Back from Baja! (finally finished)

Well, it was a whacky year at the Ranch.  The water was way cold by baja standards, only 73-75, instead of the 80's.  This temp difference is the whole world in baja.  As a result there was no live bait to speak of and fishing was off considerably.

On the upside was this years company.  Bigeyedave brought a huge crew of spearos with him, and everyone was absolutely wonderful...friendly,  polite, hilarious, and kooky for fish!  I even had several Doc's to pick from when it came time to have Paige's puffer spine removed from her foot.  Unfortunately for the spearos, the cold water really made diving tough, but Bigeye's dad did nail a nice 160# Striped Marlin on the way back from diving.  There was also lots of false controversy around the use of "pistolas".  In short, the Ranch is not the best place for spearos, but everyone seemed to make the best of it.

While others in the group were cruising the PBs looking for shooting opportunties, I paddled every day but one.  Over the course of our trip I paddled well over 120 miles looking for love in the off conditions.  Jr paddled everyday but  two, racking up almost a hundred miles for the trip.  The poor little bugger was looking dog tired by the end of his last day on the water, but he refused to give up on his dream of a kayak dorado.

With no live bait I ran the same two-rod spread every day, with a few brief but futile attempts at trying different gear.  I used 2 old-school baja basics: a light weight prism colored Kroc on the surface for dodos, and a deep running chrome and mackeral Rapala CD-14 for the big boys.  I was glad I brought my artificials from last year, as I had banked on using live bait the whole trip.  I won't make that mistake again.  The trolling pace for pelagics with these lures is a brutal steady 2-3 mph.  Normally with live sardinas it is a much more leisurely mendo-like pace. After 4-6 hours of steady paddling your DONE for the day.  However you really savor your lunch and siesta!  As retarded as it is, I was determined to do it "pure" and me and jr. knocked it out day after day.

The thought of tough fishing was however greatly mitigated by the greasy water, the easiest launch in the world, and a beautiful sunrise almost every morning.





Our persistence paid off with a steady trickle of quality fish.  Early in the trip I worked an area I had found fish last year, and again, it was holding a solid mix of what were hunting for, but it made for a  long 10-13 mile round trip paddle each day.  

Day one almost ended in a skunk but on the return trip my clicker starts going off and I am stoked.  I can tell almost immediately by the vertical surging that this isn't a pelagic, but my old friend the pargo.  Pargo are big snappers that fight like you just can't believe.  I had never manged to land a decent one in the past because you generally can't stop them from running long enough to keep them out of the rocks.  This time I finally got one to the boat and I gaffed the first fish of the trip, a nice 13# pargo muleto, or barred pargo.



The next day I set out solo to the same area as before as I had seen a nice dodo and other fishy signs the day before.  This time the rod with the Kroc went off, and I knew almost immediatly who was on the other end by the distintive action.  While things were slow, they were looking up when I put the gaff to this tasty little 9# hen.



Jr. was trolling a Kroc as well, but he kept catching nothing but tons of needles, and was starting to get a little discoraged, although the big ones are perfect for kids looking for something to reel in.  Some were several feet long.



The next day as I was waiting for others to launch I was looking towards my spot and noticed a small fleet of Cruisers running and gunning.  This is a sure sign of a fleet chasing tuna.  The boats were just outside the area I had been working and coming closer.  That was all I needed to see and I was paddling hard for the horizon.  By the time we got there the fleet had dispersed and I was bummed...and then the clicker started screaming.  I was not convinced it was a tuna but I was stoked to be hooked up and bent hard.  After a few minutes something went flying under the yak.  Chris was asking what it was...I had no idea, not a good look.  Then the fish starts circling under the boat and I get a short glimpse of color...AHI!!!!  As the fish circles it gets way tangled in my second line.   Jr came to my rescue and cut off the second line at the reel.  15 minutes later I lay the gaff to the head and I boat my first kayak tuna.  I am now worshiping my little Rapala!  This 13# tuna is pretty typical of Tuna in the Sea of Cortez...small but tasty!



We had the super-fresh ahi sashimi at the birthday dinner that night...YUM!



Jr. finally got to hear his clicker go with this little skippy.  This is a perfect kiddy-tuna!



The next day I went straight back to the zone.  As soon as I got there my rod started screaming.  As I turned to get my rod out, it was bent hard and line was FLYING off of the reel.  I got the rod out of the holder and my yak is getting towed hard.  A wake is peeling off of the bow and Chris is fading fast as he tries to run me down.  This is what I have traveled to baja to experience.  I gain some line back but everytime I do more line goes away.  My rod is doubled over and this thing is pulling harder than anything I have ever hooked by a wide margin.  Bigeye and his dad cruise by and are stoked to see me on. after 30 minutes I get color, and i can see its a big jack.  Shortly after I see the fish, it sees the boat and runs long and hard, everything I had gained is gone.  I apply more pressuere tighten the drag, and begin pumping the rod, thumbing the spool, but I gain almost nothing.  After a ridiculously long and intense 1.5 hour battle, the big toro, or jack crevalle, turns off like a switch and comes easily to the boat.  Literally a fight to the death.  I was tired, sweaty, and my forearms were throbbing.  I have never been so happy, but I was sad to see the toro expire, as they are not good to eat, and he earned a release.  Besides exhaustion, the fishgt was so prolonged the Rapala and leader had worn a hole in the side of is head!  This 23# jack was one bad-ass fishy.  I gave it to one of the employees for machaca, a sort of fish jerky made by the locals.



Chris' dogged determination finally paid off the next day as the clicker on his new little Penn finally sounded like something good had whacked his Kroc.  This little rascal went nuts until its antics ended up hog-tying itd peduncle and Chris got it to the boat.  I got the honor of gaffing Jr.s first dorado.  He was so happy it made me forget about the rest of the trip.  We high-fived a zillion times and headed for home.  



On the trip back my Rapala went off again.  After a nice tussle I landed another decent pargo.



The next day was ALL heartbreak.  We went back to the zone and again had fish on immediately.  Within an hour I had lost two tuna and a nother big jack.  I finally boated another huge jack, but this one only lasted about 25 minutes before being released.  We paddled back with our tails between our legs.  After returning to the Ranch, I agonized over all of the lost fish.  Upon later inspection, I discovered that the rear hook on my trust-worthy Rapala was the problem.  Two out of the three barbs were gone, and one tine was super bent.  A hard lesson learned, check your gear thoorughly everyday, if not after every fish.  In addition to the big game species, my Rapala had been bitten by a ton of other hard mouthed reef critters like triggers etc. that had probably done the bulk of the hook damage...DOH!

The next day I went back for revenge but was denied by a howling wind after an hor on the water.  I surfed back on huge white caps and packed my bags.

Although things were tougher than usual we had a GREAT time.  Good company, good food, muchos Coronas, three birthday parties, tons of time with the kids, and some awesome fishing experiences.  As Ullyses put our rod/paddle case on the taxi back to the airport the whole family remorsed leaving the Ranch.  We all pledged to return next year for more family fun.

Nice lookin fish.  Looks like an awesome time!

Man, and that's "off" fishing?

WTG, man. Having never been down there that looks like an epic trip to me!

The pic of your son with his dolphin is epic!

I was determined to do it "pure" and me and jr. knocked it out day after day.

Great job Sean (and Chris) ! I admire your determination of kayak fishing under your own steam! Somehow, the fish that you catch seem more delicious  

Incredible report Sean. Man, you are one lucky dad to have such a great fishing buddy. Seeing your boy's persistance pay off - fantastic.

What was the size of that prism Kroc? CD-14 pattern? I'm starting to gear up for my upcoming trip.

Sad to say that is :off: fishing, but we really made the most out of it. Many days pangas would return empty handed after a 50 mile run.  We were extremely fortunate to get what we caught.  For me any trip to baja is epic, its just such a cool place.  My son will definitely remember the dodo for the rest of his angling career.

Hana-Agreed!

PAL- The Kroc is unmarked but it is about 4 inches long but thin so it runs shallow not a thicker one.  The CD-14 was the real money maker...chrome and green mackeral  I caught some kind of fish on it everyday.  It is going on the wall.  It looks like it was dragged behind a truck...scratches and tooth marks all over it.

I'll take some pics so you can get one like it.

Great report Sean.

You're making me feel guilty that I didn't report my trip down there this past month.  I guess I was thinking it wasn't a NorCal report, but then again my buddies and I did drive down from up here.

BTW, where abouts is "the Ranch"?  Is that off the East Cape?

Brian

holly guacamole

that looooooks so fun.glad you guys had a great time

dudes

thats go in april 06.

gto19

Rancho Leonero aka the Ranch is on the East Cape.  Awesome place, great accomodations, food etc.  11 out of 10 for me.

Great report.  those needle fish are huge, and creepy looking with those teeth.  Some of the best fishing I have ever done was in Cabo, and spent two weeks down there fishing every day.  I caught tuna, wahoo, alot of dorados and even a sailfish all on the same trip.

John

Yes... Excellent report and photos!
So.. when is the absolute best time of the year fishing action and weather at the Ranch?
I want to starting planning my vacation now.

Chuck-In a normal year it would be right now.  We are going to look at dates in the next few days too, I'll keep you posted.  I have a bunch of family type of pics I can share too.

in hawaii some of the jacks reach over 100 lbs, they call them ulua. i raised one to a surface lure once, but i have never caught one.