Rigo Ojeda, who is one of the best fishermen in the Santa Rosalia area showed his degree of skill yesterday when he brought in a monster Grouper. The
fish weighed in at 145 Kilos which is close to 319 pounds. He was fishing with mackerel bait in around 150 feet of water with a 60 lb. test handline.
He got bit and knew immediately it was a large fish but the fish managed to break the line when it started to pull really hard. He rebaited his 80
lb. outfit and went back down and had another bite right away. When this one took the bait he played it carefully for over 1/2 hour and got towed in
his panga for over 3/4 mile. When this big monster floated to the surface it had both hooks in it's mouth.
Fishing has been really poor for the panguero's this winter since around the middle of December so this is a really welcome prize and only through
patience and persistence did this fish become a reality. It sure goes a long way toward making up for all the dead days when all he managed to do was
burn up gasoline.
big fish
captkw - 2-18-2012 at 01:09 PM
double edge sword=spawnerPescador - 2-18-2012 at 01:17 PM
Don't tell Cyprus that Rigo caught this fish, he thinks there are only small ones around here.Skipjack Joe - 2-18-2012 at 01:21 PM
I was under the impression he only fished from your boat.
Rigo is a good man.bacquito - 2-18-2012 at 01:26 PM
Good eats!!Bajamatic - 2-18-2012 at 01:27 PM
Handline?! Now that's manlyTrueheart - 2-18-2012 at 01:30 PM
Excellent story. I wonder how many out there can talk of the "one that got away" only to prove it by "catching it" a second time? RARE!Cypress - 2-18-2012 at 01:32 PM
Pescador, That's a big one.Udo - 2-18-2012 at 01:43 PM
Thanks for the historic photos, Jim!
truehart
captkw - 2-18-2012 at 01:51 PM
it might not be the same fish,,ie,maybe it's bigger brother..we will never know !! K & TPescador - 2-18-2012 at 02:10 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by captkw
it might not be the same fish,,ie,maybe it's bigger brother..we will never know !! K & T
You need to reread. It had both hooks firmly planted in the jaw of the fish. The first hook with the broken line and the second hook which he landed
him on. So I would assume the same fish, unless the fish's brother put the hook in his brothers mouth just to confuse us mortals.msteve1014 - 2-18-2012 at 05:20 PM
Great fish, and story Jim. Could not have gone to a person more deserving.David K - 2-18-2012 at 07:12 PM
Good Job Posting the Photos!!!Roberto - 2-18-2012 at 07:34 PM
I'm just waiting to see who's going to say it. DENNIS - 2-18-2012 at 07:39 PM
I would, but I'm not in the mood. Sallysouth - 2-18-2012 at 09:39 PM
Its a givin..dang!KaceyJ - 2-18-2012 at 09:47 PM
Yeh,
good historical photo,
cause that's all it eventually will be
I caught one about half that size North of punta Conception once. In about 120 ft of water. Did everything I could to get it off the hook and back
down in the water including jumping in and swimming it down as far as I could hold my breath.
Must have been the salt water making my eyes tearacadist - 2-19-2012 at 08:25 AM
Did it have any of my hooks in it? I swear I have hooked more than I count at least that big :nSantiago - 2-19-2012 at 08:57 AM
I don't want to accuse Pesky of lying, but clearly this photo is not a current one. Dude is wearing, and proudly I might add, WHITE shoes outside the
acceptable Memorial Day-to-Labor Day period.Martyman - 2-19-2012 at 11:28 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Santiago
I don't want to accuse Pesky of lying, but clearly this photo is not a current one. Dude is wearing, and proudly I might add, WHITE shoes outside the
acceptable Memorial Day-to-Labor Day period.
LOL!Pescador - 2-19-2012 at 12:46 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Santiago
I don't want to accuse Pesky of lying, but clearly this photo is not a current one. Dude is wearing, and proudly I might add, WHITE shoes outside the
acceptable Memorial Day-to-Labor Day period.
Funny you would notice that, he actually cleaned them up before the picture. I think they were still brown on the inside from pulling that monster in
over the transom and watching the back dip down into the water.Santiago - 2-19-2012 at 01:01 PM
On a more serious note; what do you do with a fish like that? How does one dress out such a huge fish? I'm pretty sure my 4" Rapala knife in the anus
up to the gill, grab the lower jaw and rip out the guts, slice the blood line and clean it out with the back of the thumb under cold stream water is
not gonna work on this fish.Pescador - 2-19-2012 at 02:50 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Santiago
On a more serious note; what do you do with a fish like that? How does one dress out such a huge fish? I'm pretty sure my 4" Rapala knife in the anus
up to the gill, grab the lower jaw and rip out the guts, slice the blood line and clean it out with the back of the thumb under cold stream water is
not gonna work on this fish.
Rigo is a commercial fisherman and has had a really rough winter trying to get enough fish to financially take care of his family so this was a really
welcome relief. The fish actually brought 45 pesos per kilo so it really helped to buy gasoline for the days he came up empty.MMc - 2-19-2012 at 02:50 PM
Cut around the anus, then go under the jaw to the to the collar bone both sides. Slice between collar bone and gut cavity,clip the gills, it all
slides out. The 4' blade might be a bit short for a good fillet dean miller - 2-19-2012 at 05:49 PM
Congrats to Rigo on a great catch!
I have never had the ability to determine the difference between the Gulf groper and the California Black Sea Bass currently renamed Giant Sea Bass-
In your opinion what is this fish?
As you recall from years gone by I could care less about drowning worms but there was a time I did make a dent in the BSB population of SoCal and a
number of groper in SOC.
During that time I had a number of conversations with John Fitch, the great SoCal F&G expert on the BSB. John indicated according to his research
a 300 pound fish was 90 to 100 years old. When I speared my last big BSB which was over 300 pounds I looked down on it and thought "Abe Lincoln was
alive when this fish was hatched." After that I only speared one more BSB
I look at Rigo's fish and and recognize that it is possibly 100 years old & 100 years ago Pancho Villa was forcefully expelling my family from
Mexico. For me it puts the age of the fish in perspective.
Please extend a hearty congratulations on a catching a good and great fish
SDMmulegemichael - 2-20-2012 at 07:06 AM
45 pesos a kilo!!!!.....that's damn good dinero for a big ol fish like that...who woulda thunk it?bajabass - 2-20-2012 at 08:42 AM
Fish of a lifetime, congrats to your friend Jim.bajajurel - 2-20-2012 at 05:35 PM
Great report Jim. Thanks for sharing and hope the locals do better this year!Pescador - 2-21-2012 at 08:41 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by dean miller
Congrats to Rigo on a great catch!
I have never had the ability to determine the difference between the Gulf groper and the California Black Sea Bass currently renamed Giant Sea Bass-
In your opinion what is this fish?
As you recall from years gone by I could care less about drowning worms but there was a time I did make a dent in the BSB population of SoCal and a
number of groper in SOC.
During that time I had a number of conversations with John Fitch, the great SoCal F&G expert on the BSB. John indicated according to his research
a 300 pound fish was 90 to 100 years old. When I speared my last big BSB which was over 300 pounds I looked down on it and thought "Abe Lincoln was
alive when this fish was hatched." After that I only speared one more BSB
I look at Rigo's fish and and recognize that it is possibly 100 years old & 100 years ago Pancho Villa was forcefully expelling my family from
Mexico. For me it puts the age of the fish in perspective.
Please extend a hearty congratulations on a catching a good and great fish
SDM
Sam, I think this is a Itajara Grouper or Mero Guasa. The back ray fins do not match up exactly with a BSB but that may be only individual
differences. It also had some really pretty blue splotches around the gill area and onto the stomach which was very unusual. My avatar on
Bloodydecks is a Baja Grouper and that fish was considered big at 160, but this monster was twice that size. We wanted to hoist it up but broke the
fish weighing station, so had to settle for the tailgate shot.Tbone - 2-21-2012 at 11:22 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Santiago
I don't want to accuse Pesky of lying, but clearly this photo is not a current one. Dude is wearing, and proudly I might add, WHITE shoes outside the
acceptable Memorial Day-to-Labor Day period.
