Wednesday La Paz, BCS Report

[FISHEYE]

Two words: NO BAIT! I could have said "no fricking bait" but that would have been 3 words. No fish for our group of 10 except a few dinks of various species- all blind casting. Also, very windy! We are all hoping for better conditions tomorrow. Jay said since it was so poor, he is treating us all to dinner at Tailhunter. Not a better host around than Jay. Right Jay?

[Darian]

Does anybody down there have any idea what happened to the bait??? Maybe the commercial boats (purse seiners) running through that area at night.... :confused:

Phil, have you had a chance to try your Squid pattern, yet???

[Jay Murakoshi]

Wind, what wind. I hope this wind will stir up the bait and move it around. We haven't had any winds and I think that moved the bait out to deeper waters. Tonight here in La Paz the winds are cranking around 23 mph out of the south.
Last week, sunday to wednesday there was bait but starting getting harder to find. this is only the second time in all the years I've been here that we've had little or no bait.
Last year at this time, we had a lot of windy days the first part of May, hard to find the bait because of the swells but still had the big roosters
I don't think the boats have scooped them up. I think the bait is still in the area but at different locations. It's like the delta, everyone looks for fish in the same areas and very few explore the 1000 miles of shore line. With all the coves and beaches along the island not many bait guys go exploring. I know one year Jonny and I found a bunch of bait on the island while all the other guys were throwing nets in La Ventana. The next morning we headed to the island, got some bait and saw the fleet coming across the channel.

I still think it's there, but where

Jay

[Jay Murakoshi]

Sounds like the group caught some fish today, but I'll let someone who was on the water post the message - dorado and roosters

Jay

[FISHEYE]

Still no bait today- Thursday. My partner and I caught ladyfish, grren jacks and cuda. We used the green jack to tease on a spiiniung rod and a gigantic rooster came up and ate it. We then netted 2 mullet. Roosters ate the first and Efren rerigged and put a hook in the second. He hooked the 30# rooster and I reeled it in. Nice fish but not what I wanted. A few of the other boats caught some small (<5#) dorado past the north end of the island. Wind not too bad. Heard of no roosters caught on the fly.

[mems]

Aloha Phil, too bad about the bait. You guys should hit the shark bouys in the morning with poppers for mahi then troll on the inside until you get one and cast to his buddies. I hope you brought a 6wt for the ladyfish. Live bait one of them for a really BIG rooster. It sounds like you need to start using some hawaiian fishing techniques. Get a skippy and chunk that bad boy for some big fish action! Good luck, I hope the bait shows up, Don.

[Darian]

Phil have you tried your Squid pattern down deep, yet????

[FISHEYE]

Darian, I rigged it up for deep skippies and fished it for a few minutes. It looks great in the water. The problem is even skippies are few and far between. The commercial guys are not even fining them. We have seen one school. We have gone looking a coupl;e of times= the entire group has. Nada. I got a 3 pound skippie trolling a marlin lure to the bouys. There have been no dorado at the bouys to speak of. However, today all of the other 4 boats found a few dorado north of the island around floating sagasso. Most were small, but 2 big ones came for flies but did not eat. One was estimated at 40 kilos. Maybe tomorrow.

[Darian]

Damn!!! Hope you guys do well tomorrow.... 8)

[Flyboy_AK]

I respectfully disagree with Fisheye and his contention that the fishing is terrible or bad with no bait. I contend it is just more challenging but far far from all over. The pitching sardinas or other baitfish obviously is an easy way to chum fish to rise to the surface. It enables the short and poor caster to be able to wag a fly out to fish brought to the surface feeding. There are other ways to get fish to rise, and we tried a few. Pulling teasers, pulling a larger fish, or as Mems said, get to structure like a buoy and make a long cast and pull popper for 40 or 50 feet. Also scouting shallow water and sight-spotting Roosters and BIG jacks at long distance, manovering for a stalk, making a long cast to a cruiszing fish, to me is far more fun and rewarding than have chummed fish 20 feet from the boat. These are the challenges of flyfishing, and makes it worthwhile for me. If it always was easy I would be bored. I had more fun doing the long blind casts and stripping to tease, sight fishing and making the cast to present the fly with a fast strip to get a Jack to eat, or being locked and loaded to a trolled teaser and making the shot to a fish that only rises quickly to look at the tease.

I had a GREAT week, but it was hard work and difficult fishing did not produce a big "body count" or magazine cover shot. But I caught fish every day, and the rewards that I got from fishing and catching on days without bait were rewarding to me. Its about the trip and the adaptation to conditions than a body count for boasting. Just my opinion, everyone has one. Thanks Jay, I had a HOOT..

I have more videos than still photos, but here are a few of my fish this week

Sightfished 22lb cruising Jack:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/NorthernSurveyor/Mike_Jack_051512_2.jpg

Chummed 25lb plus Rooster:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/NorthernSurveyor/Mike_051412_Rooster2_2.jpg

Chummed Rooster:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/NorthernSurveyor/Mike_051412_Rooster1_2.jpg

Chummed Rooster:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/NorthernSurveyor/Mike_051412_Rooster3_1.jpg


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/NorthernSurveyor/Sunrise_05_13_12.jpg

[Flyboy_AK]

Roosters ate the first and Efren rerigged and put a hook in the second. He hooked the 30# rooster and I reeled it in. Nice fish but not what I wanted.

I had a high percentage shot at that Roosterfish on the fly. My Airhead landed right at the trolled bait when it went down when the Rooster ate as there was a hook in it. If was just trolled with no hook I had 30 feet or more to strip my size 2/0 tan Airhead and a great chance to have caught that fish on the fly. Shameless. If I knew the guide had put a hook in the trolled bait I would asked to go in.

[john]

that was too bad for you