Where are the Baja fishing and hunting reports from all you guys and gals? It has been very quiet on this subject. Surely somebody has a boat day or
a desert quail/dove trip to report on?
I know Mulege area has been too windy lately to get out...but hopefully that will improve today.
I could give you a fishing report from Up North to get you started. Ever caught a sturgeon? Like hooking an ugly barn door with fins. Interesting
time pulling one of these into the boat.
Once you get on the water, be careful of the current, rocks and ice floes. The main method is to anchor and bounce jig/minnow on the bottom. You will
have to have a big enough jig to get down through the current. Try different depths and areas until you find fish. When you find them, hold on,
because most will be TOO BIG to keep.
[Edited on 4-5-2006 by Pompano]Cypress - 4-5-2006 at 05:10 AM
Caught 'em for research purposes, they are on the endangered species list in some areas. Used rod&reels, set lines and nets. Largest was 11' long.
couldn't get it in the boat to weigh it. Neat fish!
Sturgeon are thriving in this river system..
Pompano - 4-5-2006 at 05:24 AM
Cypress...we are fortunate to have a concerted effort underway to conserve sturgeon stocks in our river systems, thanks to researchers like you.
There is a very strict slot size limit imposed on this fishery, thank Neptune, or the commercial fishing would have wiped them out long ago...as they
have almost done in Europe and Eurasia.
Anglers are allowed one sturgeon per license year between 45 and 50 inches, or one fish over 75 inches. Once such a fish has been caught, anglers must
sign and date their license. The seasons are short. To minimize harm to sturgeon that are caught and released, anglers are not allowed to use a
gaff.
We see them jumping from time to time. Quite a sight to see...especially if they jump right ahead of your moving boat!
[Edited on 4-5-2006 by Pompano]Cypress - 4-5-2006 at 06:34 AM
Pompano, nice fish!Don Alley - 4-5-2006 at 07:19 AM
I went fishing a couple of days ago. Near Carmen Island. Punta Perico and Punta Lobos.
I was fishing for sturgeon too.
I did not get a bite. Skunked!
Everyone else (I counted 18 boats) was fishing for yellowtail, I think. Most of them might as well have been fishing for sturgeon too.
FlyfishingPam says it's because of the bananas Jose Luis brought. But he and Francisco got some nice tasty walleye or something. Go figure. Maybe I
hold my mouth different lately when I fish. Slumps happen.
I'm going out again in a few days, when we get another calm stretch. I think I'll fish for paddlefish.Tomas Tierra - 4-5-2006 at 07:25 AM
What is the meat like?? And do you harvest caviar from that variety??
forget those Baja paddlefish....full of knots and splinters
Pompano - 4-5-2006 at 07:35 AM
Don Alley...Just before we hauled anchor from Baja, my wife and I had a good time casting small crocodiles for these off a rocky point near San
Sabastian. Hey, they can't all be giants! Maybe you should go a little further north next time. Seems to be lots of action between Pta. Terasa and
Pulpito.Tomas Tierra - 4-5-2006 at 07:39 AM
wow Pompano..don't bring those babies across the border!!
Broomtail grouper are illegal to POSESS in the good 'ol US..
Gudang good eatin' though!Pompano - 4-5-2006 at 07:44 AM
That they are, Tomas. Which is why we always have them for supper in Baja..and not Up North! ah..along with cabrilla, snapper, and sierra....Tomas Tierra - 4-5-2006 at 08:20 AM
YUMMMMM!!!
Sure wish they would do that one fish per year on the Black Sea Bass in my area of socal. Like you were talking about with the steargon above. Even
maybe selling a card for them..Say $250 for the card, one card per angler,one fish per card..Everyone would buy the card..not many would catch the
fish,talk about revenue!!So many of those fish are caught, brought aboard, handeled, photographed,THEN released with a full air bladder only to float
away and die. Even if they do swim away, once they hit the deck and the slime comes off they are so open for infection..peees me off..we catch the
chit out of those things while white sea bass fishing,
and see countless to 400 pounds while diving..I think they are back..Tomas Tierra - 4-5-2006 at 08:27 AM
Years ago i mistakenly bought a broomy at the ensenada fish market, aka mercado negro,house of death, whatever you want to call it. thinking it was a
Black sea bass(mero) I brought it home to share with my nieghbors..
As I am whacking the thing in my driveway, in plain view, handing out chunks, My buddy comes by who is very in the know with fish species.."do you
know what that is?" He asked..Itsa black sea bass, I said..Isn't it?
Needless to say the operation was moved to the back yard..Pompano - 4-5-2006 at 08:35 AM
I know exactly what you mean on swim bladders. I see far too many little fish floating around pangas and other fishing boats...their bladders bulging
out their mouths. The fish are too small for the guys and they just toss them. Sure, it all goes back to nature, but sooner or later this practice
will decimate that reef and countless other reef's potential to rear fish...and it is escalating as the larger fish are getting scarcer and scarcer.
Sure wish there was a way to counteract this practice. We learned as young kids to ease lake trout up from the depths s-l-o-w-l-y...take the small
one for dinner and release the large females to lay more eggs next season.
Of course, California game/fish laws are just plain screwy..so won't venture into that morass.Cypress - 4-5-2006 at 08:57 AM
You can make a net/cage contraption with a quick release latch on it. Place the fish in it, drop the fish back in the water and let the weight carry
it down to the depth where the pressure pushes the swim bladder back in place then release it. Sorta like decompression in reverse!
420 lb. Black Sea Bass, 4-01 (Bedman photo)
David K - 4-5-2006 at 09:06 AM
From Bedman's web page... I saw it on the floor at Cielito Lindo waiting to be carved up!
Pompano - 4-5-2006 at 09:13 AM
Cypress...I have read of that release system and will research it..thanks for bringing it back to mind. This is also a great tool to release hooked
fish:
Hey David...wow..BIG black bass. Can't say I would have killed it, though. (I imagine it was a little late to release it by the time this picture
was taken, huh?)
[Edited on 4-5-2006 by Pompano]Tomas Tierra - 4-5-2006 at 09:23 AM
yuck...that big and they aint that good to eat, but every body gets some..nice fish though!
We use the spare anchor and some 10# test line with a tiny hook. pin the hook on the out side of the mouth, lower the fish down slowly near the
bottom. one solid jerk, to bust the line..viola..Fish never leaves the water, hoook either rusts out or falls out..best possible scenario, obviously,
is the fish swis off by himself with no help..the worst may be to try and pop the fish..Doomed!
release them tenderly....
Pompano - 4-5-2006 at 10:06 AM
Tomas, I agree on not puncturing the bladder with a knife tip or hook point as I have seen done. You might as well fillet what you can first, because
the fish will die soon anyway.
Don Alley...here is one of your Ft. Peck, Montana walleyes. One of the world's best eating fish...although the Lake of the Woods variety just seems
so much betta... Just kidding, actually I am a frequent visitor to that area and
some buds and I are looking at getting a hunting/fishing cabin or lot there. Neat place full of nature.
fish release
Cypress - 4-5-2006 at 11:44 AM
T. Tierra, Will adopt your release system. Easy, cheap and get's it done. Thanks! Now all I have to do is catch something to release.Don Alley - 4-5-2006 at 11:49 AM
Releasing seabass
A heavy weight is attached to a barbless hook. A line is tied to the bend of the barbless hook.
Hook the fish in the upper jaw, point down, so the weight will pull the fish down without pulling the hook out. The line, tied to the hook bend, goes
to rod and reel in freespool.
When the weight and fish hit bottom or sufficient depth, put the reel in gear, crank it and give it some sharp tugs. The hook will come out.
Some people also have another line on the weight to make it easier to retrieve.
This is the system that some of the San Diego party boats have to release black seabass. Another option is a hypodermic needle, or a sharpened
volleyball inflator, which is inserted behind the pectoral fin.
I got a "grouper" here this winter, but I suspect it was a young black sea bass. Not common here, not only was it my first, but a first for the young
skipper. I don't have a release rig. We ate it:
Tomas Tierra - 4-5-2006 at 12:06 PM
Don, you will need a very large weight for that 420 #er to go back down..
but that is a very common teqnique..the problem with poking them is you leave a lot of room for infection..
definately not a Black sea bass in the photo you posted..protruding lwer jaw is giveaway.. some type of grouper..nice fish, definately goes home for
dinner in my book!Don Alley - 4-5-2006 at 03:34 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Tomas Tierra
definately not a Black sea bass in the photo you posted..protruding lwer jaw is giveaway.. some type of grouper..nice fish, definately goes home for
dinner in my book!
A puzzle...it's not a broomtail or sawtooth groupr, not a leopard grouper. I've caught a gulf grouper, this doesn't seem to be one of them. Mystery
fish.
I think I should have poked it and let it go. I don't know if I should eat something so uncommon we don't know what it is.
Infection-yes, very possible. But the chance of a fish surviving an infection are better than surviving la parilla.
Well, what's done is done and he is done. Tasted pretty good, for a fish. Tomas Tierra - 4-5-2006 at 04:08 PM
Just kidding, actually I am a frequent visitor to that area and
some buds and I are looking at getting a hunting/fishing cabin or lot there. Neat place full of nature.
