about ten years, when Cervecería Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma has destroyed my last brain cells, I'll tell this story as if it happened to me. Can't wait!

Udo - 5-2-2013 at 05:01 PM

Thanks for the great story!

Kinda sounds like something Osprey would do and then write about it.

Pacifico - 5-2-2013 at 05:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chuckie
LOVE Roosters..They were tearing up the bay on Monday, looked like a giant blender...Great story....


Chuckie,

What bay? Are you down on the east cape?

Good times Baitcast!!!

Hook - 5-2-2013 at 05:36 PM

Roosters, waking you at dawn, fisherman style. I love it!

woody with a view - 5-2-2013 at 06:33 PM

that's a good one Rob!

acadist - 5-2-2013 at 08:13 PM

:biggrin:

Frank - 5-2-2013 at 09:55 PM

Ive got that twitch Rob. First triple digit temp today in San Diego confirmed it. Thanks for the great story.

chuckie - 5-3-2013 at 03:32 AM

South end of Concepcion bay.....

baitcast - 5-3-2013 at 01:33 PM

We used to see roosters as far north as in Puertecitos bay and caught my first one a few miles down the road from there,a little guy maybe 15" and saw many in small schools from there to Gonzaga which tells me that they spawned in that area,but have always wondered what happened?

The locals never ate them? you hear about someone getting now and than,I caught small ones at BOLA in the south bay and I,m sure they still show there at the estro mouth,if our anywhere near the estro mouth on a outgoing tide give it a try and don,t be surprised if you catch other kinds as well.
Rob

BajaRat - 5-4-2013 at 11:22 AM

Thx, The bay must have been something in the 60's. Its one of our favorite places to make memories today.

baitcast - 7-16-2020 at 08:38 AM


Things are a bit slow so I thought I would try an help, maybe a gab fest ? if we aren't catching them maybe talking will help or watching someone else catching has always helped me.
Rob

ehall - 7-16-2020 at 08:49 AM

Great story. I can only imagine a big fish dragging me around. I got pulled all over a small pond by a 6 pound bass.

LancairDriver - 7-16-2020 at 04:47 PM

This thread brings back a lot of great memory’s of what Baja once was with amazing numbers of fish and other ocean life. When I first started flying down along the gulf coast in the late 70’s it was endless bait balls the size of a couple of football fields to keep you continuously entertained for the entire trip. As of the past few years you are lucky to see even one on the average trip. It is incredible to see how fast the resource has declined. New visitors are still impressed today when they have nothing to compare the scene with. I really enjoyed Pompano’s pictures and story’s from that era which really was the high point in Baja when compared with the present. I miss Skeet telling us we just don’t know where to look when the subject came up.

Sr.vienes - 7-16-2020 at 07:19 PM

i’m amazed to find out there is two Nomads from Kingman Arizona.

del mar - 7-16-2020 at 07:37 PM

few years ago we were fishing really skinny water south of Bufeo and hooked something that made a beeline for isla san luis, halfway to the island the beast surfaced for air and there was a turtle the size of a Volkswagen with a chrome jig stuck in his butt! broke him off and sent him on his way:coolup:

AKgringo - 7-16-2020 at 07:48 PM

I would tell my story about being dragged around by a halibut, but that was in Alaska, so it would be off topic. :no:

Pablito1 - 7-18-2020 at 07:03 AM

One day in the early 1990s we were diving a little south of San Nicolas and saw this huge ball of bait right up against the beach. Easing into the water you were surrounded by thousands of fish and could only see for a couple of feet. Suddenly the small fish would move and a rooster fish would appear with a couple of them swimming very close, like a couple of feet.
I have seen roosters while diving at Punta Final during the summer. A friend speared a large one in front of Alfoncina's. I don't kill them because we don't eat them. Regards

Mulege Canuck - 7-18-2020 at 08:17 AM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
I would tell my story about being dragged around by a halibut, but that was in Alaska, so it would be off topic. :no:


Ditto

Only I was off Vancouver Island.

Skipjack Joe - 7-18-2020 at 09:35 AM

We had a guy in Asuncion recently dragged off by a yellowtail while skin diving never to return. The mighty fish after being speared swam circles around him and tightened the line making it impossible to swim to the surface. His mistake was using wire line in his speargun. They found the his knife next to him, a knife he had been using to try to cut the line but could not.

Sorry, I know this isn't a thrilling story, but it is about a towing fish.

baitcast - 7-18-2020 at 11:25 AM

Hey Igor! long time no see..........You still have that place in Asuncion? if so good for you............Hell of a way to go!! thats one tow I could do without.
My Dad and I fished the ST Joe but hadn't leaned the flies yet,always loved the Cuts they are gluttons,pretty fish, used to be everywhere but like everything else used uo:( like me......its been slow on here so I decided to bring some of the fun ones back for a rehash .
Rob

Skipjack Joe - 7-19-2020 at 11:15 AM

Quote: Originally posted by baitcast  

My Dad and I fished the ST Joe but hadn't learned the flies yet .
Rob


I have wanted to fish the St Joe for years and finally did it last year. As far as I could tell the catch-and-release regulations are recent. Too many guys were keeping their fish. The fish on the SJ were smaller than Coeur DeLane even though there are far more people on that river. I figured it was due to the regs. I couldn't believe how long the SJ was. We drove a good 45 miles from the mouth before starting and worked up stream. We could've driven another 45 miles and still been in good water. Beautiful country.

baitcast - 7-19-2020 at 12:16 PM


I lived north of there on the Pend Oreille lake and Sand Pointe for three years right on the lake!! 2000' of frontage during that time I was living there the lake held two world records for trout ,37# for the Rainbow and 32# for the Dolly Varden and huge Mackinaw 40#+ and O yes nice Cuts right off our beach, can you imagine being 15 and living on a spot like that......I older I get the more I think of that place and time.
Rob

AKgringo - 7-19-2020 at 01:16 PM

Technically, a dolly varden is an arctic char in fresh water, but that is a fine trout-like trophy!

baitcast - 7-19-2020 at 02:14 PM


Dolly Varden: Beautiful and Misunderstood, Alaska ...www.adfg.alaska.gov › ...
At that time the world record Dolly Varden (32 pounds) from Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho became a record “bull trout”. Misidentification has not been limited to the ...
And yes they were called Bull trout and Char, checking and found the Alaska version was 27# after checking they never even mentioned that we had them in the States Humm !:)
Rob