Anonymous - 6-26-2004 at 02:15 PM
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2...
Tom Stienstra
June 24, 2004
Loreto , Baja California -- The Sea of Cortez stretched out for miles, glass calm with no hint of a breeze -- and in a 40-yard circle just ahead of
our small boat, the surface was dimpled like a golf ball. The sea then appeared to tremble and twitch.
"What's that?" asked my boy, Kris, 13.
"Nervous water," answered my partner Bill Karr, an edge to his voice. "There must be unbelievable thousands of caballito being forced to the surface
by a huge school of yellowtail underneath them, so many that the surface looks like it's alive."
A moment later, pelicans circled, hovered and started diving for food. We flipped out our live baits, and in seconds, Karr was hooked up. A moment
later, it was my boy's turn.
Rods doubled over and big yellowtail surged, bulldogged and flashed color. At one point, all three of us were battling away, and shortly after, we had
back-to-back doubleheaders. In one hour and 14 minutes, we caught 15 yellowtail, all 15 to 28 pounds, and scarcely had a moment where at least one of
us was not hooked up.
I scanned across miles of open water, edged by outcrops, islands and Baja's La Giganta Mountains. About 200 yards away, porpoise were hurtling across
the surface. A prehistoric-looking frigate bird sailed overhead, its jagged wings locked in a glide.
It had been 20 years since I'd been to Mexico. In fact, after a succession of trips featuring rip-off resorts and botched boat trips, I vowed never to
return. It took Karr to convince me otherwise.
Bang for the buck
Loreto is located on the Sea of Cortez along the eastern coast of the Baja peninsula, a small town where the people are friendly and the prices are
cheap. The mainstream public overlooks Loreto because there is no nightlife, and flights from Los Angeles are far less frequent and a bit more
expensive than to Cabo, Acapulco and the other tourist traps.
Ed Rice, the globe-trotting fly fisher who's been to 40 countries, told me you could search around the world and not find better adventure for the
price than Loreto -- $50 per night for a villa that sleeps four with a swimming pool and a landscaped, fenced setting; as low as $175 per day for
three with a boat from Arturo's, either fishing for yellowtail, dorado, sailfish and marlin, or diving in the marine park, snorkeling or scuba.
For one dinner, we brought our own fish to a restaurant with a mesquite grill, La Palapa, and feasted on fish tacos along with salads, beans, salsa
and chips for $3 per person -- while being serenaded by a mariachi band. The consensus finest meal in town, a giant bowl of a salsa/cilantro-based
soup filled with lobster, prawns and crabs and spiked with yellowtail topped the menu at $9.
Everything in Loreto is within walking distance, so you don't need a rental car. If you want to explore the region, or take advantage of the new 30-
foot sport cruisers out of Puerto Escondido a half hour to the south, taxi drivers can be hired in the range of $50 a day for up to six people.
There also is the opportunity for nature touring, by boat to five islands to see whales, sea turtles and flying fish. You then can land at deserted
white sand beaches with clear, turquoise shallows, or soak in natural hot springs while the fish jump around you. The sea temperature ranges from 81
to 84 degrees right now, cobalt blue with Tahoe-like clarity, perfect for snorkeling and scuba diving, to view all matter of tropical fish, porpoise
and whales, and a chance to see turtles and lobster.
Out to sea
After our opening day of fishing for yellowtail in a super panga, a long, narrow craft standardized by Baja guides, we ventured to Puerto Escondido to
board El Fuerte, a 28-foot pro cruiser with a spotting tower. The price is $450 for a full day for six and includes a case of beer and bottled water,
fish cleaning, bagging and freezing. The same trip for marlin out of Kona, Hawaii, but with no extras, costs $750.
At dawn, owner and skipper Ty Miller powered his cruiser out, where a brilliant sunrise with high-altitude cirrus refracted brilliant oranges of
morning light across miles of a calm, mirrored sea. Miller, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico, was wound tight as a coiled
spring at the prospects.
"There's 82- to 84-degree water 70 miles out, just off Isla Catalina," Miller said. He said that a report from a private boat, Reel Time, told of
dozens of sightings of marlin and sailfish, jumping and finning.
About 35 miles out, to get the day jump-started, we stopped at a "bajo" - which means "short," or a shallow spot -- an undersea dome where the bottom
rises from 2,500 feet deep to 165 feet deep. These bajos provide cover and food for baitfish such as mackerel and caballito, and in turn, attract
yellowtail and other fish.
On our second drift over the dome, I hooked a big yellowtail. It instantly tried to power down into the rocks, and with the rod bent into the water, I
bullied that fish to the sheer edge of the line's breaking point. It relented and then burst off to the side. With tremendous bulldog strength, that
fish burrowed down to the rocks two other times. The yellowtail never gave up, a personal life-best 38-pounder.
Dolphins galore
At midmorning, with the boat running at full speed, we spotted flying fish, schools of dolphins jumping like greyhounds and occasional manta rays
rocketing 5 feet out of the water. Miller and Karr rigged tuna clones and marlin teasers behind the boat, and we powered down to troll at about 7
knots. Perched high in the spotting tower, Zach Karr and Kris, my son, scanned across the sea for signs of billfish.
A panic-stricken shout came from the tower. "There! On the right! Two o'clock!"
The black tail of a billfish could be seen cutting through the calm, azure surface of the sea. Miller slowed the boat, approaching in an elliptical
path. Karr quickly baited with a live mackerel.
From the tower, you clearly could see the large sailfish, about a 9- footer, finning slowly just beneath the surface. Karr converted a perfect cast,
well ahead of the fish -- the sailfish shot forward, took the bait, and Karr set the hook. "Got him!" he shouted.
Karr leaned back, the full weight of the fish on the bent rod, and then, as if a scuba diver had cut the line with a razor blade, the fish was gone in
an instant. "The serrated edge of his spear must have cut the line," said Miller, frustrated.
Over the course of two days, we spotted 40 or 50 billfish, cast to a half- dozen, but landed none. It made us howl like wolves.
Quiet before the storm
A 30-minute lull caused many of us to reflect on the magic of the day, of old friends and family. I kept thinking how I wished all of them could
experience the beauty and adventure of the Sea of Cortez.
Then, while lost in thought, the tip of one of the troll rods started bouncing. I grabbed it, set the hook -- a big one -- shouted for Kris and handed
over the rod.
The first sensation of the weight was followed by a wild line-burning run, and it looked like Kris might get pulled right into the water. He struggled
for 20 minutes, and then was nearly worn out. I provided an assist by adding a left hand under the rod, my right hand on his shoulder, and helped lift
the rod while he reeled.
More than a half-hour into the fight, Kris was exhausted, and finally relin- quished. I took over, but made little headway, the fish still ripping off
runs of 30 and 40 yards. Then, through 60 feet of blue water under the boat, I spotted color: It was big bull Dorado -- mahi-mahi -- with a head so
big that it couldn't fit in a 5-gallon bucket.
It shimmered gold with blue speckles, about 5 feet long, propelled by a wide, powerful tail.
At the boat, the Dorado made one last turn and lunge to throw the hook, but Miller was lightning-quick with the gaff, snagging it on the first pass.
An instant later, the fish was ours.
It was one of the biggest Dorado caught with El Fuerte Sportfishing, roughly 50 pounds on the deck, exactly 47.6 pounds five hours later at the dock.
A day later, flying back to California, we recalled the moments of the trip, and all we could think of was this: We're going back. Soon.
"A True Story"
Skeet/Loreto - 6-27-2004 at 05:42 AM
Thank you Tom for Telling it like it has been for me since 1968 when I first fell in Love with the Sea Of Cortez.
Skeet/Loreto
"In God I Trust"
Margie - 6-30-2004 at 12:32 PM
Wow - thanks for the article. We're going to Mulege, Loreto and if everything goes well, over to the mainland Novenmber and part of December. Can
hardly wait.
Maybe I won't come back !!!
tim40 - 7-10-2004 at 10:12 PM
It is just that good and maybe better I sure wish with the joy and pride of that
place we could learn to keep it for ourselves...but just yesterday on my plan ride down from San Joe to LAX, I was whispering the same kinda
stories...I guess we just can't help ourselves....