BajaNomad - Grouper Grande

Grouper Grande

roundtuit - 1-13-2010 at 07:09 PM

Neighbor caught a 130#+ Grouper off Santa Nezz yesterday. Am trying to get pics for Nomad. Every body is eating grouper tonite :lol:

like this one?

capt. mike - 1-14-2010 at 09:36 AM

weigh in at Mulege.
who's the woman?

mulegefish001 (Small).jpg - 38kB

monoloco - 1-14-2010 at 10:01 AM

That's a beauty!

fishbuck - 1-14-2010 at 04:13 PM

Wow! A sea monster for sure!

Pompano - 1-14-2010 at 06:28 PM

Attention Two Dogs!

I betcha that's the Mirrolure-grabbing monster. Remember all those lures we lost to that guy?

Well, some bigger one will probably take it's place...EGADS! what am I saying?!

[Edited on 1-20-2010 by Pompano]

roundtuit - 1-14-2010 at 06:35 PM

Wrong grouper Probably had several of your lures Roger. South-southwest of Santa Nezz 90 to 199 ft water Jose as guide. Jose B as deckhand
:lol:

90 to 100 ft

[Edited on 1-15-2010 by roundtuit]

Pompano - 1-14-2010 at 06:44 PM

Yup..wrong hole for our grouper. Ours is/was at about 50ft coming up a sheer wall to 25ft.

Actually I am glad to hear that it's not our fish. Because sometime between now and June I am going to get the brute to the boat and pluck our 7 or 8 mirrolures from it's maw before safely releasing it. But unfortunately they are probably hanging in his trophy room by now..ah well, that's fishin'

[Edited on 1-20-2010 by Pompano]

ligui - 1-15-2010 at 07:34 AM

Catch and release ? :yes:

monoloco - 1-15-2010 at 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ligui
Catch and release ? :yes:

Fillet and release.

ligui - 1-15-2010 at 08:17 AM

Must have taken years for this fish to get to this size , good thing to kill it . :no:

Would hate to see it under water while diving , better to see only little fish

MERO

Marla Daily - 1-15-2010 at 08:28 AM

The Black Sea Bass (Stereolepis gigas) is a member of the Percichthyidae family of Sea Basses of which only one lives in Mexican waters. Due to overfishing which includes a vulnerability to spear fishermen, the species is considered to be an endangered species and we strongly recommend that it be handled as a “catch and release” species. In 2005 the Fish and Game Department of the State of California imposed a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail for anyone in possession of a Black Sea Bass. [www.ifishmexico.com]

The Black Sea Bass can be confused with the Goliath Grouper or Jewfish, (Epinephelus itajara) (dorsal fin without a notch, rounded caudal fin). Because it is slow moving without a fear of man the Jewfish has also been taken by commercial spear fishermen and is now an endangered species. [www.mexfish.com]

Barry A. - 1-15-2010 at 08:54 AM

Not taking a stand here, one way or the other, but this is something to consider:

Over the eons, I understand that an est. 98% of all creatures that have graced our planet have gone extinct---------and probably one day it will be our turn. Could be that this is the natural "way of things".

I don't even pretend to know what is "right" here--------

Barry

(edited to correct spelling)

[Edited on 1-15-2010 by Barry A.]

Tomas Tierra - 1-15-2010 at 09:00 AM

Hard to confuse a Black Sea Bass and a jew fish WHEN THEY LIVE IN DIFFERENT OCEANS!!

OBTW...THe pictured fish is not a black sea bass(gulf grouper?)..and, it is not illegal to posses a black sea bass in CA, it is illegal to take one for sport. THe commercial gillnetters and long liners are allowed to take one incidental fish per trip...Go to the fish market every sat. in Ventura and buy some...it's delicious :biggrin:

We see them almost every day Urchin diving. in Ca, they have rebounded tremendously.

Pescador - 1-15-2010 at 09:38 AM

Mero or Black Sea Bass primarily occur on the other side of the peninsula like in the Abreojos areas. The fish that was caught at Santa Inez was a Baja Grouper which is a different species. Bill Erhardt and I had a long discussion about a year ago about how to release these fish but it takes a lot of preparation to have all the equipment not only available but ready to use. When these fish come up from anything over 60 feet, their swim bladder is fully extended and the only safe way to release is with a heavy weight that is attached to the fish and then is released when the fish gets to proper depth. Puncturing the air bladder leads to a serious mortality rate.
The fish is not very good to eat when they get to that size and usually are pretty full of worms which you can see if you put some salt on the uncooked meat.
While catch and release has beome very popular in the United States and Canada, the local fisherman think you are Looney Tunes to release a fish that brings 40 pesos per kilo. I have the release equipment in my boat and a clear understanding that I will release any more big groupers that come to my boat and will pay an estimated amount of market value for that fish. Because it is my boat, I am allowed to be a little extra LOONEY TUNES.

mulegemichael - 1-15-2010 at 11:38 AM

gotta agree with pesca; those big girls gotta be released!

rts551 - 1-15-2010 at 11:56 AM

Tell that to this guy

http://www.berkhome.com/abreojos/abreojos_photo.html

Pompano - 1-15-2010 at 12:03 PM

We generally target known grouper holes in 25 to 50 ft of water. That way the option of catch and release is always availble to us.

Headed backto Baja now with new boat to recover those lost Mirrolures..

side note: Mike..what a world. I am writing this on my laptop using Verizon air card and battery power while decoying cornfed greenheads to this duckblind boat I just bought in Nebraska!

I can now paste this photo and viola...presto..from the duckblind.

Don'tcha just love modern technoloy?

Heads up! Mallards at 12 o'oclock!!

Skipjack Joe - 1-15-2010 at 01:28 PM

"Most of these fish were caught with the help of the local fishing cooperative. The fish was then used by the local Abreojos cooperative to benefit the members"

This is total BS.

As though the fact that the coop benefitted justified the the act. This mindset is used by so many anglers, including nomads.

The bottom line is that the population of black seabass are affected the same way no matter where the meat ends up.

2 thumbs down Mr. Keith Berkley!!!

A San Diego angler should know better.

abrefish2sm12.jpg - 47kB

ligui - 1-15-2010 at 01:32 PM

Beef ! That's whats for dinner ! :spingrin:

rts551 - 1-15-2010 at 02:06 PM

Don't believe everything you read. When you coming back to Campo Rene?

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
"Most of these fish were caught with the help of the local fishing cooperative. The fish was then used by the local Abreojos cooperative to benefit the members"

This is total BS.

As though the fact that the coop benefitted justified the the act. This mindset is used by so many anglers, including nomads.

The bottom line is that the population of black seabass are affected the same way no matter where the meat ends up.

2 thumbs down Mr. Keith Berkley!!!

A San Diego angler should know better.

Skipjack Joe - 1-15-2010 at 02:08 PM

Either June/July or August this year.

Rogelio

capt. mike - 1-15-2010 at 02:52 PM

i used to talk to Keith and Holly frequently when they ran bajaportal.com

they published a travel story i wrote about the Flying Sams.

they are good people with a fine reputation as San Diego contractors and i look forward to seeing their development at Abreojos soon.
ps to Roger - sweet duck action!

i miss my Kansas waterfowl hunting days at Quivera and Cheyenne bottoms game preserves.
can't beat a day in the blind with some whisky, wine and cups of hot joe.

[Edited on 1-15-2010 by capt. mike]

Cardon Man - 1-15-2010 at 03:40 PM

Quote:

100% in agreement with skipjack joe. Super lame move to harvest those fish.

rts551 - 1-15-2010 at 04:25 PM

They seem nice enough. Web site has been up for years with no activity so don't hold your breath. and they don't own any land that I am awarre of. They have only been down once (that I know of) in the last three years.

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike
i used to talk to Keith and Holly frequently when they ran bajaportal.com

they published a travel story i wrote about the Flying Sams.

they are good people with a fine reputation as San Diego contractors and i look forward to seeing their development at Abreojos soon.
ps to Roger - sweet duck action!

i miss my Kansas waterfowl hunting days at Quivera and Cheyenne bottoms game preserves.
can't beat a day in the blind with some whisky, wine and cups of hot joe.

[Edited on 1-15-2010 by capt. mike]

capt. mike - 1-16-2010 at 11:12 AM

guess it isn't going on for them then.

were those fish illegal? - over limit/size? species? or just that its not considered good conservation to take them? would the local fishermen take them? are they for people eating or pet food processing?
just trying to understand the points of discussion.

rts551 - 1-16-2010 at 10:35 PM

I don't know if they were taken legally. They are of legal size. Yes the coop will process them. The coop does not generally fish for them. And it does not make it right to take them like that. I believe it was for sport.

For those that haven't caught a black sea bass. I don't think it is any fun at all. Its like bringing a bag of cement up off the bottom. no fun at all.

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike
guess it isn't going on for them then.

were those fish illegal? - over limit/size? species? or just that its not considered good conservation to take them? would the local fishermen take them? are they for people eating or pet food processing?
just trying to understand the points of discussion.

Skipjack Joe - 1-16-2010 at 10:35 PM

Basically you have a southern californian promoting abreojos with images of 80 year old dead fish that normally don't reach sexual maturity until a weight of 60 lbs. A recipe for disaster.

It's like promoting San Felipe with pictures of totuava being loaded into trucks back in the 50's.

How did that story end?

capt. mike - 1-17-2010 at 09:52 AM

thank you. i understand this discussion much better.
in 1991 i was scuba diving off Grand Cayman and at one of the marked commercial group dive sites lived a tame Goliath grouper AKA Jew fish.
i have it on video - it was amazing and let us all swim right up to it. had to be 6' long or better, weighed several hundred pounds. Catching it would be pointless i think.
i saw similar video of divers petting giant cod at reefs off Australia.

as much as a like eating yellow tail, i didn't get much thrill bringing those up off Santa Ynez isla, 40 lb class - like fighting a 4X12 sheet of EXT CDX plywood.

i think dorado is the most sport fun. i'll stick with those.

Tomas Tierra - 1-17-2010 at 10:59 AM

yeah, I think fighting a trout on 2 pound test is more fun than a 40 lb yellow on the yoyo..I mean, who wants to pull that hard.

IlaughoutloudwhenIthrowthejig.

Ken Bondy - 1-17-2010 at 11:22 AM

Tomas
Seeing a BSB in California is high on my bucket list. Where are you seeing them? I know there are a few spots at Catalina (Italian Gardens is one) where they are reliably seen, but it seems like sightings at the other islands are pretty spotty. ++Ken++

Tomas Tierra - 1-17-2010 at 02:43 PM

Ken, still chasing that Mero huh? Seems like years ago we exchanged about seeing/photographing one.. Seems like when we work Anacapa, SBI, and Nick...mostly where we see them.

We are ussually creating a ruckus before the diving starts trying to catch fish. Maybe we are bringing them in? Dunno..only see big ones 80lbs plus..Good Luck..would love to see one in your photo quality/style..

Ken Bondy - 1-17-2010 at 04:52 PM

Thanks Tomas. I will keep trying at Anacapa. I might have to bite the bullet and book a Catalina trip one of these days

++Ken++

AmoPescar - 1-17-2010 at 06:00 PM

HERE'S A HUGE BLACK SEA BASS

This GRANDE bass was caught by Chino fishing out of Cielito Lindo.

David K and I saw this fish in 2001 when we stopped for the night on our way back north. Truely a BIG fish!!!

The pig in the forground is 'Porky Pig' - Dave and Juanita's pet.

Amo Pescar :yes:

[Edited on 1-25-2010 by AmoPescar]

AmoPescar - 1-18-2010 at 11:56 PM

DAVID K. ...DO YOU REMEMBER THE BIG BLACK SEA BASS AT CIELITO LINDO?

I posted a picture of it above.

Miguelamo

Tomol - 1-20-2010 at 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Thanks Tomas. I will keep trying at Anacapa. I might have to bite the bullet and book a Catalina trip one of these days

++Ken++

If you do, shoot me an email before hand. I'll give you any info I have.

nbaker@perfpress.com

Pompano - 1-20-2010 at 09:16 AM

Some of the most fun I have fishing is grinning while fighting a grayling..the sailfish of the north..on a fly or spinning with 2lb test. Winching up grouper or yellowtail can be fun, but just can't compare.

A huge grayling will run 4 lbs. :rolleyes:

Here's some monster grayling: ( That I wish I had caught!)

Let those big female egg-laying grouper live! You'll feel good about it.

Skipjack Joe - 1-20-2010 at 09:54 AM

Now THAT is a grayling.