Pompano Fish Report

"Looking For the Dorado"....Yesterday, Sunday, I got a scheduled late start because I had to fill my boat at the..groan.. Pemex outside of Mulege before launching at the Serinadad ramp. (Funny how they can put 25 gallons into a 22 gallon tank..:rolleyes But I had arranged with my partner, Two Dogs, to get out at dawn and get us some bait..then meet me in front of the river for our dorado exploration. I had heard that Alex, a local guide, had caught a couple dorado a few days ago out past the Sta. Inez Islands..about 14 miles from Mulege NNE. So off we went in 2 boats..headed northeast with our pooches, a chocolate lab, Cheyenne, and 2 shorthairs, Chile & Pepper. (I know what you are thinking...I should change Cheyenne to Cayenne, right?) Quite a crew...and eager to eat our sandwich crumbs and dropped potato chips. My Cheyenne is especially a good boat cleaner.

I went past Sta. Inez for about 5 miles and then spotted a huge flock of birds working the boil beneath them. The water temp was now 73 degrees. I saw many flying fish scattering everywhere around me and began thinking...Dorado! I saw some backs charging and smashing bait and quickly tossed a feather out and buzzed through the boil on a high-speed troll..about 12-14 mph. I got a hit right away and it bent the rod down pretty good. But as soon as I had the rod in my hands I knew it was not a dorado...there was a 'tell-tale' staccato thud-thud-thud-thud on the line. You guessed it...a big skipjack! I could have sworn the fish I had seen chasing bait were dorado, but when you catch a skippie, you move on..regardless, because all you will catch will be more skipjack. Fun and good fighters..but not what we were after.

I decided to head further NNE a little south of Tortuga Island and just keeping heading out to sea in search of warmer water. We were quartering into some rolling swells..not bad, but enough to keep us at 20-25mph. We separated our boats 1/2 mile to monitor water temps in a wider area. Finally, at about 25 miles out, we found warmer water..to 75.5 degrees. Came up on a couple of whales slowly moving north. Lots of flying fish now and some jumping mantas. No grass patties, though. Swells had disappeared and we had pretty calm seas..no wind to speak of. A good place to start some feathers.

I didn't go far before a small female dorado hit a red feather..a bubbler jet-head. Then another a little bigger hit my second feather..a large yellow popper. Seems they liked the more active,noisy lures. Then Two Dogs shouts over the VHF, "Hey, Pompano...I'm into a sailfish!" Hooray! I pick up and race over to his boat to photo his sail that hit a large skirted feather. It was a good sized sail and fought a long time before it slid up alongside long enough for a picture and release. I was pretty busy keeping my boat in position for a good shot but not so close that the sail would jump in my boat! It was pretty exciting watching the sail right below me a couple of times, then sawing the line through the water to leap a few yards into the air about 30 feet away! Our dogs thought this was great sport too...and all eyes were riveted on that fish. After a couple of nice pics, we made sure the sail was towed properly and got his strength back before release. He gave a surge of his tail and headed down quickly, so we knew he was okay.

Back to circling the general area with feathers again..varying speeds and making lots of turns to trigger strikes. Up ahead I see a billfish circling and jumping..so I speed up and troll my feather through his last swirl on the water...then Blammo!..a marlin hits my feather with his sword and then again...goodbye feather, leader, and all! Was fun for a few seconds! Then Two Dogs hails me with another excited call..he had the same thing happen and then quickly pitched a live bait rig over and another marlin had taken it. Yahoo!! It was on! I race over again to take some more photos, but this time the fish makes one jump then sounds...deep. Pump and reel, pump and reel....with a heavy, powerful marlin on the end of your line. Lots of work. Finally, after quite a struggel, the fish is coming up and I watch the line carefully to position myself just out of harm's way, yet close enough to get a good shot. Then...SNAP...the marlin must have sawed the line with a scrape alongside his jaw or sword and he was gone. The hook will rust out quickly and he remains camera-shy till we meet again.

Now it was getting late in the day and we still had a long way home...almost 30 miles out by now. Besides, Two Dogs wife, Lisa, had promised us some delcious homemade pizza for dinner that night, so we throttled up and headed for the ramp. I swore I could smell pepperoni all the way back.

All in all, a good day on the water for 2 fishermen and 3 dogs. Some skipjack, 4 dorado, 1 sail, couple cabrilla, 2 marlin hits, 1 marlin fight, and some whale watching.

P.S. We had some really great pizza last night! I have an extra one in my fridge that I am hoarding for a late night snack attack.

first dorado of the season...

And this Treat...

manana's snack...reminds me of my diet a long, long time ago. Remember cold pizza breakfasts and a beer?

tell the Admiral that the Dorado take Sundays off . you need to go more during the week.

How is that wall coming

Will do, Moosea...tight lines. Moniter 22 and 72...mostly 22 for Mulege and 72 for the bug-eaters at CSC! Ha!..that should get a response from up there!

Think Big!