Pompano
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Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Pompano Fish Report
Well, we went fishing at San Marcos Island two days ago and it was great fun to be out to sea again...until the very end when events turned weird.
Launching at a little after 6:30 a.m. at the Serindad ramp on the river estuary in Mulege, we met Alex..a local fishing guide...who had a couple of
clients boarding his panga, Victoria. We traded a little info, then wished good luck (bueno suerte) to each other and motored around the lighthouse
corner to jig up some big eyes for bait. This was a usual spot to make bait, but there was nobody there this morning..which was odd, because it has
been a very popular bait hole for the last few years. We did not see any bait schools at all on the sonar. Not too worried, I said.. ?Let?s try a
little further north.? .. About a half-mile further along the shoreline to where I had made bait many times in the last couple of years.
This was a good spot and we picked up a dozen nice big-eyes in short order. We used the Zebiki bait jigs with about 1 oz. weight in 30'-35' depths.
The schools were suspended about 10 feet off the bottom.
Ready now for some live-bait rigging we head north and around Pta. Chivato where we pick up some swells from the last few days of wind. This slows us
down to about 18 knots and it takes us over an hour to reach the 110' and 240' holes north of Isla San Marcos. We had homemade biscotti with our
coffee. (I am always ravenously hungry when in a boat so I cheat the lunch bell and eat my venison sandwich early.) When we arrived at the spot
there are already about a dozen pangas and assorted fishing boats from San Lucas Cove drifting with their bait.
We put down 3 baits - 2 with 3 oz. egg weights went deep and 1 bare-hooked and fly-lined out about 100 feet. We settled back to await the strikes of
the big yellowtail we knew would soon chomp our big-eyes!
The commonly used VHF channel in this area is 72 and we switched over from our Mulege channel 22. I called a couple of local fishermen I knew and got
spotty reports of slow, but steady action. Seems yesterday there was a lot more activity. Also had a telephone call relayed over the VHF to a San
Lucas home to Loreto to check on our FM-3's being ready....a nice plus which saved me a road trip from Conception Bay. Good neighbors in Baja, eh?
The wind had dropped from very light to perfect calm. Flat seas are a fisherman?s delight.
Meanwhile ?we ain?t doing nuthin? with our fishing....The action was slow and boring. In a word..lousy. We tried shallow and deep, moved with the
tide, caught some small pintos with light jigging rods and some 4 oz. darts. About the most exciting thing at our San Marcos yellowtail hole was a
radio report about 2 guys in a small rubber boat catching 2 yellows on a trolled squid bait. Go figure. We start looking around for a rubber boat to
follow.
We move on towards the east shore of San Marcos and start trolling Mirrolures in 30-50 feet...moving south along the rocky points. Right away we get
a hard strike! Now this fish has some shoulders! It fights hard and fast...for about 6-7 seconds and then disaster... before you know it, the fish
(maybe a grouper or large yellow) cuts us off on the rocky bottom. We are not too disappointed because this action is better than what we had
bait-fishing. Hurriedly getting our Mirrolures back in the water we catch a couple of nice-eating size cabrilla...about 5-6 lbs each. Then a small
toro..which we keep for the cat.
By now we are at Sta. Inez islands off Pta. Chivato and stop to clean our catch. I fillet 4 pintos, 3 cabrilla, 1 toro, and a finger while my partner
rinses and bags.
We head home to Mulege where we find the lowest tide I have ever seen in the estuary. We actually hit bottom on the way in past the
lighthouse...first time we ever did that. Good thing it was just sand and pebbles. But.. there is NO WAY we are going to get the boat in to the ramp
on the Serindad side, so I wade through the muck to the shore, get the Jeep and trailer, and drive all the way around Mulege to the other side of the
river to meet the boat at that side?s ramp nearer deeper water. Only trouble now is there is some nut trying to ?launch? his 18' runabout at ?low
tide? with a 2-WD pickup. Naturally there is not enough water to float his boat...it settles on the bottom half-way off the trailer. And then...he
gets his truck stuck in the mud! Okay..we help him out, naturally. Push his boat off the trailer and slide it through the muck and out of the way of
the ramp...then pull his truck and trailer out. We silently wonder why anyone would want to launch late in the day at low tide. Now the tide is gone
completey and we have to slide our boat over the top of the mud with our trailer winch and a long rope..slowly, bit by bit, onto our trailer.
Whew...this has all taken us 2 hours from the time we first entered the river.
We get things loaded and it's time to gas up the boat and have a cool one.
The good news is that we all had a delicious fish dinner the next evening with Diver and his family at our casa in Coyote Bay. A good time with good
fellowship.
p.s. Yesterday, Two Dogs, my fishing partner, went out and caught a 41 lb. yellowtail and a 23 lb. cabrilla trolling a Mirrolure off Sta. Inez.
Me? Sad story....I was home doing chores....sigh. A mistake I will never make again. So therefore.. we are heading out manana with amigo Miguel on
his Skipjack, ?Barrilete?. (Anyone got a tide chart?) Maybe we will throw a fillet to Graham!
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
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Mood: Optimistic
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ATTENTION SINGLE NOMAD MALES...
As we were driving away from the launch area towards El Paton's beachside cafe in Mulege, we spotted this lovely senorita sunbathing all alone. We
are told she is looking for a guide. Guys, you are on your own..I am merely a 'fishing' reporter.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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4baja
Super Nomad
Posts: 1339
Registered: 9-4-2003
Location: morro bay ca
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if you want to throw a fillet to graham you better have a good arm as hes way north of you.
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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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4baja...I can pitch pretty well!...and I know where he is, been there a few times. There are not too many dry patches on the Cortez where we haven't
gone ashore...intentionally or not.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9009
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Tides are now moderating....
....you should be good from here on. These were the most extreme tides of the whole year.
Thanks for the report. Other SLC boaters have been reporting occasionally tough bites because the fish seem to be keyed on very small squid near the
surface.
See if you can match the hatch, Pomp. Try drifting or slow trolling some natural colored hoochies with an egg sinker in the head.
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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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Hook...that sounds just like what those two guys were doing in the rubber Zodiak. Trolling squid-like hoochies, they each caught a yellowtail. We
will give that a try manana and thanks for the tip!
Thank Neptune Miguel keeps his Skipjack moored in deep water next to the harbor captains office...easy on, easy off.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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