Baja

[jbird]

I will be headed down for a family vacation the day after tomorrow. Its not a commando fishing trip but I should be able to hit the beach every morning from first light til 9 or so. I will go out one day on a panga with gordo Banks Pangas. The roosters are showing in big numbers in the area, hopefully I can hook into a grande, otherwise, I'll take whatever swims by.

The beach in front of our first leg of the vacation usually has schools of sardinas and excellent fishing. We will be staying at the Coral Baja Resort about 5 minutes south of san jose del cabo. (a beach fisherman landed a 44lb snook in front of coral baja last year :shock: )

The second leg will be at the Westin Regina resort, about another 15 minutes south. I've seen the beach but have never fished there. There is a good combo of rock and sand. I'll give it a whirl.

Hopefully the south swells will be low cause this area has direct southern exposure. Heres a picture of the last time I stayed at the Coral Baja in June, 3 years ago.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/snow2138.jpg

[sculpin]

Sheeh Jay, ya didn't let a little shore break interfere with yer fishin, did ya:D . That surf was huge and I can see why the beach fishing part of that trip was a bust. When you head to Todos Santos, pull in and check out Los Cerritos (SP?) on the way. It could be within striking distance on a family trip, for early morning fishing. It's a little ways before you get to Pescadero. There shouldn't be any surf this time of year. I got into a WFO juvenile Roosterfish bite there, when I was just a gear fisherman. I keep thinking how much fun it would have been with a fly rod. It was fantastic with gear. Have a safe trip and catch lots of fish. Or build up lotsa fishin points. [-o<

Mark

[PaulC]

Best of luck out there Jay! Hope a big rooster cruises your way.
-Paul

[David Lee]

Hope you carry the Snook Ju-ju this trip !!

Have a safe one -

David :)

[jbird]

I returned home from baja thisafternoon. I had a very relaxing trip with the family. Once again, the beach fishing was a total bust, with swells averaging 5' the whole week.

I went out with gordo Banks Pangas one day. The panguero took a gamble and motored 1 1/2hrs up the coast, to just south of los frailies. The fish were there, but the bummer was, you only get a 6 hour day with this outfit. There and back = 3hrs so that only left 3hrs fishing. A rip-off in my oppinion! Anyway....I started with the standard roosterfish flies (sea habits and EP patterns) I landed a rooster right away and a jack too. the roosters all started to smarten up. I only got one more over the next hour or so. I then took a gamble and put on a floating line and a big balsa popper. Holy smokes folks! We didnt even need to thro chum anymore! The popper was enough to bring the roosters from miles around. When the action would slow, I put a swivel on my leader and we trolled the beach with the popper. It would only take a few minutes to tick off a new school of roosters and be back in the game. Over the next hour, I hooked 8 more and landed 5 and lost a popper to a sierra. I'm sure you could imagine my outrage when the captain said it was time to go at 11:30 in the friggin morning! Right when I had the roosters totally dialed in!!!!!AAARGHHHH!

The fish were small, averaging 4 to 8lbs with one around 12 or 13#.


If you find yourself fishing to finicky roosters, put on a popper and pop it HARD. So that the fly jumps out of the water and lands several feet away. The fish seem to hate it when it would disappear, and would absolutely cream it when they saw it land back in the water. Fun Stuff!

I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Jay

[Adam Grace]

Good Luck Jay!

[Hairstacker]

Jay, I can indeed imagine the frustration of having to leave in the middle of a topwater bite. :lol: Sounds like you were having a blast with those poppers! 8) 8) 8)

[Jay Murakoshi]

Jay,

That's the baja fishing game. Our normal fishing time is from 7am to around 2pm and then your done for the day. Normally, the wind starts coming up in the afternoon and it could make it tough. But most of our boating requires only a short run, no 3 hours of motoring.

We did get a lot of roosters, jacks and lady fish on top water and two handed fast strip. On my indivdual fishing days, I was using the top water hair bugs like my Zara Spooks, floating minnows and crank baits. I would make a long cast and just start ripping the fly across the surface using the two hand retrieve. I ended up losing around two dozen of these flies, either biten off or litterly destroyed by the toothy critters.

Anytime in baja is a fun time

Jay

[bubzilla]

Any trouble with carrying on flies, reels, lines, and/or rods at the airport, Jay?

[jbird]

Hi Grant! Long time no see/hear.

I flew U.S. airways from Medford thru Phoenix to SJD. It was a peice-o-cake. The shortest travel I've ever had down to baja. I carried on rods, reels and flies going down, but only carried on rods coming home. ( Didnt want a repeat of last year) No trouble at all. Customs in Phoenix is a breeze compared to L.A. The only international folks coming thru were Mexicans. In LA, you have a huge convergience of people from all over the world bottlenecking into customs.

I will try to book this route from now on when destined for SJD.

Jay

[David Lee]

Sorry to hear about the Panga driver , Jay .....

I don't feel TOO sorry for ya though .... Roosters on poppers :shock: :shock: !!

Think I'd better get carvin' now .... :idea: :idea: :idea:

David :D