Pam Bolles on fly fishing Loreto with no Sardinas.....

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Pam Bolles was in our shop about 17 years ago when she was planning on going to Loreto, Baja to start a fishing adventure company. Here is a great article that reports what she is seeing in Loreto the past few years.

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Hi there,

My name is Pam and I have lived in Loreto for the past 17 years as a full time resident. My Mexican husband is a panga captain and I am a fly fishing guide and a naturalist tour guide in Loreto, Baja California Sur Mexico.

After reading recent reports on this BBS about the fishing in Loreto, Baja California Sur, I would like to comment.

A couple of years ago when reading a Gary Graham post regarding lack of sardinas in the SOC I saw a comment by Grant Hartman stating that they haven’t had sardinas in Cabo for over 10 years and he had to learn how to fly fish bait less. Grant catches fish. Now its our turn in Loreto to figure out the methods for fly fishing bait less that are unique to our area.

This season the SSTs are very cool off Loreto. There are a lot of swift currents and up welling inshore and the water is not clear like it usually is. The low visibility is due to the high O2 content from the movement of the water and low temps and the plankton. There is no sargasso. We have no sardinas at all at Loreto. There have been super low tides in the morning and inshore is best on a high tide. I am not venturing offshore at all and I am flexible on time of day that I fish.

This summer the dorado are very few and seem to be lightly migrating in along the shorelines. This has been happening since May. When the dorado come in along the shorelines from the S as opposed to coming in from offshore and from the N, then it will be a poor dorado year at Loreto. So remember that if ever traveling to Loreto and if you want nothing but dorado.

I am an honest person and I have do not give bogus advice. I have been operating sport fishing charters in Loreto, BCS for 20 years. My reporting is first hand or by cross referenced trusted sources (if not first hand) and I speak Spanish.

With that said, if you are only willing to fly fish with the aid of live bait used as chum, then you will be SOL this year unless you are willing to try different methods. Also if you are intent on only getting into schools of dorado because they’re fun and easy to catch yet unwilling to look for other species then you will be disappointed.

On the bright side of things, you will be able to save money because of the depressed peso against the US dollar. You will become a fantastic fly caster because you’ll get lots of practice. You should expect to be able to land a fish about every 10 to 15 casts if you’re fishing it right.

I have been witness to more inshore fish and sight casting opportunities this season then I have seen in the 20 years of my operation here. Authorities ARE cracking down on inshore gill netting at Loreto.

We have been able to get our clients into the rooster fish of a lifetime! We have figured out how to land 100 pound plus rooster fish. Yes we get these monsters on conventional gear but the bait we need to use is a giant ladyfish (3-4 feet long) that under 60 pound roosters can not get their mouths around. The ladyfish are best caught on the fly! We will keep trying to land these big ones via teasing with a spinning setup and casting onto a hot fish. Gotta keep trying to get the reward.

Its a ball discovering and testing new ways to land more fish while fly fishing totally purist. We are having fun testing our prototype bio degradable flies that are currently being designed and built in Loreto. I am quite happy with the challenges, in fact the reason I started to fly fish in the first place is because I wanted the challenge. This year is a chance to become a better fisherman.

So if you are scheduled to come down to Loreto but for some reason you have not yet canceled your trip, just realize that your fishing trip is what YOU make of it. Make your own opportunities and discover your own methods for success, but for dogs sake share your conclusions with those of us who want to improve ourselves too : )

I have sent thousands of people fishing over 20 years and I can easily say that the people with the best attitudes are the most successful fishermen. Its all in the attitude.

Gracias for putting up with my comments. Peace!

Pamela Pelger Bolles
The Loreto Fly Fishing Guide
(only one here)
Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico

[Tony Buzolich]

Bill,

It may have been even longer ago than that. I started fishing Loreto in the late 80's and Pam had just opened her shop called "the Baja Big Fish Co.". The streets in front of her shop were dirt then. A little later she had her first baby and cared for it in the shop while trying to make a go of it.

I give her credit for hanging in there through the thick and thin of everything considering what has been happening in Baja and Mexico as a whole.

I quite going to Loreto when Jay finally talked me into trying La Paz and I'm glad I did. The fishing in La Paz was great and we all had some fun times. But I can't say it was any better than Loreto, just a different location and scenery. Both places had great dorado fishing when the fish were in. Both places had there pluses and minuses concerning getting bait and it's availability was always there. We got spoiled with easy fishing using chum. Nothing wrong with that either. It was fun.

But things change. A few years back La Paz started to slow down and I decided to try another outfitter there called Baja Pirates run by Leonard Phillips. Another really great guy and concession. He had nice new center consul boats instead of pangas, his hotel was right in town so no long drives to get to the water, and being right in town gave everyone lots of choices of where to eat and things to do. It was great too and we caught lots of fish there as well.

Again, each place had it's own special features, some good, and some not so good,,,,,, but that's fishing. I feel sorry for Pam Bolles having put so much time and heart into developing a business, and now having to train years of spoiled fly fishermen how to fish again.
Tony

[Baja Fly Fisher]

Yes, things have definitely changed in the last 10+ years. In the last 5 years, the catching and the bait have taken a huge decline. Yes, there are still some big fish in the area but fly fishing tactics have to change. With no bait available, the captains have resorted to using a teaser rod to tease up the fish, yes it works but the fly guy has to be ready to make the cast to the working fish. The last resort is to do live bait trolling or drag a rapala. If it's catching you want and are willing to go to the dark side, you'll get something pulling on the other end of the line, most of the time. I try not to go on the "dark side" but this year, I did it a couple days. My first week in Baja, we had some (very little) bait, then the second day of fishing, it was all teasing them up with a hookless plug. Lot's of casting and sore shoulders at the end of the day but I did get a decent size rooster and jack on the fly.
Like Pam, I have decided to retire from the Baja trips and start expanding my destinations to places like Christmas Island, New Zealand and I'm also checking on Cook Island. With the global warming and the rising of the ocean waters, I wonder how many years it will be before places like Christmas Island and Cook Island will be underwater I've read there are a few islands that have now been submerged. Trying to remember where I read the article

[Darian]

If I recall correctly, Pam Bolles was active as a representative for fisheries in the Sea of Cortez in CONAPESCA, a governmental entity that licenses/regulates fishing down there. She participated in trying to influence regulators to conserve fisheries. It would be too bad if decisions by their government to make gamefish targets for commercial fishing impacted so many people and recreational fishing operations in MX.

I'm still planning on going to La Paz (tho it may be to fish on the dark side )