Pompano Fish Report - Feb 12 - Gone Fishin'

Hey, up and at'em Cedric! We're burning daylight!






Too bad, ol girl, you're gonna miss this in about an hour...





[Edited on 2-13-2012 by Pompano]

It started in the dark, damp, and cold time of the morning...helluva time to leave a warm bed!




In these parts,'making bait' is the first order of most fishing days.


Making bait out of Mulege consists of missing the rocks and mudflats getting out of the river shallows, rounding the lighthouse point hard to port, Co-pilot!--Port I said!!..no,no that's not the kind of port I wanted...ahh, jeez...never mind...



Note: We will now have a slight detour/delay due to an incurable addiction to losing money at the poker tables; I must leave for a few hours.

This fishing report is on hold until c-cktail hour..by which time I will have concocted much more information on the actual and completely truthful events.



[Edited on 2-13-2012 by Pompano]

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompanohttp://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk45/bajaroger/Baja%20Photos/20114-12COYOTESUNRISEETC020.jpg[/IMG] I don't ever remember the crack of Dawn looking like that (or maybe it was someone else's crack I'm thinking of [Edited on 2-13-2012 by Pompano]

Got enough live bait to last the day...keeping it fresh, lively, and high on oxygen for the voyage.




Now..which direction shall we go? hmm ..Yellowtail and a few cabrilla to the left of me...Tail, cabrilla, and PINTOS to the right of me. To hell with the glamour fish...I.E.P. I eat pintos.
(and they hang with the big boys, anyway....)



We hit Wilburs Hole and send down a spunky mackerel on a circle hook. It was just a little bitty chop this early, but enough so that I had to use an 8 ounce egg to drop the bait without getting a belly in the line. Using 50lb test ...just in case of a monster...I really hate this heavy line, but now and then one truly does need it. 'Thar be rock piles below, y'know.'

I let the rig down fast, find the bottom, crank up 4-5 turns (about 8 feet or so off the bottom..and vary it from there if no luck) Well...shazam...I had luck right off the bat with a small jurel. No giant, but a start. I put him in the cooler..maybe a 18-20 lber..like I said, no giant.

I baited up another live rig and sent it back to the 230 ft bottom at Wilburs Hole. The surrounding ocean floor slopes up from 300+ offshore to 250 inshore..a nice rocky hump for the fish below.




Seems like that was the only jurel around that wanted my action...or most likely I just wanted to... motor on!..because I waited for 15 minutes and away we went.

I know dozens of holes and rockpiles from Wilburs to Illedelfonso...I'll find something. Sides, it's a good day to sightsee on the Cortez.

For your viewing pleasure, here some of the day's sights at sea:


Top from left to right: Trawler/cruiser ------------------------- ------------------------------------------ sea lion (sailing on his flippers)

Bottom from left to right: Nice sloop heading south ------------------------------------------------------------------rust bucket dragging shrimp

There's two familar landmarks off in the distance...




I cruise past a very delightful, sandy, secluded beach we are eager to stop at from time to time...umm....ahhhh....but belay that!..today we're fishing!


Right at the rocky point, I pick up a nice cabrilla with this..one of my recent lures purchases at Fisherman's Landing, Shelter Island, San Diego. A Rapala deep diver..says it will run to 30ft at up to 8mph..but mine failed that test...but did indeed catch my cabrilla at 16ft @7mph...so I will give it a grade B.





I keep an eye on the bottom and soon spot some of my waypoints with their rockpiles below.



Guess I'll try a 6 oz dart here..hey, why not? I've got all day and this is no tournament. So I get out my ultra light outfit..12lb spectra on a 6:1 Diawa baitcaster..a favorite way to loose expensive lures. Down she goes...

...and never makes it to the bottom 228 ft mark.

It goes limp about 30 off the bottom and I, quick as a fox in the henhouse, throw the reel in gear and lean into the strike!

Whammo!


Something fearfully strong yanks back and makes it's own strike!

I pump and reel, pump and reel, pump and reel!!....

.making more progress than loss in the ensueing battle. I sneak a drink of water during a brief standoff.


Then back to pump and reel..pump and reel!..


I see color over the side...

....and what a beautiful color it was...


..a quite lovely shade of red/orange. Reminds me to send some pansies to my co-pilot for Valentine Day.






I have misplaced my recipe for this feisty fish, so he was released after taking this mug shot. Or..this pelican got him...I couldn't bring myself to look...all I heard was a splash. Che cera cera..that the way it is at sea. Somedays you're the windshield, somedays you're the bug.



On to the next rockpile...Mateo's Hole..a fabled place, for sure.

Here I will find my dinner...a nice fat Pinto! To be sure, a couple pintos..cuz I am hungry...no breakfast, no lunch, nada. Don't worry, no raw fish eating photos here, I 'will' cook it.

I decide to use a rock cod rig with cut-bait and see if I can make a double hook-up..si, como no?


Danged if those don't make the best looking little steaks, eh? Just like my canned fish steak snacks....

Well, suffice to say I caught my two pintos, was almost too easy..one drop with 2 cut baits...hit the bottom and hooked a second before...crank, crank, crank..and that made it my limit of 5 fish in one day...so it's time to hit the waves for the ride to the ramp at Mulege.



Not a banner day fishing, but hey...not so bad, either. Beats whatever is happening on the shore!

Now here's the return part of this fishing day...Glad you came along for the fun!






I wonder if that skiff will EVER get off that rock..??


And now I am safely back from sea...boat back on the trailer..and look up in the sky. Hey..there's the moon...and...hey..IT WON'T HOLD WATER...
wha...What the....???

Pompano, Thanks. Looking forward to your next adventure.

lowrance