"ceviche" On 8/22/05, DonO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Rob, > > We were in Loreto, and July was a much better month this year than August> > But that can change year to year- it's a roll of the dice for booking your > trip. > > Billfish migrate up the coast, so the farther south you are down the east > coast, towards the cape, the sooner you see them. Same with dorado. THe > Loreto area is a hot-spot for plankton blooms and Sargasso weeds (in good > years), so baitfish are there in shoals and the weeds are a congregation > point. The billfish follow the dorado in and then you have fishing > paradise. If the conditions are not right in the area, they may concentrate > somewhere else, like your area. Again, that's why they call it fishing and > not catching. > > I'm with you- there's NOTHING like a billfish on a flyrod! > > DonO > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "rob poutre" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 9:24 AM > Subject: Re: [VFB] Baja Report > > > > DonO~ > > > > I'm curious where you were in Baja. If that was an > > off year for billfish on the east cape I'm completely > > amazed at what a good year must be like. We saw > > dozens of bills (sails, stripes, and even a blue) > > everyday we went out. I'm so hooked on it I can't > > even hardly sleep some nights just thinking about > > catching another marlin on a fly rod. > > > > I am also signed up for next year. Going July > > 21st-28th. I went to a place called Rancho Leonero. > > I can't think of a place I would rather spend my time. > > This time, however, I'm targeting wahoo. Love tying > > those flys! > > > > Rob P. > > > > --- DonO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > We had a great time in Baja this year. The fishing > > > was 'off', and towards > > > the end of the dorado season, but we still got into > > > a school of smaller > > > ones, in the 3lb to 10lb class- great fun on 9wt. or > > > less. It was fast and > > > furious top-water flycasting, and awesome-hair > > > sardines were the ticket. A > > > combination strip and drag was the only way to > > > entice a strike, but then > > > they raced each other to the take. We must have > > > caught between 25 and 30 > > > like this. > > > > > > My buddy caught a couple of skip-jack tuna (one on > > > my squid fly), which took > > > 40 min. each to land, and a couple of nice cow > > > dorado. The billfish were > > > very few and far between. We sighted one marlin and > > > one sailfish during the > > > entire trip. Only one boat (a cruiser) got one > > > small marlin and one small > > > sailfish (60lb class), and they had to go out 25 > > > miles to get them- too far > > > for a panga. Other wise, no one was catching much > > > of anything- even the > > > baitfishers. In fact, we were the only blue-water > > > flyfishers there for the > > > whole trip. > > > > > > So why did we have a great time? For me, being out > > > on the ocean is a great > > > time- period. My fishin'buddy Chuck was great > > > company- he had a story or > > > joke to match any experience- "That reminds me of a > > > story..." was his > > > favorite phrase. We saw whales, porposes, sea > > > lions, turtles, a leaping > > > marlin, leaping manta rays, and lots more. The > > > water chopped up for a > > > couple of days, which was hard on my back, but > > > otherwise the weather and > > > seas cooperated. > > > > > > When the opportunity was there, we fly-fished by the > > > book. Unfortunately, > > > there were not too many opportunities to do so. > > > Just too few fish (although > > > we did catch the 25 or so small ones BTB, and the > > > tuna). Also, we couldn't > > > find any Sargasso-weed, a favorite haunt of dorado. > > > My favorite method is > > > casting poppers along the edges of the Sargasso > > > rafts. One of the reasons > > > a local American gave us for the 'poor' fishing is > > > that the Pacific water > > > was warmer this year than the Sea of Cortez water, > > > so the fish didn't come > > > in to the gulf in anywhere near the numbers as > > > previous years. We even had > > > no success raising the bug bull dorado on my Green > > > Machine as a teaser, and > > > that has never happened before. > > > > > > We did some bottom-fishing a few times just before > > > we went back in (water > > > about 30' deep), and had some very fresh snapper and > > > grouper for late > > > lunches ( a good way to use up unused sardines). > > > While catching lunch, we > > > also caught some trumpet-fish, which look like a > > > giant needle-fish with a > > > trumpet-like tube-mouth. I also caught a > > > stone-fish, whose spines are > > > deadly. We also caught some giant trigger-fish- one > > > had to go 10lbs- and we > > > had them made up into 'saveechie' (don't know how to > > > spell it). They are > > > uuugly, but the meat was like lobster in texture. > > > In all, we probably > > > caught 30 to 40 'bottom fish', gave some to the > > > guide, took a few back, and > > > released the rest. That was probably more than all > > > of the other boats > > > combined. These fish are real bait-stealers, but I > > > grew up fishing these > > > guys, so I was right at home, except for the fly-rod > > > part. > > > > > > We motored right up to a colony of sea lions- cows > > > and pups- on the rocks, > > > and they had no fear of us. I got some great > > > photos. The big bull was just > > > around the corner, by himself, and I got a couple of > > > shots of him, too. I'm > > > using one of these photos as a screen-saver right > > > now- neat stuff. > > > > > > Already signed up for next year. > > > > > > DonO > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > > http://mail.yahoo.com > >
-- "So much water, so little time!" http://chemprof.tripod.com/fishing.html
