JerryInLodi
07-09-2007, 09:03 PM
What a difference a year can make. While 2006 was not a banner year in Mulege, I caught more than enough dorado on the fly to satisfy myself. This year things were very different. Darian, Mark and myself arrived to a party being thrown in our honor by our host Cliff Taylor. They were also celebrating the arrival of a school of dorado, 25 to 28 miles straight out.
Our first few days were spent chasing but not catching that school. We picked up a few fish trolling, all singles. Then the wind began to blow. It blew almost every day, not enough to keep us harbor bound but enough to make the 25-28 mile trip out to the fishing grounds a laborious 2 and a half hour trip with another hour and a half return trip to look forward to when we were done for the day.
We tried fishing closer to shore but again only found single dorado and only one a sortie. We filled in the time fishing the rocks, clamming and chasing a newly discovered bay full of roosters.
The nights however were always something to look forward to with numerous fish fries, clam bakes and gallons of cerveza and quarts of margaritas.
My guide friend, Victor, was just as frustrated as us and stopped by to plan an assault on the Cortez further north, launching our boats out of San Bruno.
We made three trips to San Bruno the second week and again struck out. Now in the past, San Lucas Cove and the area of Santa Rosalia has always been a sure thing since the Humboldt squid fishermen catch thousands of squid just outside Santa Rosalia and after catching them, throw the offal into the bay. In any ordinary year this brings on thousands of dorado who surround the squid boats at night, stuffing themselves on tentacles and other tasty squid morsels. However the squid fishermen reported that this year the dorado were no where to be found.
The last day we fished San Bruno was the most frustrating with water temperatures dropping to a low of 73.5 degrees! Cold enough for trout fishing. In fact, the Cortez temperatures were all over the map. We'd find water at 78 degrees one day, only to return a day later to the exact same spot by GPS and find the water 83 degrees.
Some days we'd find water with the right temperature, lots of weed and NO FISH. We did see enough marlin to make things interesting and had a number of teasers ripped from the stern as well as hooking up with a big striped marlin on live bait. The fish made several good runs before tossing the circle hook, no matter, we had already gotten the best the fish had to offer.
The most willing fish were the rock fish, especially the triggers, able to give a ten weight a good work out and a real strain on my eight weight. The super hot fly for triggers turned out to be a 1/0 chartreuse woolly bugger with the fish almost jerking the rod out of my hands on several occasions.
Was the trip fun? For me, Mexico is always fun. I saw friends from years past and made many new ones. The fish fries and parties were great. Some days the rock fishing was outstanding and the clamming and snorkeling is always fun.
Were there some disappointments, of course. Two weeks in Baja without a single dorado caught on a fly is something I would have bet a thousand dollars could never happen, yet, this year, it did. Why, I don't know. Maybe the low water temperatures, maybe el nino, maybe over fishing, maybe lack of bait, maybe the commercial boats have targeted dorado, maybe we were just early this year.
Will I go again next year? Probably but I'll go with my wife and lowered expectations. Mulege is still a small gem on the coast, with lots of snorkeling, rock fishing, clamming, and socializing. I don't HAVE to catch dorado to make the time spent a success. I've already caught so many that in some ways, blind casting to the rocks is an even greater thrill than dorado fishing since it's a grab bag of toothy critters, some of which can easily bust up your gear.
Are there some good years left for the Sea of Cortez? I hope so. Things could get much better quickly if the Mexican government would realize the vast amount of revenue earned by attracting sport fishermen and comparing that to the money earned by purse seining bait fish for protein powder, dragging the bottom relentlessly for shrimp, long lining and gill netting along the shore and in blue water with anything targeted from a cabrilla to a blue marlin.
Even with these constant assaults, Mulege will produce a few more good summers and I hope to be there. Maybe during that time, the lights will turn on in Mexico City and the fish of the Sea of Cortez will get a break.
I hope that Darian and Mark chime in and give their opinions as well, especially being first timers to Mulege. I'm sure the other board members would like to hear their opinions.
Our first few days were spent chasing but not catching that school. We picked up a few fish trolling, all singles. Then the wind began to blow. It blew almost every day, not enough to keep us harbor bound but enough to make the 25-28 mile trip out to the fishing grounds a laborious 2 and a half hour trip with another hour and a half return trip to look forward to when we were done for the day.
We tried fishing closer to shore but again only found single dorado and only one a sortie. We filled in the time fishing the rocks, clamming and chasing a newly discovered bay full of roosters.
The nights however were always something to look forward to with numerous fish fries, clam bakes and gallons of cerveza and quarts of margaritas.
My guide friend, Victor, was just as frustrated as us and stopped by to plan an assault on the Cortez further north, launching our boats out of San Bruno.
We made three trips to San Bruno the second week and again struck out. Now in the past, San Lucas Cove and the area of Santa Rosalia has always been a sure thing since the Humboldt squid fishermen catch thousands of squid just outside Santa Rosalia and after catching them, throw the offal into the bay. In any ordinary year this brings on thousands of dorado who surround the squid boats at night, stuffing themselves on tentacles and other tasty squid morsels. However the squid fishermen reported that this year the dorado were no where to be found.
The last day we fished San Bruno was the most frustrating with water temperatures dropping to a low of 73.5 degrees! Cold enough for trout fishing. In fact, the Cortez temperatures were all over the map. We'd find water at 78 degrees one day, only to return a day later to the exact same spot by GPS and find the water 83 degrees.
Some days we'd find water with the right temperature, lots of weed and NO FISH. We did see enough marlin to make things interesting and had a number of teasers ripped from the stern as well as hooking up with a big striped marlin on live bait. The fish made several good runs before tossing the circle hook, no matter, we had already gotten the best the fish had to offer.
The most willing fish were the rock fish, especially the triggers, able to give a ten weight a good work out and a real strain on my eight weight. The super hot fly for triggers turned out to be a 1/0 chartreuse woolly bugger with the fish almost jerking the rod out of my hands on several occasions.
Was the trip fun? For me, Mexico is always fun. I saw friends from years past and made many new ones. The fish fries and parties were great. Some days the rock fishing was outstanding and the clamming and snorkeling is always fun.
Were there some disappointments, of course. Two weeks in Baja without a single dorado caught on a fly is something I would have bet a thousand dollars could never happen, yet, this year, it did. Why, I don't know. Maybe the low water temperatures, maybe el nino, maybe over fishing, maybe lack of bait, maybe the commercial boats have targeted dorado, maybe we were just early this year.
Will I go again next year? Probably but I'll go with my wife and lowered expectations. Mulege is still a small gem on the coast, with lots of snorkeling, rock fishing, clamming, and socializing. I don't HAVE to catch dorado to make the time spent a success. I've already caught so many that in some ways, blind casting to the rocks is an even greater thrill than dorado fishing since it's a grab bag of toothy critters, some of which can easily bust up your gear.
Are there some good years left for the Sea of Cortez? I hope so. Things could get much better quickly if the Mexican government would realize the vast amount of revenue earned by attracting sport fishermen and comparing that to the money earned by purse seining bait fish for protein powder, dragging the bottom relentlessly for shrimp, long lining and gill netting along the shore and in blue water with anything targeted from a cabrilla to a blue marlin.
Even with these constant assaults, Mulege will produce a few more good summers and I hope to be there. Maybe during that time, the lights will turn on in Mexico City and the fish of the Sea of Cortez will get a break.
I hope that Darian and Mark chime in and give their opinions as well, especially being first timers to Mulege. I'm sure the other board members would like to hear their opinions.