Pompano - 4-2-2005 at 03:35 PM
Well, it's still blowing...but not like the last 3 days! The wind has calmed down considerbly today..not even whitecapping. Sunday looks to be good
to go and three of us (Me-Phyl-pup) will head out manana to search out a good yellowtail bite and prepare for a local tournament we are having in
Mulege on Monday the 4th.
After launching about 5:30 manana at the Serindad ramp we will make some bait (bigeye & macks) and probably head over to Sta. Inez and Pta. Chivato
and drop one or two. One I will fly-line out with no weight and another will go deep..maybe 10-20 feet off the bottom. Same rigs as before...30 lb
test high and 50 lb low tied to circle hooks through the nose of the live baits. Will use iron, troll Mirrolures, etc. to round out the morning.
We'll try that spot for awhile, but if no luck then we head south of Pt. Conception for quite a few miles..down off Pta. Rosa or even to Pta. Teresa.
It all depends on the wind! I don't want to pound us up coming back into strong northerlies. There should be some good cabrilla and snapper action
off some points and flats I know of down there, also.
Anyway, that's the plan. Our yellowtail tourney should be fun. We have about 35 boats signed up so far. Most will bait fish I imagine, but some
will try their luck pitching iron and trolling. The darn tides have us back into the river and ramp by noon or so..or else we are stuck out there
till much later in the day. Official weigh-in will be at the ramp from 11:30 until 1:30 followed by a fish dinner and prize awards at the Pelicano
Bar & Grill downtown Mulege across from the main square. Hosted by Pearce & Val.
Manana I will have photos, etc of the outcome. (I better get a haircut and remember to suck in my belly for the award presentations!) Hasta manana.
Pompano.
Capt. George - 4-3-2005 at 08:16 AM
Glenn, note the eyeglasses...most important at this stage of the game. I need them now just to find my panga!
Back from today's fishing....bushed.
Pompano - 4-3-2005 at 03:39 PM
Well, as our dear old Dads used to say, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'...and WE intended to get up real early, hit the baitfish a
good lick, and be on the fishing grounds before the rooster crowed! Not a chance..we overslept, finally made coffee, lunch, packed some water and pup
food, chased the pup down, and hit the ramp by a little after sun-up...LATE!!! I don't like late!! Oh well, it's still a beautiful day and we might
as well take a boat ride. And not to worry, we actually stopped by the bait hole and made 4 quick baits (3 macks and 1 bigeye). Talked briefly with
an old Baja guide friend of mine, Mateo...who grinned knowingly at my tardiness in getting there. Hi Pompano...where are you headed this morning? I
said I was thinking of Sta. Inez or Pta. Rosa..north or south, but didn't know for sure. Come with us to the south..there's lots at Pta. Rosa.
Sounds good to me...and away we go. It's a long ride from Mulege to Pta. Rosa, but that's okay, I relax, drink coffee and watch the porpoise
gymnastics. Phyl and the pooch have curled up on her lounge pad in the bow and are catching a nap as we motor down the penisula. Water is 68.3
degrees, air temp about 72, no wind, no swells, we cruise at 30mph comfortably...now I think, Who cares if we overslept? This is just right.
We follow Mateo's wake to a good spot I had fished a couple time last year. About two-thirds of the way from Pt. Conception to Pt. Rosa offshore
maybe 2 miles in 260-300 feet. A nice break showing on the sonar..from 260 sharply down to 300. Yellowtail highway! Mateo is already boating his
second fish...a nice yellowtail. The first was a good cabrilla of about 15 lbs caught by a youngster on board with his dad and friend from San Diego.
Dad is Stix on another fishing board.
We pull around the upwind side and shut it down to drift with the current against the wind to hover us over the breakline. I drop the bigeye down to
the bottom (280 here) with a 5 ft. mono-leader and 3oz. egg sinker (Ande 40# line) and then flyline a smallish mackerel out on a bare hook to swim
around in the top layer. No sooner did I get the 2nd rod in the holder than the first bait gets taken by something BIG! Yahoo, fish on! Set that
hook...and bingo. Pump, reel, pump, ree....damn, got off! GRrrrrrr. Quick, get another bait back down there...hmm..only 2 baits left in the tank,
oh well.
Whammo...got you that time. Pump and reel evenly, now. Getting some helpful shouts from Mateo over there....okay, now for the gaff. Gotcha!
Now back to the bottom with the last bait...to lose it to another BIG one...darn. Okay, we still have the flylined bait..I'll put that one on the
deep rod. Made the switch and on the way down it was taken by something toothy...killed it and let go. Shoot.
Okay, let's go over to Mateo and repay the favor of taking us here. He's got a couple nice fish..but his clients or family in town could use another
yellowtail for sure. He is grateful and I ask him to hold up his biggest for a photo. He does with grin. Now we head for the ramp, because it's a
long way and the tide is against us. It will be hard to load much after 12:00 noon.
We found out what we needed to know...where to fish manana in the yellowtail tournament!! More boring details manana!!
Mateo...
Pompano - 4-3-2005 at 03:47 PM
he is one of the best and longest-operating guides in Mulege. Muchas gracias, Mateo!
My fishing partners are 'riveted'...sigh...
Pompano - 4-3-2005 at 03:50 PM
Admiral and First Mate...
capt. mike - 4-3-2005 at 11:47 PM
nice action pompano even if its slow.....what do they say about a bad dfay fishing always beter than a good day working??......
i wpould gladly throw gas at your boat just to be out in that air!
Sharksbaja - 4-4-2005 at 12:10 AM
knock em dead Pompano! Mucho suerte! Sharks
hey, no subject line, links or other tools avail on this quick reply........
Am back from tourament...yellowtailless!!
Pompano - 4-5-2005 at 06:59 AM
Hoo-boy, it's a great day for fishing! They all are!
We got a very early start at the ramp and were still back in the lineup for launching. Not too much wait though and before long I was heading over
to the baithole to join about 20 other fisherman trying to make bait..in total blackness, a little too early. It was fun to watch everyone trying not
to ram each other in an effort to find the bigeyes and mackerel.
I met and
talked with Mateo and a few other boats while jigging up about a dozen baits. We figured to head back to the same hole we caught them at
yesterday..about 18 miles south. I had emailed the co-ordinates to some friends in town and they would be joining us. Lots of other boats were going
to Sta. Inez/Pta. Chivato areas and a couple to San Marcos. The tides were not so good for getting all the trailered boats back on land...we had to
be back at the ramp by noon or so. Not too much time.
I looked over towards Sta. Inez as I was headed out to sea and saw a line of fog coming south..already covering Pta. Chivato. Hmm..I had been
thinking all night about maybe going back there to fish today, because that's where I had been doing so well for the last few weeks. But that fog
bolstered my decision to keep heading for Mateo's hole...yesterday's yellowtail action. Wrong decision..as soon as I cleared Pt. Conception I could
see dense fog coming in from the east and it covered me a few minutes later. Along with another Mulege boat, Strange Lady, we slowly make our way
through the fog, visibility maybe 75 feet.
Finally, we get to the spot and sink our baits. As soon my first bait neared the 270' bottom something grabbed it and took off...really screaming
the light drag...I let it run for a couple seconds, then adjusted the drag and promptly lost the fish. Gone..with the bait. Oh well, I
thought...there will be lots more down there waiting for my next bait, I thought.
Wrong...we soaked baits for 2 hours without any action..except for one nice cabrilla caught by Strange Lady. I finally gave up live-baitfishing and
started a troll back towards the point..thinking about the tide going out and the mudflats starting to show in the river at Mulege. I tried 3-4 good
old time spots on the way back, but nada. In over 30 years of fishing this area I think this might have been in the top 3 worst days for catching any
fish...other than that it was another glorious day on the water!
Of the 5 or 6 boats fishing our hole...nobody got a yellowtail. We were skunked! All in all, it was not a particularly great 'tail' day for
anyone..most others were fishless, like us. There were some nice cabrilla caught, a couple of big grouper, and lots of pintos. Here's a photo of
another buddy, Ed, who got himself a nice little grouper.
The tournament was won by a good friend, Marty Robinson, who brought in an average 23lber. Not very impressive..especially for Marty, who is one of
our best fisherman in Mulege. He is an expert at yellowtail, trolling Mirrolures especially, and we've been trading fishing info for over 20 years.
Congratulation, Marty!
As for us...oh well, that's fishing! Manana...