Baja flies , part 1

[Darian]

David,.... My experience down there with a squid pattern was that it was best over rocky areas..... However, I must admit that most of the fish I caught were Coronet Fish.... I used an all white pattern, too.

The dead Squid I saw washed up on the beach each morning were anywhere from 6" - 10" in length and had a lot of black/purple in 'em. I've modified my pattern to include those colors but not the length, yet....

[PaulC]

Hey David,
Here's another version of squid worth a shot. http://www.garybulla.com/forum/viewt...d=1807#pid9267
Nice thing is its flexible enough to get out of the way of the hookset.
Food for thought at least from a tying standpoint.
Good luck out there man. I'm sure you'll have a blast.
-Paul

P.S. speaking of squid, they had a cool video of a giant squid attacking some bait from a group of japanese researchers on cnn this morning.
I think you'd need a crane to toss that squid imitation.

[David Lee]

Thanks for the link , Paul .... I was hoping I'd hear from you .

Like I said , just trying to cover the bases - I'll be working on crabs and lobsters/shrimp pretty quick . I took your Razzler and copied it (kind of .... ) , using fire-orange for the orange calf , fire orange KF , and pale orange diamond braid on the rear half of the body . It is just a little brighter and smaller than yours , but should fish just fine .

That was the first time anyone has shot a Giant Squid on film - kind of makes ya wonder what else is down there that we haven't seen .... YET

David

[PaulC]

Hey David,
I'm sure your perturbation on the pattern should work fine down there. I actually caught a few fish on 1/0 versions of the razzler. Down here we're mostly fishing size 8's and 6's for the corbina,etc. I'm also not the originator of the razzler. A guy I know from the malibu area, Dean, came up with the pattern which is a tweak on many other similar style patterns we fish down south. Its been a great producer tho in my experience on the water.

Another thing I would recommend bringing is a stripping basket. LLBean has a nice hard plastic basket with cones for line management. Its like 20-30 bucks and you can just drill drainage holes in the bottom and side.
I also used it in my luggage for reel storage.
I know alot of guys go down there without, but I found it helped with line management while running full sprint after a rooster. No tangles around the feet and I could still wind up and shoot a bunch of line in a hurry.
Granted...you're not going to pick up chicks with it and you look like a lunatic, but hey..it works.
One guy refered to me as the crazy guy running the beach with a dish washing basket. lol.
Actually, its the same one hanging of my waist from that picture to the left.

Crab wise...the turneffe crab with the furry foam is a simple tye, and you couldn't go wrong with some of those merkins. Rug yarn for material...how simple is that.
I also picked up a bunch of smaller reef fish using #2 clousers olive over white with some blue electra flash for side coloring.
And if you start picking up snot sticks aka cornet fish, you're definitely stripping too slow
Finally, I noticed that the rooster would spook with sinking lines or weight flies. I had the most follows with clear intermediate and non weighted bucktail sardina patterns. Not that i'm an expert...that was just my observation.

I'd be more than happy to tie up a few patterns and send em you're way if you like. My steelhead box is still full from last season (overtied by 50 flies:P) and the salt down here is slowing down for the winter. I'm entering that tying for spring/summer mode anyhow.
Let me know...
-Paul

P.S. Here's a pic of the drilled out basket. The rod holder cutouts are nice also for when you're tyin something new on or dealing with release of an uncooperative fish.

[David Lee]

A few PaulC flies ... for ME =D> ?!?

What kind of dumbass would pass THAT up

I thank you for the offer , Paul , and am grateful for the advise on lines , baskets , etc. .... I have a mesh JW outfiters stripping basket (don't use it much - river current takes care of my shooting line managment problems ...) - I'll be sure to bring it , if just to keep away the bevy of Bonita Nativas that would surely follow me to the end of the Earth had I gone without it :P

Roosters are very much secondary for me on this trip - I am hoping for the classic Baja small game species (Ladyfish , Pompano , Sierra ...) . Mind you , I wouldn't turn Roosters down , per se .... I just hope to tangle w/ the little guys more than the high-stakes big game fish .

The ONLY thing better than going there ?? It would be to have you , and a few board friends by my side for this adventure - Not like you fellas won't be there in spirit !!

Thanks again ,

David

[jbird]

David

Nice looking flies! You should do well. Make sure to tie up some LARGE baits too. 5-6" range. Even if your seeing small bait, A bigger offering tossed into the bait blitz can draw attention. I tied up a few squid patterns for our trip. They never made it out of the box, but I've been kicking myself for it. Those big roosters and toro had been pressured pretty hard with traditional baitfish patterns. I bet they would have gobbled a squid. I tied some tubefly style, with the tentccles and eyes attatched to the hook and the body tied on a tube.



If you think youve felt your heart pound out of your chest before, just wait till your languidly casting to some shooling pompano and a pair of 40# roosters come cruising by 10 feet off the beach!

youre going to have a blast. Wish I was going.

Jbird

[David Lee]

JB -

The hotel is open , rates are super-low ...... go collar Mark and start packin' !!!

I don't know if there's enough bail-money for the three of us , though ....

Where I fish most of the time , the American , we see LARGE Stripes almost every trip - I've had fish in the mid-40 lb. range EAT 18 inch Steelies off my line !!

It's a jungle out there , I tell ya .....

David

[Darian]

jbird,.... Those're some very good looking Squid patterns. Have you ever thought about trying them at the coast around Brookings

[jbird]

Actually, I really havnt darian. What can you tell me about it? Are you thinking along the lines of t14's and ling cod and such? Or salmon?

J

[Darian]

Actually, I was thinking about rock fishing near the mouth of Brookings Harbor. Never have fished there but have seen some very big Lings coming out of there..... According to the Curry-Pilot (newspaper in Brookings), a 20 pound stray Striper was taken in the surf near there about 3 months ago, as well. Both of these fish are prone to eating Squid if available.

Line'd probably be LC13 or T14 for the rocks (hopefully from a small water craft.....) Leaders would have to be fairly short/stout.....

Of course, Salmon would be a bonus.

What do you think