Quieres yoyo??? Rancho Leonero 09

Welcome back. Nice report, wish I was with you guys!

Crazy.  Sean and Dave, I don't think the fish was your best catch. 

Congrats all

Welcome back. Nice report, wish I was with you guys!

2010 Mega-Roader II???

Sean and Dave, I don't think the fish was your best catch.

Agreed!

Sean, you REALLY need to start living soon.... So very jealous....

Is Hydro holding a barracuda?

Hojo that is a ladyfish...Terry loves them.

Dustin share your story of how that big Toro fought.

Like any great adventure the core of what made it great was the people involved.
Sure the ranch is amazing and we are fishing in the sea of cortez, but the shared experience and team chemistry is what takes trips like these to the next level. We were definately in that zone.
With so many transitions from panga to kayak and back, in sometimes choppy conditions, it was only team work that prevented any swimming or loss of gear.
There were some BIG fish lost by all of us, none as exciting as the marlin that Mr Hopper hooked up with, but losing any monster fish out there feels like getting a chunk of your soul ripped out. Having a team/friends that truly understand that kind of pain helps you get back into the game.
Sean was a amazing guide. We were constantly swapping out gear with Sean and Rene in the panga. Shredded leader after getting tangled up with another needlefish? no problem.
Sean had your back up at the ready and Rene would hand off fresh carnada.
Got the big hook up? Rene has the panga on the move and Sean is on the cam to capture your moment of near ,and sometimes full on, panic.
I think one of the highlights of this trip was witnessing the crafty veteran "IRON BRUCE" fully finding the zone. While Hopper and I were experiencing a wicked hot needlefish bite, the iron one was taking bigger dorado, bigger pompano, ect ect. The force is strong in this one.
Mr Hopper put on a clinic of his own and I started calling him "the matador" after he had taken multiple Toro on multiple days. Like many of the other times ive fished with Dustin he catches alot of fish and I take alot of pictures.
Just like last year, I learned ALOT! most importantly I learned that I need to get better, which means I have to go back!

Welcome back. Nice report, wish I was with you guys!

2010 Mega-Roader II???

absolutely! the blue team is ready to roll!   again


now the visuals

Thanks for the awesome pics, Sean and Terry!

Terry came down and stayed with Vy and I on Saturday. Vy cooked us up some of the halibut I caught on Thursday, we watched some UFC, then tried to crash out early for our trip. I think the last time I looked at the clock it was creeping up on 11:30PM. When my alarm went off the clock looked like this:



The first leg of our trip went without incident, but then in Phoenix Adam dropped a bomb on us. The passcard that he had purchased was only good for driving across the border...not flying across it. My heart sank and I honestly felt like crying for the man. Vy, Terry, and I boarded the plane to Baja and all prayed that somehow Adam would make it down.

We landed in Baja, stopped for some water, and made the journy to The Ranch. Day One was spent getting gear ready, getting acclimated to the climate, going over the week's game plan, and getting down on some poki! We all just pretty much chilled (definitely not the right word) on the grounds and had an early night. I know I was super excited for the coming days' adventures.

Day Two started out with us getting all our gear staged and claiming our kayaks. We had brand spankin' new P13 and P15s to choose from. I had to go with the yellow P15, which is still one of my favorite boats. We humped all of our gear down to the beach then went and had breakfast.






After a great breakfast it was time to load the kayaks on the panga.



I noticed this little fella enjoying the morning before the sand got too hot.



Sean gave us a preview of how great of a guide he would turn out to be by immediately helping with the manual labor.



Loading the yaks onto The Ole:







Leaving The Ranch:



And meeting the bait guys:



After picking up bait we made our first fishing stop out by the light house.


Conditions were less than perfect, but that worked out OK since our drift speed was just a bit slower than a good troll.

Here's a pic of Terry on the hunt.



And a picture of half of Terry.



As you can see it was far from glass (but that would change on the following days). I had a swell break right on my lap that was a nice wake up. Shortly after I'd get the biggest wake up of my life. I was drifting a live sardina and my clicker started to slowly go off. I kicked my Saltist into free spool and counted to ten then set the hook. All of a sudden line just started ripping off my reel. The high pitched VVVVVVVVVVVV sound of the braid being stolen from my reel made me smile. I've caught over sized sturgeon before and they didn't peel line anything like this. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see a swordfish head pop out of the water. Ho-lee-shit! I called out on the radio that I had a sailfish. I heard a few more splashes behind me then heard Sean come back with "Uh, no, dude. That is a marlin!"

I turned back and saw it get airborn three or four times. I was kind of just stuck and mesmerized by the whole thing. All the while the line is just disappearing off my reel. I kind of freak out and start slowly tightening my drag. Before I know it my drag is just about buttoned down and line is still peeling off freely. I knew right there that I had f**ked up and started to loosen it back up when the marlin jumped two or three more times and SNAP! I was so jazzed that I was just a little let down, but wasn't too crushed by the loss. My heart was pounding. Looking back on it, the biggest mistake I made was keeping my feet in the water, which is a bad habit I have. Had I just pulled my feet out of the water there wouldn't have been as much resistence and I wouldn't have almost got spooled. It was a mistake I would not make again. Also the fact that it was my first fish of the trip! Had this fish came on Day Three or Four I'm sure I would've faired much better in battle.

A few needlefish rounded out Day Two for me. Here's a shot of our So-Cal brother Bruce:


We made it back to The Ranch a little after 2:30. I took a two-and-a-half hour nap, showered up, had a lovely dinner with the crew and crashed out around 10:00PM, eager for the next day's adventure.

Welcome back. Nice report, wish I was with you guys!

2010 Mega-Roader II???

Dude I want in on 2010. Haven't been to Baja in 5 years.

Looks like a fun fishing trip. Congrats to all!

Al

Morning on Day Three:





We loaded up and headed out to fish the inshore for roosters, pargo, the ever pestering needlefish, pompano, and (what would turn out to be my favorite fish of the trip) the mighty Toro. Even with 50 proof sunblock on my legs got fried the day before. I brought some light flanel PJs just for that reason and rocked those for the rest of the trip!

The inshore rocked and the sight seeing and water clarity were just as good as the fishing. I didn't get too many pics due to the amount of hook-ups, either with needlefish or the right kind.

Terry on a toro:



Just before noon the bite tapered off and we headed off for the deeper waters to chase dodos. Since it was just a short ride we tied off the yaks instead of lugging them fully back onto the deck as we did the previous day.



The offshore fishing was good to us. We landed dodos, pompano, and more toro! I caught my first fish on the yo-yo, a nice pompano that we brought home for dinner. Sean and Rene did a fantastic job of bait delivery, documentation, and back up rigging. It was way too easy for Terry, Bruce, and I....but in the few breaks we gave them they managed to catch some fish, too. Here are our support crew on a nice double.




Same routine after fishing on this day. A very short nap for me, some pool time, a fantastic sunset dinner with great company, some adult beverages, and a finish time of around 10:00PM. Oh yeah, throw three or four random cold showers in there, too. It was hot!

One of the local gatos in full Baja mode:

Morning of Day Four:




The inshore assault in the morning followed by dodo chasing in the afternoon turned out to be the call for the entire trip. Day Four was off the hook. Lots of different species landed in the inshore. The toros did not disappoint. I was hoping all trip for a nice rooster, but the toro were a hell of a consolation prize.

Here's Terry showing how marine dismounts are done. Show off.



Terry with a fat pargo!



Bruce on an even fatter pargo.



A cute little triggerfish:


Terry hammin' it up.



Documenting the documentation:





Terry on a good one:



Bruce dis-mounting his steed. The teamwork every day was just awesome.



The offshore was on again this day as well. More dodos and pompano, and toro. Oh my!

This little fella was fatally over confident in his eating abilities. He was unfortunately consumed by a large seabird shortly after release.



Landing at the end of Day Four.



Insert more showers, pool time, great food, hanging with my GF, adult beverages here.

Morning of Day Five.








This was by far the most frustrating day of fishing for me. From the very get-go the needlefish were on me like white on rice. Our first stop at the honey hole was pretty slow, except for a HUGE pompano landed by Bruce and the dozens of needles we got raped by, so we decided to head over towards Punta Colorada. This stop was even more frustrating for me because on at least four occasions I saw roosters busting on my bait only to have it be stolen by f**king needlefish. Terry was getting molested too, as was Sean on the panga. The only thing that made up for it for me was that Bruce was having an exceptional day....and the gorgeous scenery.

Sean managing to hook a rooster in the midst of the needlefish swarm.



The one non-needlefish I caught that morning.



And a little mooch that was waiting for sardinas to make their way out of one of my scuppers.



The adult beverages were great, but the one drink that was just MAGIC out on the water was this. Pure cold delisciousness.

Bruce dis-mounting his steed. The teamwork every day was just awesome.

Couldn't agree more, you guys were awesome.