Dorado

Got my first kayak late Spring from Monterey Bay Kayak at a paddlefest event. I drove it down to Todos Santos in late June. TS is one hour north of Cabo on the Pacific side. The south swells were too big in July, but I have been able to get out and learn how to kayak fish this winter. I learned what I know from reading many of your posts. Here is my story....
                                                                                           
                                                                                Super Bowl Dorado
 
Got up with the sun. I had loaded the kayak on the rig the night before so after a quick bowl of cereal I was ready to roll. Going through town all the Mexican vendors for the art festival were waking up to ready their booths for the day. When I got to Cerritos the waves were minimal and and an easy launch through the surf was in order. I loaded up both rods, gaff,  and stringer, along with a  few select lures. I paddled out to the point and put my line in and immediately hooked up with a Trigger Fish. I don’t know why these small, extremely toothy fish are so aggressive. They have really small mouths and   yet they attach some large lures. I have caught several while here. When I researched them on the internet it said they are excellent eating.....a poor man’s lobster. However cleaning them is a real challenge as you cannot really cut through their tough skin and have to clean them inside-out. Too much hassle for me.
 
This was my first time to fish Cerritos . It is about 8 miles from my house as opposed to La Pastora which is more convenient at 10 minutes from the house. However, I have now been out 6 times at La Pastora and while I have enjoyed too many whales to count and other sea life, I simply have not had good fish mojo there. I’m not giving up on it but I will enjoy the fine surfing there more than fishing. I fished for about an hour with no other bites. Saw one, small Ridley Turtle. She was about a foot around and happily swimming along. I enjoyed fishing the new waters. There are large rock cliffs there which add to the interest when looking towards shore. As you get further out you can see the Sierra Laguna Mountains looming in the background. It makes for a dramatic backdrop.
 
I decided to do a slow troll in the direction that I had come from and really, when kayak fishing, is there anything but a slow troll? I was just loafing along when my reel started screaming. My line was flying off the reel and as I turned to grab it I saw a huge bull dorado jump 4 times. It was a magnificent sight but my line was still peeling off and I was concerned about being spooled. I only had 20 pound test and that had me worried but as I had read about kayak fishing you set the drag just right and then let the fish pull you. This supposedly tires the fish out and doesn’t stress your drag too much. Well, for the next hour I was dragged out and north by this fish that was just too big to turn. Since I have a rudder on the kayak I was able to steer with my feet and keep the bow pointed in the direction he was swimming. So I just hung on and let him do all the work. I was finally able to slowly get him near the kayak and I could see that he had a buddy that would follow him where ever he swam. The big one was irridescent green and the smaller one was bright blue. The visibility of the water is so clear they were easy to see. As I brought the fish closer to the kayak I realized how hard it was going to be to manage him and the kayak. How the heck was I going to get this big fish into this small boat and not have him completely on my lap? I held the rod with my right hand and grabbed the gaff with my left hand. It was awkward and tough to balance it all. I came up with the gaff and it it seemed to just bounce off of him and piss him off. Off he goes, straight down about 80 feet. He stayed down like that pulling me around again for another 10 minutes. I again worked him slowly back to the vessel and this time I was able to slip the gaff into his gills. I managed to put the rod in its holder with one hand and then grab the needle nose pliers and unhook him. He was still very much alive and hanging more in the water than in the kayak. There wasn’t room for both of us in the cockpit. I bonked him a few times and them managed to reach behind me and get the stringer which has a large, diaper pin like clip. It is about a foot long and I clipped him in and let him into the water. I then got my knife out and gutted him to make sure the meat stayed as fresh as possible. Note, all of this took time and some balance and coordination to get this fine fish subdued and in a safe place. As I finished up readying to paddle back I noticed the reel that had caught the fish had a small bird’s nest so I cast it out about 20 feet to de-tangled the line on the spool. As I started reeling I watched the buddy fish came after the small rapala and nail it. Yow, another one! Fortunately this one was much smaller in comparison and I was able to get it into the boat and strung up in about 10 minutes.
 
Lots of fun and I was very pleased. I had paid my dues with my other kayak excursions and now had a big payoff. I then noticed how far north I was and with the extra drag of the fish it was a very slow two mile paddle back. Guess I wasn’t through paying my dues. I got back to the now crowded beach and everyone on the beach came over to congratulate me and take pictures. One of the locals, Mario (who is a surf instructor and is fixing the ding on my board) said it was the biggest one he had ever seen caught down here. It measures 4 feet six inches and I estimate 30 pounds. I only had a small ice chest with an orange juice bottle of frozen water. I had one of those large black garbage bags and thought he would fit in there. It turns out his buddy did but only half of the big one did. Luckily I have a full plastic tray insert in the back of the rig so I just laid them on that and after loading up the kayak I took off for some ice and to clean the fish. I need one of the big ice chest like I have in Portland . I could have at least cut him in half to fit. I got to use the new fish cleaning station at the casita. Mario, the surf instructor actually lives next door, upstair of Marianne and Leo. I gave him two large filets and my board to repair. I think I’ll get a good deal as a neighbor and provider of several meals to him.
 
I cooked a batch tonight on the grill and ate it with fresh lime. It was muy deliciousa. One of my favorite fish to eat. Good thing, because I have at least 12 meals in the freezer. I’ll be eating a lot of fish in the next few weeks.
 
I didn’t have anyone to take a picture with my camera and with me in the picture. So I hung it off the back of the kayak on top of the rig to get some perspective of it’s size.
 
 

Congrats on your dorado. That was a great read and it brought back good memories of the times I've spent in Baja Mex Pacific & Sea of Cortez side. All the awesome fish species to be caught fishing & diving makes me never want to leave Baja when I'm there.

Keep those baja reports coming brother.

SWEET!  nice story and welcome to the site!

Nice report - good lookin' dorado.

I cooked a batch tonight on the grill and ate it with fresh lime.

Now I'm hungry.

eat it up and enjoy it!  in my experience dorado does not freeze well, it ends up almost burning my mouth, as if it had built up an acid.

Great report thanks...Nice fish...

Very cool report.

nice detailed report

Exciting and easy read.  What a beast - Congrats!

Michael

Man!!!! What an adventure!
I can only imagine the gustatory delight!

That's a great first report, Tod.  Welcome aboard, and thanks for sharing a great adventure and the Good Times that followed.   

WTG on the dorado Tod. Thanks for the great read this morning.

Jedmo

Todd;

Nice Dorado.  Are you living in Baja?  That is my dream.

Jim

great report Tod!
Its unfortunate that they dont keep their color very long after the beat down.
was the second fish a hen?

Nice first post....Welcome... and WTG on the Dorado.

Gue