East cape/ La Paz report

[jbird]

Myself and a couple amigos just returned from baja. We were pretty excited from the reports Murakoshis clients were reporting. Our first leg was east cape for 3 days of DIY beach. We had very little action aside from some ladyfish, a few 3# toro and some decent shots at nice roosters one day at las arenas.
Our next leg sent us up to La Paz to be guided for 4 days by our friend James Shaugnassee. Unfortunately 99.9% of the dorado headed up to play with jerryfromlodi :lol: Of the dozens of pangas operating out of La Ventana, there were only a dozen or so dorado coming in on the fleets. Of the 4 days fishing, we only jumped a few dorado and hooked one.

The inshore fishery was consistent with small roosters and large toro which kept our pulse racing. My buddy Dave also got a really nice Pargo just out from cerralvo.
The fishing was nowhere near what we expected, but we all had a wonderful time and got a few nice pics to boot.

Jay

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC04351.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC04357.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC04360.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC04368.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC04384.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC04394.jpg

[PaulC]

Hey Jay,
Looks like a nice trip to me. Nice rooster and toro!
-Paul

[Jay Murakoshi]

Hey Jay,

I recognize that beach in the background. Did you guys go out to the shark bouys off Ceralvo and the pinnacle area. What captains did you have for the Cerralvo area.

I'll be back down there in a couple weeks. From the reports I've been getting, there's still a bunch of dorado in the area and more roosters are showing up daily. Even YFT are making their showing around the Punta Pericco area.

Thanks for the report

jay

[jbird]

Jay

Yeah, we tossed bait to shark bouys everywhere. We followed the inside line of bouys up the coast and spotted a single dorado that didnt want to eat. We split up another day and one boat went out to the 88spot bouys while the other checked all the bouy lines south of cerralvo. Not only were there no Dorado but there were loosly packed schools of bait froliking without a care in the world under all the bouys. The Dorado literally vanished for the week. The one dorado I hooked was about a 15# fish that came into the bait right off the beach where those pictures were taken.

Our pangueros were Nene and Nuffo, James was in one boat or the other each day. The only gamble we never took that may have paid off was traveling to the north end of cerralvo in search of sargasso. The day we headed that way got too rough and the sky got dark with thunderstorms, so we bagged it.

We did try our luck on that school of YFT. They just never came up. A few bait guys were picking them up deep while we were there.

Jay

PS That big jack I got was in the 30 lb range, definitly worth the price of admission. But the highlight was without a doubt, that 15-18# jack I took off the beach...that was really fun!

[JerryInLodi]

You've inspired me to head back to the rocks again today. I love casting not knowing what might be ready to rip my rod out of my hands. Dorado are fun but are only one species, those fish you caught are definitely quality fish.

Mulege just does not have decent beach fishing, even working the shallows and beaches is best done by boat.

Pez gallo is still on my list of fish yet to be caught. I'll cruise the rocky areas on the way out again.

Great pictures, glad you got into some major fish.

[sculpin]

Jbird pretty much summed up our trip to La Paz. The only consistent bite was off the inshore beaches and skipjack in the mornings off the South end of Ceralvo . We fished the beaches in the afternoons when the wind was howling . The birds got to be more than a pain to get through when the Roosters would streek through them. Actually the birds limited our success in a big way. It's hard to make a good presentation while jerking your fly away from the birds. It was fun when when we managed to get through the birds and hook up.

This is a picture of the birds we had to get through.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/Sculpin/mypicturees174.jpg


Here are a few fish pictures. All the Roosters were cookie cutters.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/Sculpin/mypicturees163.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/Sculpin/mypicturees159.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/Sculpin/mypicturees168.jpg

[Darian]

Beautiful photo's.... Even tho we did well on most everything else, I sure would've liked to've been able to catch some of those Roosters. :) :) Unfortunately, we couldn't connect. :? :?

I didn't realize there'd be that much interest in a fly by Pelican's. :? How well did they fight on a 10 weight :?: :?: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Darian]

Hey Jay,.... I just looked up your Mullet pattern under the Fly Tying subject area and wondered if you had a chance to try them :?: :?: I'm interested in they were gave you any difficulties to cast :?: :?: The tail was a concern for me.... 8) 8)

[jbird]

Darian

I never tied those patterns on. I was concerned about the tails to. I figured I'd snip 'em off if they were a problem. The prevelent bait was sardina so we stayed with like patterns. I did well on puglisi ties while sea habits worked too. The roosters were in such a frenzy I dont think it really mattered. The trick was all in the timing. You MUSt get your fly to land in the periferal vision of a fish and only leave it there for a strip or two, then re-deliver it. If they got a good look and followed anything for any length of time, they would usually reject it. If you placed your fly right on the outside edge of a frenzy and a fish came face to face with it in the process of slashing bait, your chances of a grab were pretty good. Those fish are all about timing.
The pelicans were really dumb. I thought they were smarter than that. They would look at your fly and eat it, if you didnt strip and set the hook, theyd spit it out, but then you satrt moving the fly and theyd eat it again. It was chalanging to say the least cause the rooster frenzies were under the pelican frenzies. They were actually pushovers to land (pelicans) much easier than you think. The frigates are a bit tougher cause they stay in the air.

J

[Darian]

Maybe we haven't been giving Pelican's enough credit. They probably were trying to get hooked/brought in so they could raid the bait tank... :shock: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[JerryInLodi]

The pelicans in Mulege must have attended secondaria, I have never had a pelican go for a fly up here. That's a good thing and a bad, pelicano is still on my list of catchables!

[sculpin]

Jerry you should talk to Bubzilla about how to catch Pelicans. He had 3 or 4 on at one time all wound up in his flyline. He was actually worried about getting his fly line back. It worked well for me though. He cleared a swath through the birds for me and I was able to hook two Roosters back to back :lol: . I only landed one of them though. While fighting a Torro I had three different birds fly into my line and cart wheel before I learned to stick my rod tip in the water on their approach.

Mark

[JerryInLodi]

Sounds a bit like guerrilla warfare to me. Maybe those pelicanos were members of al Qaeda. Sort of like pelicano suicide missions.