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Pompano
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Pompano Fish Report - Mulege (Good Times)
 Okay, resisted the other title...MULEGE WIDE OPEN! FISH BOILS!
TAILS EXHAUST FISHERMEN!..but I best tone it down to reality.
Now here's the real story..and... we caught lots of fish.
POMPANO FISH REPORT
MULEGE
DEC. 13, 2008
First..putting the boat in the water a few days ahead of time is a good start.
As usual the dawn broke with red clouds glowing like ember coals on the horizon. If you have ever awoken here, you have seen it for yourself. This
sight always makes me smile. The weather adage, "Red sky in the Morning, Sailor Take Warning." was not written for Coyote Bay, folks. The dawns
down here are most ALWAYS red...and the days are most ALWAYS sunny and perfecto. Today would prove to be no exception.
My neighbors, Stan and Les, and I had decided that we would target some nice tasty pintos and other rockpile/reef-dwellers for today's fishing trip.
Why those, you say, when there are so many yellows around? Well, this is where it gets a little hairy..and I should really use aliases. See....we
were talking and had our mouths set for the most delicious fresh fish dinner...and The Truth is that none of us really care that much for
eating jurel (yellowtail). I know, I know...that's heresy! We could be drawn and *half-dollared by the pitching iron crowd. Have
our Jungla barstools burned. Be thrown out of the Yellowtail Club. Shunned by Penn Senator owners and Asuncion residents.
(*the dollar has lost a lot of value lately, hence quartering has doubled.)
Sure, I have caught tons of jurel in the past and written numerous accounts of the same...praising that fish beyond all others.
.
Hey, get a grip... fishermen lie..it's our rice bowl. And yes, our part of the Baja coast has huge populations of
yellows. They are thick right now near Isle Tortuga and near Isle San Marcus...plus another spot I ain't talking about.
But the cruel truth is...I don't give much of a hoot about 'tails anymore. Sure, they fight pretty good with a fierce determination for the bottom.
BUT, it's a lot of work and I really don't like killing the fish without really savoring a dinner from same. Please do not send me a mayonaisse
recipe.
Therefore: Put me on top of a good pinto rockpile on a calm day and that's my idea of heaven. Take just enough cold beer along, a
good book, the latest lure invention from my garage, very light action rod and reel, and a determination to take just enough fish to make that night's
dinner.
We had decided to get underway about 7:30-8:00...another benefit of rockpile fishing...you don't have to get up so darn early, as
there's no need of bait to care for as we use heavy jigs and darts.
That extra cup of coffee and the time spent laughing at CNN's news reporting in the morning is pretty darn nice. What would the world be without
Wolf Blitzer high-grading the breaking news for us!...purest form of bunko ever.....but I digress...back to the fishing report.
I had checked the moon's fishing prediction the night before..and it looked good to go. Holding water..yup, a good day ahead, then.
We loaded our gear into the shore skiff..
... and motored out to the 26' Striper WA anchored in front of our casas.
A plus was that a bit of water in the skiff washed the sand off my feet before climbing aboard. The Striper WA has lots of room and we got comfy as
we left Coyote Bay behind, heading towards Pta. Concepcion.
Some offshore views of familiar places. Heading out of Conception Bay we passed by these familiar sights:
Punta Arena beach....now renamed Blazing Palapas...now pretty much like it was when I first came here..bare.
Playa Naranjos ...pretty much built up to max along the shorefront.
Playa Flambes with it's distinctive lighthouse ... home and business of Nomads Bob and Susan. Hola ashore! Come and play!
La Bahia development by Mace
and Playa Suenos by Vic.
Villas de Mulege by Ricardo Castillo...used to run with Earl Stanley Gardner long time back.
and Home of Nomad laurieboats (for sale, by the way..yes, a shameless plug)
Enjoying the morning with another cup of joe, we decided to try for pintos by the old abandoned Pt. Conception mine first. Outside the Bay, around
the point, down south a mile and then offshore east a half-mile. A favorite barn-size pile of rocks at 200ft coming up from the surrounding 240ft
slope. If you can't catch a pinto here give up fishing forever.
Our 225 Honda 4stroke is fast at full throttle, but much more economical at 2400rpms or so...makes a mile-eating 22mph on the heavy 26-ft fishboat...a
dry ride in almost any weather.
We had the old GPS coordinates in our Garmin handhelds and also on the boat console. We quickly found the spot where a lot of pintos are caught in
our annual Pinto Derby on April 1st every year. Last year the winner was a whopper of 23"...a true monster for a pinto.
Wow...whatta fish!..and dee-lish.
Getting right on top of the rockpile below, we checked the current drift with the gps and adjusted our position so as to drift the best way over the
waiting pintos below. There was no wind at all, but a small but steady current to the northwest...moved us a hundred yards in maybe 8-10 minutes.
Stan and Les rigged up dart and a yo-yo, green + blue-white colors, and dropped them down into the depths. I was behind in getting to the 200ft
bottom because I had decided to try a 3-inch orange split-tail on the hook of my 4oz green dart. I think Les had the first fish hookup..a nice little
pinto...then Stan got one on of the same size..maybe 3 pounders...eaters!...I was still on the way to the bottom...ho
hum...slooooowly sinking to the bottom.
Finally my line went slack and I flipped over the lever, picked up the slack, and immediately felt a good hit. Hey now, this is more like it...and
then it got a little heavier real fast...this is no 3 pounder, I thought. Then it went slack about 30 feet off the bottom..damnation!...but I kept
jigging up...and whammo..the fish is back on...then off..then on..then off...wha?..then the lights came on...shoot, a squid!..but that will make great
bait!
Then it's on again..but now I feel the unmistakable pinto polka. Now it's hooked good and I wind it up from the depths... even though I go slow the
rapid change in pressure bulges it's eyes clear out of it's head and it's bladder comes gushing out the mouth...great stuff, eh?
I get it to the surface and see it's a nice-sized pinto for this popular rockpile...maybe a 6-7 pounder of 20 inches or so...not bad. Would have been
second place fish last year in the Derby...did I tell you a resident here took 1st with a huge 23 incher! I say a little prayer to
Neptune and Bacchus to provide more like this one.
We motor back up-current and drift back down over the rockpile a few times, and pick up enough pintos to satisfy us. We want to leave room on our
plates for some brownies, too...one of my favorite dinner fish of the Cortez since I caught my first one in 1971 about 1/2 mile from where we are
right now.
About 11 am...just like we knew it would at this time of day, the wind came up just enough to make it hard to stay over the pintos for long. But that
was okay, we had enough and had a fun time with the pintos. Time to go troll somewhere over there to the northwest by Sta. Inez Islands...about 8
miles away....nearer Punta Chivato. That the wonderful thing about fishing around Mulege..you never have to go very far to find fish...and a
ton of variety. (Somebody nudge Cypress.... )
Our fishing partner, Les, is a logger and fisherman of the Far North, and has an uncanny ability to smell fish underwater. He gives the air the old
sniff test ....I suspect Les has some Norwegian heritage...
..and we follow his nose.
Coming into shallower waters, we motor past a panguero manning the boat for his diver-partner over the side..see the air lines running out behind?
Now here's a good tip...bending the barbs down on your deep-running Mirrolure will greatly facillitate unhooking from rubber
wetsuits.
Les's nose gives off 2 quick honks...and we immediately start trolling the Mirrolures. Here's some helpful info: .. follow along
the 30-45 foot contour of Santa Inez Island...south side...and watch your depth gauge at all times. Lots of underwater points and
boulders that will want to hang up your lure if you go too shallow. Here's another tip that all fishermen know, but I will repeat it here (to
bolster your spirits, Cypress!)...always start downwind, because that's the direction you catch the most fish...in any waters..duh. Newbies, keep
count next time and see for yourself.
Downwind we go...starting at the easternmost point of the islands and hugging that 30-45 ft depth. You can troll a large Mirrolure up to 8mph with
100 ft of 30lb max line and it will reach a depth of about 26-28 ft. I will trolling max speed because that lure whizzing past some fishes lair might
just trigger a hit.
Take a look at the island over there...it's the largest Sta.Inez island and we are about half-way down it's length. Get yourself a landmark on that
shore when you get the hit...it will produce for you again. Has for me since I caught my biggest ever right here in 1978...and many, many more over
the years. The only thing that has changed is the lure...used to be Rapalas,now it's Mirrolures.
Another thing changed fast back then, though...starting out killing a couple big ones, we quickly learned to release unharmed the really big
females..prime egg layers. Never keep the big gals...Who wants to kill a 100lb or bigger grouper? Just keep the small good eaters...truly a great
dinner!
Note: Before we started to troll, Les offered me the selection of Mirrolures to pick from. I was in kind of a hot pink mood. He chose firetiger and
Stan put on a brown/gold. All good producing colors.
As luck would have it, the hot pink was the color of the day. It outfished the other colors 3 to 1
We landed a couple more, then we spotted hundreds of birds sitting NE of the islands ..out there in much deeper waters...which meant that a yellowtail
school had recently brought a baitboil to the surface.
We decide to rig up with darts and yoyos again..some with a chunk of bait.
We made a few drops in about 150 - 180 ft over a rocky bottom and did some creative jigging...then..on a fast retrieve I got a hook-up. Pretty dang
nice yellow, huh? I hung it from the c-ckpit ceiling and Stan had to move out of the way..it is bumping him in the shoulder here.
Honest!
Well, it's now about 1:30 and we have missed a half hour of siesta time..so it's time to pack it in, besides we decide we have all the fish we need
for our dinners and then some for the freezer. We could have stayed and easily caught more. We had brought in 9 nice fish..6 short of our legal
limit of 5 each, but just enough for our wants. Our morning's catch filled the portside fishtank..and that's a good day!
We head it South by South West for home...Coyote Bay..about a 40 minute run.
[Edited on 12-27-2008 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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woody with a view
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hey Pompano
great essay on the events of the day. that Les sure has a good honker, lucky guy!!! BTW, how do you tell a female cabrilla, or any other fish (i know
how to tell the big headed dorado are males). i hate fileting a nice fish and seeing a full eggsack.....
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Pompano
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woody...a great topic. See the similarities in THE GREAT GROUPER DEBATE
| Quote: | Originally posted by woody in ob
hey Pompano
great essay on the events of the day. that Les sure has a good honker, lucky guy!!! BTW, how do you tell a female cabrilla, or any other fish (i know
how to tell the big headed dorado are males). i hate fileting a nice fish and seeing a full eggsack..... |
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Gaucho
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Location: Laguna Beach/East Cape
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Mood: Bohemia por favor...
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Now THAT'S a post!!!!
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Sharksbaja
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 You know how to live Roger. I agree with your dining preference btw, you can't
do much better than that!
Thanks for sharing.
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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Paulina
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I'm jealous.
P<*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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mulegemichael
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...can't wait pomp...we fly outta here manana and will be there by monday...see ya at junglas or come by our place in the oasis..
dyslexia is never having to say you\'re yrros.
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Bajaboy
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Hey Pompano- You're my kind of fisherman....I agree about the choice of fish for the dinner table as well. Keep the pictures and reports coming.
zac
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fishbuck
Banned
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Nice job Pompano. Looks like fun!
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." J. A. Shedd.
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. – Albert Einstein
"Life's a Beach... and then you Fly!" Fishbuck
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Santiago
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Pompano
Please do not send me a mayonaisse recipe.
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Great report Pomp - as I type this a huge flock of Canadians are honking past my window (the goose, silly).
By the way, when I grew up in Bakersfield our neighbor worked for a large grocery chain - Safeway, I think. He claimed that Bakersfield and the
Dakotas had something in common : Miracle Whip outsold mayo by 2 to 1. That true?
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capt. mike
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Pomp - yur right, bass rule!
or is it basses rule?
anyway you were talking about Luca Braci. He one mean dude.
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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Cypress
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Pompano, Congrats on the fish and thanks for the pictures.
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Bob and Susan
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those look like bees
can you eat those things or are they too oily like some fish
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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Whoa..now THAT is a spectacular fishing report....a little history, great fish pics, tips for anglers (Juan is gonna want some of those mirrolures
now),some sex(I saw those hooters in that fishing collage), secret spots, real estate promo, eco lecture, and above all...humor! gracias Pomp
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Skipjack Joe
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Thanks for the tip regarding pinto bass, Roger. I've considered them to be a nuisance fish up until now. The BOLA area is full of them. I was always
disappointed when one would latch on while jigging for yellowtail. Now I know better. Will keep a few next time for the pot.
Yellowtail sashimi is excellent. Just a notch below dorado sashimi. I don't much like yellowtail in any other way. As you point out the groupers and
snappers are all so much better tablefare.
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castaway$
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Do you really launch your 26 footer across the beach! I have a 20 foot Trophy I/O and I have been afraid to try it.
Live Indubiously!
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Pompano
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Pintos, etc..
| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Thanks for the tip regarding pinto bass, Roger. I've considered them to be a nuisance fish up until now. The BOLA area is full of them. I was always
disappointed when one would latch on while jigging for yellowtail. Now I know better. Will keep a few next time for the pot.
Yellowtail sashimi is excellent. Just a notch below dorado sashimi. I don't much like yellowtail in any other way. As you point out the groupers and
snappers are all so much better tablefare. |
Igor. I had some pinto fillets for dinner last night..breaded & baked style...quite deliciouis.
It's hard to narrow down my favorite eating types, but I'll give it a try.
1. walleye
2. halibut
3. pinto
1. WALLEYE (Simply the only fish for shore lunches)
2. HALIBUT (Being in Alaska is delicious in itself)
3. PINTO BASS (Fast Food of Baja)
If in a hurry for a pinto dinner, use a baited rock cod rig.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Pompano
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castaway...yes.
| Quote: | Originally posted by castaway$
Do you really launch your 26 footer across the beach! I have a 20 foot Trophy I/O and I have been afraid to try it. |
castaway, good question and I was going to answer it here in the fishiing report..but got carried away as usual and wrote a novel.
So please look for a more detailed answer on my thread in Questions and Answers.."How to Launch Your Big Boat and Party Hardy."
In a nutshell...yes, you can. A piece of cake.
.
.
[Edited on 12-9-2008 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Bajagypsy
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I will have to go fishing with you next time we are in your area, looks like you had a blast!
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Udo
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Pompano...........
I'm really envious, especially if I gotta do this off my kayak!
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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