On This Day in Baja Fishing.
Well, I can't be out fishing today, so the next best thing is to recall a day on the water on this date from 5
years ago. Here's a MAY 7TH DORADO REPORT from 2010. Most likely it's pretty much the same this year...as it was for the last 45 years I angled
those waters. Grab some refreshments and come along..'On this day in history of Baja fishing'.
We begin.....
Today we decided to target yellowtail, pintos, and dorado. This is the time of year when all 3 are readily available in our area. The jurel have
been cooperative the last few days and are still holding in lots of areas..including Mateo's Hole near Pta. Rosa.
A relaxing way to fish, yellows are usually easy to score on live mackerel or bigeyes..so...we took off from the Rio Mulege at dawn..a good time to
make some bait at Punta Prieta.
A nice time of day.. thankfully, still cool., which means we still wear sweats in the wee hours. (Air temps have been
climbing the last few days!)
Using our Zabeki rigs we made about a dozen baits in record time. Mostly bigeyes with only 1 or 2 mackerel. My sonar makes finding the bait clouds
so easy, it's almost not fair.....almost!
Off we went, heading towards Pt. Conception and then south towards Pta. Rosa. The sea was flat calm with some gentle swells left over from previous
windy conditions...a pleasant run at around 30mph.
Mulege guide, Mateo, and another local angler, Mi Mujer, were ahead of us, heading for the same area.
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On the way south we came across several sea lions. Here's a solo guy loafing on the surface..just sailing along...what a life, right? I think some
of these fellows are starting to recognize us, cuz of the extra baits we throw to them after our fishing is done.
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Then we come upon more sea lion sights..but this one is of a more 'intimate' nature..a male and female..so we take a quick photo and leave them to
thier privacy.
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We arrive at our yellowtail destination and find Mateo already fishing with his clients. We wish each other luck..and Mateo clowns a bit for the
camera. By the way, if you are looking for a sure thing fishing out of Mulege, look up Mateo. He's one of our best guides and will try his best to
ensure you have a great day fishing. His place is next to the river ramp by the Serinadad Resort.
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We put down our baits, using 60lb test, with 1 and 2oz. egg sinkers above a 4ft swimming snell w/circle hooks. We drop the baits down to the 230 ft
rockpile below, crank them up about 20 feet..and then free spool them with the clicker on..just enough to keep the swimming baits in check.
Okay, now we can sit back and relax for a bit, right?
Wrong...Right out of the chute, I get a hook-up..and promptly lose it.
I 'may' have been a little hasty in throwing the drag into gear...duh..
Then Co-pilot's clicker goes..zzzzzzzzzz..zzzzz...zzz..and she is in the rocks. "Uh, you may have waited a little too long on that one,
tesoro." I turn away so she can't see my grin.
That's pretty much our yellowtail tale of woe..as we decide the tempting radio traffic about the dorado bite is more fun to pursue. BUT..we cannot
leave without a sure 'dinner'..so Co-pilot drops her favorite green dart down to the rocks and promptly gets a couple nice pintos for the larder. Way
to go, Co-pilot!
This talk about dinner got me ravenous and I offered Co-pilot some of my boat's standard 'survival food.' Okay, okay...Not exactly gourmet, but like
Crocodile Dundee said..'It'll keep ya alive.'
She asked me.."I know the boleos, but what is this 'Spam'..?"
I told her, reading the label. She said..."You eat this? This is poison." ..a puzzling term she has for most of the canned
goods, hot sauces, condiments, and foodstuffs in my cupboards...
...as shown here during a recent inspection and subsequent clearing of my cupboards. How could I have accumulated so much poison?
Anyhoo, after her comment I thought about all those lips, cheeks, and eyebrows in my lunch, and decide to forego the spam sammies... and eat the cold
fruit plate she had packed. Hey, that stuff ain't half bad. What a novel idea! Actually, it was so good to eat healthy again, I thought
I'd make it a daily event, like this breakfast the next morning...no bacon and eggs today!
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We had our dinner menu filled..pintos..thanks to Co-pilot..and we head due east to find some warmer water..and..hopefully...the DORADO.
We started out rather cool, but the temps quickly went up about 10 miles out. On our previous dorado hunt we had found them in this general area, so
we kept a sharp lookout for frigates, sargasso, and slicks. I gave Co-pilot the helm......hmmm....ah..Co-pilot?
Hah..fooled you...gracias Auto-Pilot.
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We came across some small bunches of floating weeds...and threw out some feathers to explore for some action.
It happened fast..and furious..
Having found them, we launch a couple of floating mats to attract the school..and to mark our spot. Then switch back and forth from trolling feathers
past them...and to casting spoons to our 'paddies'. Silver krocs worked just fine. It was a ball catching and releasing them with barbless single
hooks. What a great way to spend a day..
We were rewarded with lots of action, although the dorado were smallish. No huge bulls ..yet.
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We'd caught and released many dorado by now..and I see some fog coming in from the eastern Cortez. We kept 3 dorado for the grill and friends, and
decided..Time to head back home.
It got Foggy fast..
The horizons and land all disappeared. The bad part was, I had somehow erased the ramp's location on my gps, but I had it's neighbor, Punta Prieta,
marked as a waypoint. I know that location intimately, and it was close enough for today's route home.
Running almost to the baithole and head a very short 1/4 mile south.. we had no problems finding Mulege and the estuary..
Co-pilot's Amendment: "I don't like Waves..and now Fog."
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Back at the floating dock, we take time to compare our catches.
"Hey..mine is LOTS bigger, Co-pilot." (..and.. if I had held it even closer to the camera, it would have been bigger yet!)
I filleted the fish, which had been kept on ice, and we headed home...but first we needed a little snack stop at the highway Pemex, where we knew we
would find a favorite treat...
..before a great fresh fish dinner.
Well,hope you enjoyed this 5th Anniversary fishing..and food... report of a very fun day.
Tight Lines...and enjoy your catch!
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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