East cape gear

Hi Everyone, 

Asking the group for advice on a upcoming trip (10-5 through 12th) to Los Barilles for 7 days.  We have a panga for two days, a charter one day, and kayaks for all days.  Looking to gear up!! 
So to start, is there a good tackle shop down there to buy whats working?  I plan on bringing one 7' medium tiger rod and one 7' med/heavy Shim tallus, two penn squall reels (3500), and a penn spinning reel (5500 size).  All currently have 50lb braid topped with 30lb mono.  Also bringing fish finder, pfd, gaff, radios, shark shield, and some tools... oh and sunscreen . 

Where I need help is tackle.  Ive never fished down there, so I am a complete noob when it comes to roosters, yf tuna, dorado, bill fish, pargo, pompano, etc.  I want to come with the gear necessary to fish inshore off of the kayak, so Im open to suggestions for specific lures, hooks, rigs, line, weights, jigs, ANYTHING that will get us in the zone.  I dont know what the bait situation will be, but we are also open to catching bait, but again, no clue on the gear (sibiki size?) needed for this.  If all goes well, I doubt this will be the only trip we make down there, so its OK if I over spend a bit so long as I come back with the gear. 

Any specific help would be greatly appreciated! 

Thanks,
Nolan 

I still have those maps if you're interested or you can pick them up at a car rental shop in San Jose del Cabo.

PM or text me you have my number.

Oh yeah!  totally forgot.  Ill text you this weekend.  Thanks.   

Buy your tackle here.  The shops there charge higher prices.  Forget bait rigs.  Buy your bait from the locals. 

Buy your tackle here.  The shops there charge higher prices.  Forget bait rigs.  Buy your bait from the locals.

Thanks!  Good stuff.  So what tackle - looking for specifics if anyone would be so gracious.  We just want to get on some fish!  Lol  Ive read so much, but I'm looking for advice from someone who has slayed there before and could share specific lures, hook sizes, swivels, line, knots that are good to know, techniques, etc that were especially effective.  I can research everything, but need a bit of direction.  We want to arrive armed and ready!! 

I have been staying at Las Palmas in Sept. or Oct for the last 6 years or so and going out on their cruiser charters. Live Bait has been scarce the last few years from locals and we have had to travel some distance to get it.  Sometimes frozen squid chunks have been available but it goes quickly. Sometimes we catch a few bonito and cut them up for bait.
We generally use 1/0-3/0 hooks, light wire to medium depending on the bait and fish.
Jigs sometimes work as well or better than bait.  Depending on the current and drift it seems that 5-8oz have worked.
This is my experience only and others may have more or better info.
I’ve not kayak fished there so don’t have recommendations for that.

I'll be there in a little over a  week, so I can give you better insight after I get back. But we have been going the last couple of years. Last year, the house we rented had a double kayak. Like you might have read in most post, if you had only one type of lure to bring, it would be the Kastmaster( 1\2oz- 1 1\2oz)! Blue/silver seems to work good. I've  caught mahi mahi, trigger fish, pufferfish and croaker off the surf. Trolling with a Yozuri type med diver on the yak while getting to your spot does well also. In the morning, you'll see a lot of baitfish boiling,  I'll try to cast a topwater or Kastmaster in there. Last year, I got an African Pompano on topwater! We tried a sabiki for the baitfish with no luck, maybe we had a wrong type. You can usually get squid at the local grocery.  You'll catch alot of triggerfish and pufferfish. I'll bring swimbaits and jigs, but when the triggerfish are around, they'll put a damper on your rubbber baits because they'll bite them in half! I put some squid on an underspin jig head and caught a mahi, so you'll never know what to expect! I now have a bunch of travel rods(okuma nomad, sst), just because I don't like the extra baggage. 30-40lb braid  should be fine for inshore, you just might have to beef up the leader if you get into the toothy critters such as needle fish, lady fish etc. We did a panga 2 years ago,I brought a rod on board , but ended up just using their stuff. We fly lined sardinias for tuna. Good luck but your bound to catch something! Oh yeah, you might want to bring some long sleeve fishing shirts and hats/face mask, the sun can be overwhelming at times!

Good luck to you in Los Barilles. I haven't been there in years, but loved my days I spent in a quite place. I fished three days there and got 2 hundred pound fish as well as a few smaller one. One sailfish and one big yellowfin tuna.

I'll be there in a little over a  week, so I can give you better insight after I get back. But we have been going the last couple of years. Last year, the house we rented had a double kayak. Like you might have read in most post, if you had only one type of lure to bring, it would be the Kastmaster( 1\2oz- 1 1\2oz)! Blue/silver seems to work good. I've  caught mahi mahi, trigger fish, pufferfish and croaker off the surf. Trolling with a Yozuri type med diver on the yak while getting to your spot does well also. In the morning, you'll see a lot of baitfish boiling,  I'll try to cast a topwater or Kastmaster in there. Last year, I got an African Pompano on topwater! We tried a sabiki for the baitfish with no luck, maybe we had a wrong type. You can usually get squid at the local grocery.  You'll catch alot of triggerfish and pufferfish. I'll bring swimbaits and jigs, but when the triggerfish are around, they'll put a damper on your rubbber baits because they'll bite them in half! I put some squid on an underspin jig head and caught a mahi, so you'll never know what to expect! I now have a bunch of travel rods(okuma nomad, sst), just because I don't like the extra baggage. 30-40lb braid  should be fine for inshore, you just might have to beef up the leader if you get into the toothy critters such as needle fish, lady fish etc. We did a panga 2 years ago,I brought a rod on board , but ended up just using their stuff. We fly lined sardinias for tuna. Good luck but your bound to catch something! Oh yeah, you might want to bring some long sleeve fishing shirts and hats/face mask, the sun can be overwhelming at times!

Awesome!  Thanks so much for the intel and good luck on your trip!  I would love to hear how it goes and if you have any suggestions based on your experience.   

I have been staying at Las Palmas in Sept. or Oct for the last 6 years or so and going out on their cruiser charters. Live Bait has been scarce the last few years from locals and we have had to travel some distance to get it.  Sometimes frozen squid chunks have been available but it goes quickly. Sometimes we catch a few bonito and cut them up for bait.
We generally use 1/0-3/0 hooks, light wire to medium depending on the bait and fish.
Jigs sometimes work as well or better than bait.  Depending on the current and drift it seems that 5-8oz have worked.
This is my experience only and others may have more or better info.
I’ve not kayak fished there so don’t have recommendations for that.

Thank you!  Good stuff!

Good luck to you in Los Barilles. I haven't been there in years, but loved my days I spent in a quite place. I fished three days there and got 2 hundred pound fish as well as a few smaller one. One sailfish and one big yellowfin tuna.

Thanks!  Were getting stoked!

Heavy blue or green Krocidles.

Report: East cape is amazing.  Greg and I got two kayaks and fished nearly every day, two out of a panga, and one of the panga trips was a mothership trip.  Ended up getting a dorado and a nice wahoo from the panga and from the kayak got several trigger fish, 1 pompano, some bonita, a ladyfish, some needle fish, and a cabrillo.  The top three highlights were 1) landing the wahoo, 2) using my custom kage spear to gaff-skewer the pompano, and 3) fishing all alone at Rincon 2 miles out on flat blue water with fish busting the surface all around us. 
I posted a video of the wahoo slay on IG: https://www.instagram.com/nolanduke2/

Thanks to all who provided the info to help with planning - it really came in handy.   Now, time to re-adjust to cold water, swell, and sharing the water with other people... not that thats a bad thing at all!!  The salmon are still here right!!?? 

Glad you had a great time

Nice fish and glad you had a great time. I need to get back down there again and fish.