Loreto report with a few pictures

[Carl Blackledge]

This year's trip to Loreto could be characterized as "the great, the bad, and the lucky," my take on the famous phrase. The great would be pretty much everything about the Roosterfish. We caught more big Roosters on average this year compared to any prior year that I can remember including a couple of giants, and we had plentiful small Roosters in some holes, and also found places where there were lots of 20-25 pounders.

Our best day was when my boat partner landed a beauty a little over 40 pounds as I watched with envy. About ten minutes later the guide started screaming about several big Roosters that were coming toward us as if on a crash course for the boat, and the one in the lead looked like it was about five feet long and extra fat. Suddenly they swerved into a large arc away from us, and I knew I had to think fast, so I made a very long cast straight out to intercept them and then that front runner turned about 30 degrees. I didn't want to strip my fly back to the boat because I didn't want to pull it out of his path. Then he came around and believe it or not he gobbled my fly and the battle was on! I started pulling on him like he owed me money and after a while he got closer and closer, and after a group effort to get him in the net my guide said he was possibly 70 pounds. So much for the theory of 15% fly and 85% strip for catching Roosters. I really think it’s more important to read the fish and the current situation and act accordingly.

On another day we were cruising along casting our flies while the captain was throwing out some chum, and all of a sudden he started screaming about a big Rooster coming out of nowhere that was trying to eat my fly. I set up and had him on for about two seconds and then he dropped my fly and proceeded to rush over and grab my boat partner’s fly. My buddy got a good fight and ended up landing him and that fish was about 45 pounds. What a show! The number and size of the Roosters we caught (and on cast flies) was so much fun and it made up for the lack of Dorado and billfish.

Dorado fishing was bad compared to last year and never really took off. Some of the guides thought the fish were there but really deep. It seemed our whole trip was hit or miss. If you were lucky you got a big one, if you weren’t you got nothing. On the first day I caught one around 15 pounds and another around 25 pounds and after some time we spotted some weed patches and Dorado swimming around. I cast about 60 feet and instantly came tight to a good-sized fish, and after a 20-minute fight I landed what turned out to be a 40 pound beauty. A few days later my boat partner caught a 45-pound beauty and we thought that would bode well from that point but it turned out not to be the case. Either they weren’t around the sargasso, or if there were some smaller ones around, you had to be first on the scene because they quickly became jaded and wouldn’t bite. Also, you could go to the buoys and get a few early, but then a bunch of boats would show up, over-chum the water, drive over the fish and shut the action down that way. We got tired of trolling for the Dorado by traditional methods and often decided to put up the trolling rods and go after the Roosters. We did come up with a strategy of marking the fish on GPS when we were first in the morning and caught a few, then when we were done fishing for the day we would stop back at the same spot on the way home and get one on every cast for a little while since everyone else had left. For some context, during our trip they held two Dorado bait tournaments a week apart and one winner was a hair over 41 pounds and the other winner was 38 pounds. We caught bigger ones on flies.

Unfortunately, the Oasis Hotel where I have stayed every year for two decades, had some real problems this year that negatively impacted me and other guests that were there during my stay. Many of the rooms and the kitchen were in disrepair and the service was really poor. But as luck would have it, I went “hotel shopping” near the end of my trip and found a new place that is almost completed and ready to open called the Baja Triangle. They have lots of amenities and from what I heard they are going to be less expensive. I would advise everyone to check out their website http://thebajatriangle.com/.

That’s where I plan to stay next year.



My Tools of the Trade:

Smaller Roosters: Sage 9-wt. Salt HD rod with either the RIO OBS full floater or the SA jungle line and a Tibor Signature 9/10 reel.

Last year the Roosters favored the floating line and this year they wanted the clear sink tip. Go figure.



Dorado and Bigger Fish: Loomis NRX+ 12-wt. rods with the same lines as the 9-wts. and Tibor Signatures in 11/12 for reels.



Trolling: Sage 16-wt. rod using a home-made running line with a

30-foot sailfish shooting head and a Tibor Signature 12 reel.

This set-up is to troll locator flies. I have my own pattern called the Chicken.



Flies:

Airheads with little or no flash tied on SP 600 hooks work great for Roosters.



Last year I came up with a new sardine pattern I call the Baja fly. I tested it last year and used it again this year with great success. It’s very effective and almost bullet-proof from the Needle fish.



Leaders:

We all mostly switched over to the twisted leaders in mono. with tiny swivels and then 30 inches of tippet in fluorocarbon. This set-up is cheap and works well, and since the fly is the last thing to hit the water, it prevents your cast from landing in a pile because of faulty turnover.



I’d be happy to answer specific questions by email or talk more about my own experience and the Loreto scene in general. Drop me line if you care to.



Carl Blackledge