BajaNomad - Best Fish Identification book for Baja

Best Fish Identification book for Baja

heike - 3-18-2011 at 08:54 AM

Hello Everyone
I would like to get a good fish identification book for baja fishing... any recommendations?
Thanks

Alan - 3-18-2011 at 09:02 AM

http://www.amazon.com/McClanes-Field-Saltwater-Fishes-Americ...

I think this is the same book I keep on my boat but it is a newer edition so the cover is different.

coronamike - 3-18-2011 at 11:40 AM

Fishes of the Pacific Coast. By Gar Goodson. Great book. Small paperback. Has every fish I've ever seen in Baja. Good luck

ElFaro - 3-18-2011 at 11:52 AM

Try this...

Excellent rendition of each species.

http://www.amazon.com/Sport-Fish-Pacific-Vic-Dunaway/dp/0936...

Skipjack Joe - 3-18-2011 at 12:29 PM

The Gar Goodson is really great and probably better than this one for what you need. But this one is more comprehensive. This is the one I've been using for years.

A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes : North America (Peterson Field Guides)

PetersonGuidtoPacificFishes.jpg - 19kB

Alan - 3-18-2011 at 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by coronamike
Fishes of the Pacific Coast. By Gar Goodson. Great book. Small paperback. Has every fish I've ever seen in Baja. Good luck

Bingo! That is the one I have!

marv sherrill - 3-19-2011 at 05:53 PM

Here are 2 books that I use all of the time - Nice little paperback - Gulf of California Fishwatcher's Guide by Thompson and McKibbin, and the Picture book by Daniel Gotshall - Marine Animals of Baja California. Also Reef fishes of the Sea of Cortez - hard back - is absolutely the best, but more expensive.

JaraHurd - 3-19-2011 at 08:28 PM

As far as a fish ID book for fishing, there is a chapter in The Baja Catch (3rd Edition) with a decent description of most fish you are likely to catch in Baja. It is not a great fish ID book but the chapter is helpful and the book itself is a fun read and break down on fishing Baja..

mcfez - 3-19-2011 at 09:08 PM

The Baja Catch....it does have a decent chapter on this subject.

You may want this book too.........if your out fishing for dinner

41h0q-M8UML._SL500_AA300_.jpg - 19kB

fishabductor - 3-19-2011 at 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by coronamike
Fishes of the Pacific Coast. By Gar Goodson. Great book. Small paperback. Has every fish I've ever seen in Baja. Good luck

x2 times 1,000,000...damn good book.

The baja catch is for newbies, it is great if that is you and you rarely fish in baja, but it leaves a lot to be desired on all accounts. It says that you are most likely to catch a striped marlin while fishing out of a tin boat on the eastcape for petes sake!! I probably have fished 1500-2000 days on the eastcape in a tin boat and have had only 3 marlin hookups. must be that I am not using rebel fast tracks!! :lol:

redhilltown - 3-19-2011 at 10:31 PM

I gotta defend Gene and the Baja Catch here!!!!!!! Where does it say you are "likely" to catch a Marlin fishing their style? I love it and use it and I am by no means a newbie to fishing in Baja...it just might not be YOUR particular style of fishing. You don't get the 20 rods (re: $5,000.00...er, $10,000) flying in the breeze, or the soft compy seats, or the nice bait tanks but you get up and close and personal to the real Baja coast...if you wanna tie up and jump onto that little island and walk around you do it. If you wanna get way off road with your car topper and launch in the middle of nowhere you do it...away from the crowds and the boat ramps and the drunken, chest beating "I caught a 150 pounder" types. Which is fine...but not for everyone.

That said, your "fast track" comment is pretty damn funny and right on! :tumble:

fishabductor - 3-19-2011 at 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redhilltown
I gotta defend Gene and the Baja Catch here!!!!!!! Where does it say you are "likely" to catch a Marlin fishing their style? I love it and use it and I am by no means a newbie to fishing in Baja...it just might not be YOUR particular style of fishing. You don't get the 20 rods (re: $5,000.00...er, $10,000) flying in the breeze, or the soft compy seats, or the nice bait tanks but you get up and close and personal to the real Baja coast...if you wanna tie up and jump onto that little island and walk around you do it. If you wanna get way off road with your car topper and launch in the middle of nowhere you do it...away from the crowds and the boat ramps and the drunken, chest beating "I caught a 150 pounder" types. Which is fine...but not for everyone.

That said, your "fast track" comment is pretty damn funny and right on! :tumble:

look in your copy under plumo shoals, it is under the likely catch...i haven't read it in yrs, but I still remember it. If I am wrong I will buy you a ballena!

The baja catch was a favorite book of mine several yrs ago when I first moved to the eastcape, and after fishing countless days here I don't think they fished many days on the eastcape. Maybe the book is Tit's on up north, but I find it very limited for this area. My baja fishing experience is limited to the eastcape area

only 20 rods?? that is child's play....
I only take 6 roads with me, I have no seats I tore them out, as I did with every other thing in the boat that was not necessary, so I can beach launch a 16' bayrunner solo. I like catching fish, lots of fish..if it weighs 150lbs or more all the better. Sorry to say I have never landed a fish that size...my biggest to date is a 75lb roosterfish from the beach...and it wasn't on a Rebel.

To each his own, the baja catch is great is you are after reef fish or other shallow water species. I like to troll fast and cover a lot of ground. A rebel leaves the water at about 5mph, I troll about 12-14mph, but then again, I am looking for Wahoo, Dorado, Tuna and hopefully I'll finally catch that striped marlin, the last 2 broke my 20lb line :lol:

[Edited on 3-20-2011 by fishabductor]

redhilltown - 3-19-2011 at 11:29 PM

I was messin with ya in the best spirit of grumpy fisherman abductor! Your style sounds great and I am jealous...maybe I have "boat length envy"

Now, go catch a 100 pound roosterfish! I have the Advil ready.

fishabductor - 3-19-2011 at 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redhilltown
I was messin with ya in the best spirit of grumpy fisherman abductor! Your style sounds great and I am jealous...maybe I have "boat length envy"

Now, go catch a 100 pound roosterfish! I have the Advil ready.

No worries...no offense taken or meant

I actually did have a possible 100lb'r rooster on this past summer. It took a 10lb peanut dorado that I was bringing in to release, it was about 4 miles out and it was the biggest rooster I have ever seen. It let go of the dorado about 10' from the boat after attacking it multiple times.

The 75lb rooster kicked my ass up until it died of a heart attack, I can't imagine what a 100lb'r would do.

acadist - 3-20-2011 at 06:37 AM

When was The Baja Catch written? Probably could catch marlin in your tin boat 30 ft from shore then......all in all it IS a great book with alot of good information, especially for us "newbies" that can only get down 1-2 times a year.

mcfez - 3-20-2011 at 07:01 AM

Here's my take (below from a 2010 post I did) on "The "Baja Catch": it's great. So far the book has been on the money. Yes....it's years later when this book was published, and there is a significant less fish count in the Sea of Cortez. Still...each time out was great. Would I go for the big game with the set up (boat)....no.
______________________________________________

A secret fishing hole

Trying out something new, I went out and bought a Gregory welded boat, rigged it up exactly as they did in "The Baja Catch"...Everything is redone or new except the anchor and rope.

Just amazing results! So now I have a little putt putt to access more that just the surf (which is supremo fishing too).

My first spot last week....a spot that is written in a book, and told to me by two different fellows. I have heard fish stories.... theses guys told me a whooper lived in the cove....as did the book. Grouper and Trigger fish.

So after launching off the ramp in Puerticitos....I spot hit few places...no takes. It's been windy for five days...

So now comes the secret fish spot....and a fish story that you may not believe!

Coming into the little cove, I threw my anchor in. The cove at that spot is a whopping 45 feet deep according to my anchor line.
Geared up with:

Opus Plus 5500
Sambre SC700 7'
40 lb line
2 oz sinker
3/0 hook
Salted medium size shrimp

Drop cast in, set the rod on the holder.....all within 15 seconds....something bent my rod wildly into the water...I grabbed the rod, the freakin boat tilt sideways to within two inches from the water line....line snapped. It must have been the "one". I am 245 lb plus the stuff in the boat...and it damn near overturned the boat!

Had to back up the boat again...anchor must have been dragged by the current or fish? Threw the anchor out and it went ....woooooooooo! The rope undone' d. &&*(^^&$#%

True story.

The guy off the rocks was catching fish as though he was using a vacuum cleaner. I was catching anger.

So.....here's a map of the best hole in the Puerticitos area. @ 2 miles downward south. 15 minute small craft ride.

Up on the bank....look for a pink trailer with a roof over it, few houses. There's a area there to launch a light boat too. The highway is right there.

[Edited on 10-29-2010 by mcfez]

bajabass - 3-20-2011 at 07:15 AM

The book has it's uses, but I have caught fish all over the U.S. and Mexico trolling crankbaits! Fresh and salty water. Good way to find active, aggressive fish. Many areas they wrote about in that book have long since been fished out!
Just picked up the "The Book Of Fishes" Food Fishes, Game Fishes, And Other Inhabitants Of North American Coastal And Inland Waters
Printed in 1939, it is actually pretty complete, and the old photos are great! Used book stores are a great place to fill out your fishing library. I prefer to browse and review before I buy. Hard to do on the web.

Skipjack Joe - 3-20-2011 at 09:05 AM

"The Baja Catch" is the best book every written on fishing baja.

JaraHurd - 3-20-2011 at 09:35 AM

I don't spend a whole lot of time researching fishing in Baja because I don't have a lot of time as i work 12 hour days..BUT..The Baja Catch is fun to read and tends to pump me up. When I drive to Baja I usually hire locals anyway..so..that is the knowledge I rely on. But that book is great..as is another book I found as a result of this website called The Angler's Guide To Trailer-Boating Baja by Zack Thomas. That book is helpful and fun to read...but..hell..I don't know how accurate either is..just know they are fun books.... I don't think any book is going to be a accurate as local knowledge no matter where you are....and thank God for that....

Not much in the way of fish ID in that book (trailer boating guide) though..

OCEANUS - 3-20-2011 at 09:41 AM

I agree that the Baja catch is the book for how to fish Baja. But in terms of helping to identify fish, the best resource I have used is the Reef Fishes of the Sea of Cortez by Thompson and Kerstich. Here's a link:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=reef+fishes+of+the+...

I use this book in my classes and it has served my students well to identify even the most obscure catches. Most other books/cards focus on common fish in each region, and fail to even mention most other fish that can be encountered. This is the most comprehensive guide out there, and offered at a fairly decent price ($16) too.

fishabductor - 3-20-2011 at 12:21 PM

No offense meant to the Baja Catch or it's followers...I just think it is limited as a fish ID book, and the techniques are also limited. How many serious fisherman in baja actually rely solely on Rebel lures?

I read the book and went out and bought every Rebel I could find...around 200, and brought them down...I ended up taking them back up and selling them on ebay. They caught fish, but so did every other lure when fished over a reef slowly. The best lure I ever used was a Blue Big O' that was only 3" in length, followed by tadpollies. But that is a reef fish game, fun yes.... but there is NOTHING like hearing a reel scream as a wahoo burns off the drag on a 100-200yd run!!! What ever you do, DO NOT THUMB THE SPOOL!

Skipjack Joe - 3-20-2011 at 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redhilltown
.....but you get up and close and personal to the real Baja coast...if you wanna tie up and jump onto that little island and walk around you do it. If you wanna get way off road with your car topper and launch in the middle of nowhere you do it...away from the crowds and the boat ramps and the drunken, chest beating "I caught a 150 pounder" types. Which is fine...but not for everyone.

Don't want to hijack this thread, but...

I really agree with this outlook on fishing the baja peninsula and wanted to say so. I'm glad to read here that there are others who see things that way, fishermen who are not newbies. Not everyone wants to "graduate" to marlin fishing.

fishabductor - 3-20-2011 at 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Quote:

agreed...I don't want to graduate to marlin either, I want to graduate to Wahoo...however I wouldn't mind landing at least one marlin on 20lb in my tin boat...hell even on 40lb I'd like to land one.

redhilltown - 3-20-2011 at 11:51 PM

I think we all agree on one simple fact: no matter how/when/where, we'd rather be fishing in Baja right now!!!!!!

And not to belabor the point but I actually feel the Baja Catch has a great fish i.d. section in that a very very large proportion of what you'll "catch" (sorry) is usually in there...if not exact then the same family. I guess it comes down to was the original post basically to have an "idea" of what he is catching or whether he wants to know THE sebastes/rock fish he has just caught.

For some reason I am thinking of garlic and butter...

heike - 3-21-2011 at 06:33 AM

Thanks Everyone!
I am going to get Baja Catch and Pacific Coast fish books!

beachbum1A - 3-21-2011 at 06:36 AM

I just now ordered a used "A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes : North America (Peterson Field Guides)" from Amazon.Com for under $8.dlls plus $4. shipping.

mcfez - 3-21-2011 at 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by beachbum1A
I just now ordered a used "A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes : North America (Peterson Field Guides)" from Amazon.Com for under $8.dlls plus $4. shipping.

I just ordered a used "A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes : North America (Peterson Field Guides)" from Amazon.Com for under $3.oo plus $4. shipping.
Just kidding... :-)

Give us a review on the book please.