So Many Lures, So Little Time..

Mulege, BCS.

Okay..I'm back in Baja for a while and I'm going to get in some serious fishing time in the Tortuga/San Marcos/Mulege/Ille Delfonso areas. Oh..say a general radius of 60 nautical miles from Mulege.

I have a goal to test out several types of lures recently *purchased at Shelter Island, San Diego.
(* suckered into buying)

Also some new-to-me angling techniques learned/discussed with pro-guides in Panama. Hopefully, these will work as well in the Cortez as they did off the Hannibal Banks. By the way, the fishing there is unbelievable...like old times in Baja! Offshore-inshore, it's God's Country for Anglers.


Starting tomorrow ,Wednesday-Feb 9, I'll be fishing every day out of the Bay or Mulege river ramp..weather permitting (no fishing during hurricanes, tidal waves, or poker tournaments). I will thoroughly ocean-test all these new lures and presentations...and will try to give you photo reports of the results as they happen...successful or not.

I'll be fishing from one of my favorite crafts...A Yarcraft...a serious & well-built fishing boat...no frills, no center consoles, no T-tops, just a pure fishing boat engineered and made by fishermen for fishermen. I have used this particular model all over the continent..lakes, rivers, oceans...from Baja's coasts to Alaska's lakes and Cook Inlet. A dry ride in heavy waves and seas..which is damn important to the skipper in a tiller boat! These boats are built to withstand the storms of huge inland lakes like Lake Superior & Lake Michigan. I have fished these lakes and got caught in storms...the lake storm waves are HUGE...and much rougher..closer sets... than anything I have ever seen in 40 years on the Cortez.

Yarcraft...The word ‘Yare’ is an eastern expression meaning a graceful, safe ship responding quickly and truly to the helm.


I have owned a lot of good fishing boats over the years and in many bodies of water, both fresh and salt, but for plain bread-n-butter fishing, this is my choice...for now anyway. One can never, never own too many boats!!

This lure-testing is a dangerous, onerous endeavor and one I do not take undertake lightly...harumph.. (Hah...to hell with that. I've got nothing better to do!)


Hey..it's my rice bowl!


I'll try to report the honest facts fully and accurately, and not lapse into Wild and Exaggerated claims as..uh.. certain fishertypes are prone to do. ..and on that subject I am honor bound to mention NO names..(unless I get to drinking rum again...in which case it's pretty much the end of the world..)


Here's the Baja fishing rig I'll be using:








For this experiment, I took off all the auxilary electric motors and front pedestal as I seldom use these in Mexico, except for bass fishing on the mainland.

It has a folding bimini for those bright & HOT days...when shade is required. It has a large bow platform for those who like to sunbath while the skipper is looking for fish.



Now then...enough talking.

What say we go fishing and test some lures?



[Edited on 2-9-2011 by Pompano]

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano This boat comes with fish supplied??

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg This boat comes with fish supplied??

Why, yes it did, Ed..those are my new 'boat fenders'..a design I helped to invent.

Hold the Phone....

Norther's? skiff? Hah...captjkwm, that's a rich one. I suggest you Google a bit and gain some knowledge? You'll enjoy reading about the conditions these boats are designed to handle.

http://www.yarcraft.com/about.asp


I've been in some rather heavy seas and huge lake waves in my 'skiff'. These boats are built especially for rough weather..hence the name Yarcraft 'Storm'.

...skiff indeed...

Never kick my dog..or diss my boat!

[Edited on 2-9-2011 by Pompano]

Jesus saved me.

You will remember..


"Ahem...Well, there could possibly be a 'very slight delay' in these proceedings.

I fear The Rum-Mistake Factor has come into play.


I must go to Mulege and consult with Jesus about a starting problem."

Well, I had started and ran the engine in my driveway, hooked up to a garden hose via the diaper and built-in engine flush. Ran perfectly.

Then backed the boat/trailer down my ramp to take for a good thorough test run around Coyote Bay.

Engine start was dead...nada, nothing. Battery bank checks out fully charged. Gauges working, bilges, bait tanks, horn, etc, etc...hmmm? What the heck?

I puzzled over the start problem..checking all I could twice and thrice. Still nada. My fishing partner for manana came over to help..still nada.





Well, time to take it to the outboard whiz mechanic of Mulege...Jesus.




He..with the help of his father...checked out the fairly complicated Evinrude 115 E-Tec outboard with the speed of an expert. Checking fuses, connections, nuetral linkage, oil supply, and then ran a little check on the engine computer. Nada. Dang..this is getting to be a real puzzler!



Then Jesus takes a good look at the ignition switch..turns it on, off, on off..seeing the gauges work..hmm..everything
except engine START. He gets the instrument panel off and inspects the back of the ignitiion component. ..then smiles...

He asks me when I last had it started. I said just about an hour ago..in my driveway. It ran great, I told him. He asked if I noticed anything unusual or did anything unusual?

I said absolutely nothing..nada..zip..I just shut it down..and then opened the compartment window to store the vhf and some lures.

"Was the window hard to close?" he asked.

I said, "Why, yes it was..I had to push hard ..how did you know?"

"Because when you closed that window too hard, you pulled a ignition wire loose..see here?"



Grrr...I could not believe it!!

"Rogelio...you drink rum, right?"

"Not after today,Jesus..."


Jesus Romero Drew
Cell: 615-155-8442
Casa: 15-3-04-23

Jesus's shop is located in the barrio just south of the Serinadad. Take the Serinadad road in and look for the shop with all the boats and engines..to the left and next to a little tienda.

Tell him a sober Rogelio sent you.

p.s. Jesus charged me a whooping 200 pesos and gave me a Tecate lite. For a hour and a half of his expert time. Guess what that would have been at a San Diego shop?

So it's just after noon and I'm wondering if you've got your funny little bass boat wet yet and how those new lures are catching. Winds here isn't too bad, NW only 15 to 20mph and no white caps inshore.