Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Mood: Optimistic
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Pompano Fish Report
Hey, we finally have some spring/summer weather here in Mulege. Daytime temps to high 80's...nights still cooling off...not too bad at all.
I have been shanghaied lately into overseeing construction of our Great Wall Project at our Coyote Bay casa..so I have been forced to postpone a
couple of ideal-condition fishing trips...Grrrr. Oh well, anything to keep the hostess happy. And the wall will look good when done.
Now for fishing. I managed to get a pass 2 days ago (Wed), got up super early full of anticipation and eager to hit the water, made some strong
coffee, pulled the boat into Carmelita's Truck Stop south of Mulege for my standard 'tres burritos de rey' to go, and hit the Serinadad ramp
early...about 5:30. But I STILL had to wait for 2 other boats to launch...I gotta get going a little earlier next time!
I pulled out of the river and immediately recognized a couple of boats trying to make bait directly in front of the river entrance....Hmmm, I thought,
I haven't made bait in this spot for many years, so why not give it try? I putzed around long enough to realize WHY I haven't bothered stopping here
in so long..because there was very little bait here..stupido! Saying adios I ran over to the popular bigeye and mackerel spot just north of the river
mouth..Pta. Prieta..and gave that a try, although the coconut telegraph had told me the bait had slowed a bit there. It was a bust for 10
minutes..only 1 lonely puny mackerel hit my Zebikis jigged all the way to the bottom at 35 ft. Off I go to my 'secret' bait hole!...that I show to
anybody who wants to know...and immediately start pulling up first 2's, then 3's, then finally two 4's and said that's enough for a good day's
live-bait fishing.
I got underway with another large cup of hot joe with some 'flavor' to ward off chills and brainclouds. Despite the red dawn/sailor-take-warning
sunrise earlier the day was turning warm and clear..and the water was flat calm. Surface temp was 70 and I was 'sittin' in high cotton'. The day was
mine.
It's about a 8 mile run to the current yellowtail hotspot near Mulege. The spot is midway between Sta. Inez Island No. 3 (seal rock one with tower)
and Pta. Chivato lighthouse..then about 3/4 mile northeast. Look for depths of 180-190ft. with a large hump rising to 155 ft....or if you're a little
late, like me, just head for the fishing boats. In particular Alejendro, a local guide, is an good fish indicator. He is just plain uncanny. You
can be sitting on a good hole fishless for the last half-hour and Alex will pull up next to you with a couple of green clients and.. Blammo!...he
catches 2 nice big yellowtails before his wake has settled. Then he smiles over at you and says..."Been fishing here long?" Someday I will steal his
drain plug.
Now I am on my GPS mark and get things ready. Decide to put down a bigeye on a circle hook through the nose with a 3oz. sliding weight right down on
the hook eyelet. This is on my 'broomstick' rod with 50lb. spooled on a Penn HiSpeed 5.3:1...and I will send that to the bottom and crank up about 8
-10ft. A green mackerel bait goes on a 4ft. 50lb. leader with circle hook and clipped to main line with 4oz. fixed weight above..this all on 30lb on
medium rod w/Daiwa Sealine-X 5.1:1 Both good high-speed reels on quality rods. The mackerel on the medium rig will be fished at 70-80ft. over the
180 bottom I picked off to the side of the 155 hump.
I have already seen quite a few large fish on my Lowrance X-19c sonar/gps and am eager to get at them. I drop the bigeye down to the bottom and crank
it up a couple of turns and it immediately is hit and being taken to Guaymas at speed...I barely had time to throw in the drag and bang, it was
gone!..got my bait and left me wondering what the heck that was? Out here, you never know..shark, giant grouper, mermaid, who knows? I ponder this
while getting the other medium tackle bait into the water from the live-well. Down you go, little mack..do your stuff..make me proud! I get the bait
to about 80 feet and almost had time to get the clicker on before it was taken...this time I am ready however! I watch the line spinning off the
reel and let the fish run for a full 5 seconds before throw the reel into gear and set the hook...hard. He fights a good battle..I pump and reel, he
lunges for the bottom rocks and gets back a lot more line than I took in, I tighten drag a little and slow him down more on his next dash..tiring him
out..pump and reel..pump and reel...he is good at tiring me out....but now he is coming up and I get to see color at last...one last lunge and he is
giving up...I slide him over to the side and gaff him for the my buddy wall builders back at the casa. He is a nice 25lber, not a giant, but a good
fish. That covers them, I thought, so now let's try for OUR dinner..a nice cabrilla, maybe? Also some for our neighbors? Why not. I hook another
mack on the deep rig and send it to the top of the rock hump..sure enough, a scrappy cabrilla takes it and I bring him up after his intitial dash for
cover in the rock cave he lives in down there. Actually he DID make it his cave right off the bat..because I was not quick enough to stop that first
rush!..so then I had to keep hard tension on the line as I backed-off at an angle to pull him out of there without cutting the line on the rocks.
Pretty smart, eh?...Me..not the fish! I caught 2 of these tasty brownies and I large gold spotted bass (our local 'pinto') before I decided that was
enough fish to take home.
I had some good company out there that day...Alex in his guide boat, Tom & Patti Higgenbottom in their Strange Lady, and a couple of Bay boats.
Fun day in nice weather.
I went home across the Cortez towards Mulege on glassy water and watched the porpoise working some of their own fish. A good day on the
water..again..something I never get tired of...and with fishing to boot!
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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Alex in his guide boat..got a big one next to me.
naturally.....the showoff!
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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Time to head home...got to check on that wall!!
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
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Mood: Sling time!
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nice shots! Alex is a great guy!! i'll be fishing with him very soon.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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Pompano I really enjoy your fish reports and I'm not even a fisherman .
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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eetdrt88
Senior Nomad
Posts: 986
Registered: 2-20-2005
Location: Az/Ca/Baja
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pompano...
auyhor of the worlds shortest books...this month "10 reasons to put off building block wall"....1 go fishing,2go fishing,3 eat fish tacos,4go
fishing,5have a cold one,6go fishing,7have another cold one,8go fishing,9lay in hammock under palapa,10repeat 1st 9 steps....  :lol nly problem is your wife might end up blowing her top ....and then you might look like this
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