La Paz April 23-30

Still trying to catch up after returning, but thought I'd start the report and fill it in as I get more time.

The first fish of the trip.  30-ish pound Yellowtail.



The last fish of the trip.  30-ish pound Broomtail Grouper.



More to come ...

-Allen

Nice bookends, can't wait to see the middle!

WARNING!!!

A few beers were harmed in the making of this trip.



And one night, Mr. Don Julio paid us a visit.



-Allen

Ok I have it now. You can take me next time and I will be the designated driver. 2 nice fish dude. Cant wait to see the rest.

Hope these 2 weren't the biggest fish of the trip    Looking forward to the report and pictures Allen.

Hope these 2 weren't the biggest fish of the trip    Looking forward to the report and pictures Allen.

Hell, I'd take that grouper over anything I caught while I was at The Ranch!

Can you keep those? I love grouper, but not sure I could bring myself to keep one if legal.

WOW! I envy you! Maybe when Im rich and famous!

Hope these 2 weren't the biggest fish of the trip    Looking forward to the report and pictures Allen.

Hell, I'd take that grouper over anything I caught while I was at The Ranch!

Can you keep those? I love grouper, but not sure I could bring myself to keep one if legal.

http://www.mexfish.com/fish/btgroup/btgroup.htm

In Mexico, the Broomtail Grouper is found all along the Pacific Coast of the Baja California peninsula, in the lower two-thirds of the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland.

It is considered an excellent food fish and is sold commercially. Although not as abundant as some of the other groupers, the Broomtail Grouper is one of the more important food fish of the Sea of Cortez.

-Allen

I like the supermarket pic.

"so cool they had a nice selection. OK now pay the girl will ya?"

"Wait, um where's my wallet? "

I was going to count the BPC - beers per capita - but gave up when my head started hurting. 

Come on Allen, it's 3 days already!  How much longer are you going to tease us? 

Right after I first posted this trip, a couple of my oldest and dearest friends said we needed a "boys week".  So I floated the idea of a week on the Sea of Cortez and they jumped all over it.  Had another spot to fill and of course Allen Bushnell jumped on it too.   Here's a pic of the crew for the week.  From left to righ ... Allen, Tom, Chris, and myself.



This was going to be Chris' time kayak fishing.  Tom has done a bit, but not much.  In fact, he was 1/2 owner of that Cobra Triple I used to own and was with me when I caught my first halibut (and second too!!!).  I got to be honest and say that most of the fishing was done from the big boat.  Most days were breezy and the fishing looked like this.  Why beat yourself up on a kayak when you can beat yourself up on a boat?



When we first got to La Paz, we heard the bite was off for the past 3 days.  Before that the yellowtail had been going off at El Bajo to the north.  I was sort of hoping the slowdown was due to the fullmoon, but we also heard that the warm water was pushing in, and driving the yellowtail off.

Day 1.  We head out to Isla Espiritu Santa to load up on Sardinas.  Bait make a big difference and starting off with a full tank was encouraging.  These guys can throw the big net!



Our weapons for the week ... somehow  Bushy and I managed to bring 16 rod/reels.  These ranges from 12# spinners up to 50# troll rods.  We only broke 2 rods this week ?!?  A 20# spinner (must have got a ding in the graphite) and a 30# conventional (high sticking!)



When not bait fishing, we had a large selection of lures to call from.  Here are but a few.



After getting bait, we pointed the boat south and headed for the north end of Cerralvo Island.  There had been sporadic reports of yellowfin there, and some yellowtail too.  The captain had said we'd try Cerralvo the first day, head back north and anchor at Espiritu Santo that night, head north to El Bajo the next days, then decide where to go based on what we see those first 2 days.

It's a 2-3 hour troll to Cerralvo and the water.  I've done this crossing a few times before and never really caught much on the way.  This day was not any different.  We encountered a big patch of red algae bloom on the way and the water temp bumps up a couple of degrees to 72.  We worked the rock hard as well as another nearby high spot with nothing to show except a bunch of bonitos (Mexican Black Skipjack).  At least they put up a decent fight.

Head back to Espiritu Santo early to splash the kayaks and work the reefs.



I select a light outfit and 1 lure (a jointed Rebel Fastrac).  My first pass and I take a big hit.  Line peeling out, then I'm rocked.  $@#!$  Come to find out later in the trip that there is a pod of nice Roosters hanging out in this bay and I brought a knife to a gunfight.

We pick up a few small cabrilla for dinner, but decide to have beef fajitas instead.  Day 1 hasn't been fruitful fishing wise.  But it's been an excellent day to share with good friend.  Don't worry, the fishing only gets better.

Pass the cervesa por favor!!!



-Allen

This is killer.   

After a somewhat slow day 1, we needed to warm things up.  My turn to drive!!!



I lasted about 30 seconds until Captain Raul came up from the head.     Then he took over and we took our first troll strike of the trip.  Doble!!!  Two skipjacks.  Not what we were looking for, but hey, smiles all around



We make our way north to El Bajo, a seamount that come up to 60 feets from 100's of feet deep all around.   We fished live bait and yo-yo'd but no yellowtail love.  There were a few cabrilla around though.



And I had a species first.  Not sure what it is, but Cappy called it a cardinal and said it was really good eating.



Did I mention there were a few cabrilla around?



After a few hours of the right kind not showing up, we point the boat north and head towards Isla San Franciscito, which is about 50-60 miles north of La Paz.  Cappy said to put the "big feathers" our for marlin.  We had one breeze through the spread and saw a few jumpers, but otherwise no love.  2-3 hours later and we stop of some reefs outside of the island. 

A few more cabrilla.



And then a yellowtail showed up for Chris.



Chris hasn't been fishing much in the past few years, but he started by putting on a skipjack clinic and now caught the first yellowtail of the trip.   It wasn't long before he caught the second, which we CNR'd.  A few more cabrilla and we decide to head into the anchorage.  I put out a Mirrolure 111MR in green mackerel, first time I've run on of these.



As we approached the island, it caught a small 6 pound yellowtail (CNR'd), literally a few hundred yards from where we dropped anchor.  Put it back out just in time for Cappy to slow down to drop anchor.  As I'm reeling it back in, it gets heavy and a nice sized cabrilla comes in.  Actually I didn't know I hooked anything as I thought it was just the pull of the lure and I had the reel in low gear and was reeling with the rod still in the rod holder.

Splashed the kayaks and I took that Mirrolure and trolled right back from where we came, this time on a 30# rig.  Bushy was right behind me.



The wind started coming up and I turned to take a pic of the other guys trailing me.  When all of a sudden, my rod goes off.  I'm able to grab it just in time for it to go slack.  I've just been rocked ... AGAIN!!!   And I lost what was proving to be a hot lure, and the only one of its kind I had.  Second night in a row of getting rocked.

I guess it was time for a cervesa and I head for the boat.



Today has been a good day.  The yellowtail showed up and we caught a lot of cabrilla.

-Allen

Those cabrilla are gorgeous.  I prefer them (for food) over YT any day.