2010
July 16 - 17
I flew to Loreto, Mexico again this year
for the Fishing for the Mission tournament.
After getting set up at the Cocos Cabanas
and enjoying a few days in and around town,
Jim Duggins paired me up with Sandy, Maria,
Steve and our skipper Pedro to make a wonderful
team and we fished the boat Faithful Fisher.
Bait was scarce but we managed to buy nice
macks both days. I wore my "lucky"
4th Watch shirt and on day we had
5 nice yellowtail with Maria making the most
of our last live bait and nailing the biggest
yellowtail. Our team had a very enjoyable
day on the water and it was nice to make some
great new friends.
The water was a little cooler and the dorado
had just started to show up so only and handful
were landed during the event. I managed to
get a small one, as did Sandy, on the second
day and we had some huge skipjack and a cabrilla.
(I captained the boat and sent Pedro up to
the bow pulpit with one of my rods to cast
for fish near the shore, in a cove we were
trolling... Told him he had to produce before
I'd let him have the wheel back, lol... He
nailed the cabrilla.)
At the dinner Saturday night, held on the
grounds adjacent to the Mission, our team
found out that we had placed in the top 5
overall for both days, however roosterfish
helped cinch a few of the winners this year.
The largest dorado was 21 lbs.
And the best part... Over $20,000 raised
to continue the great work helping the town
and mission of Loreto. If anyone wants to
go next year feel free to contact me for information.
It's a very affordable tournament and I know
Loreto well.
http://www.fishingforthemission.com/index.asp?m=1&page=29
July 6
Rockfish season has been open for a little
over 2 months now and for one reason or another
I'd yet to wet a line for them. So today I
trusted the weatherman and decided to fish
the Queen of Hearts. Well the wind was blowing
a bit more than called for and the southerly
wind and wave direction made it a a tougher
go than most of us expected. I did catch a
few rockfish and I released 3 small lingcod.
I'll give it another go later this year.
May 8-13
After 20 years of Baja adventures I still
hadn't had a chance to fish the Midriff Islands
in the upper sea of Cortez... Until now. Thanks
to my friend Alecia I decided to try out Baja
Sportfishing's vessel "Erik",
departing from the town of San Felipe.
On Saturday morning Alecia, Kathy and I unpacked
in the largest stateroom aboard which is located
directly behind the wheelhouse. Since this
was not a full charter we had ample room to
spread out our gear. We also had our own A/C
unit, head & shower, and plenty of electrical
plug in outlets for charging camera batteries,
playing radios, etc.
We roamed down to the galley for lunch as
Capt. Pin set the ship on a southbound course
for the islands. We had calm seas and temperatures
in the low 80's. Our first stop would be at
the north end of Isla Angel de la Guarda at
a place called Roca el Angel.
On Sunday morning as we enjoyed breakfast
the pangas were deployed from the rear deck.
The coastline was serene and the bird life
was amazing. I was constantly reaching for
my camera to take nature shots. Alecia and
I were given panga #5 and our delightful pangero
was Alex. We fished for a few hours and Alecia
got the first yellowtail... and the second,
and the third... She had a pink MirrOlure
that kept getting slammed. It got her four
yellows while I wound up with three cabrilla
and a few assorted bottomfish that I released.
During lunch we came back to the Erik and
they made a move down past Bahia el Pulpito
& Punta Rocosa to the south end of the
island. We headed back out and fished around
Snake Island. We fished until it was just
getting dark and the wind had started to pick
up. It blew pretty hard for about 8 hours
but they managed to anchor us in a good spot
overnight.
I awoke early in the morning on Monday to
our final approach to Isla San Lorenzo. Today
Alecia was the "hot" angler again
but I did manage a few fish during our morning
outing. For the afternoon we moved to Punta
Las Animas and targeted bottomfish. They bit
like crazy! Although the yellowtail had been
giving me the cold shoulder I was rewarded
with a nice sheephead, some triggerfish and
lots of spotted bay bass and whitefish. I
also caught my first brilliant orange, big
eye schneider.
That night we busted out the squid jigs to
pull up some humboldt squid for bait. I pulled
up two before handing off my Fenwick rod with
a Tiburon reel to Alex to use. Tiburon reels
make pulling up squids a piece-of-cake. A
few of the others set up a monofilament hand
line and took turns battling the brutes tug
of war style. Alecia brought up four. I went
up to the top deck to enjoy a pina colada
while I watched the rest of the "squidfest"
below.
On Tuesday morning I decided to dig out the
Rapala I had been saving. The yellowtail went
nuts over it! I pulled in a baker's dozen
before I gave my 40# rig a well deserved rest.
I tossed a megabait on a boil with my 25#
rig and had a larger yellow bust me off. Alecia
was still reeling in a few yellowtail so I
gaffed a couple for her. We saw lots of rafts
of sealions but with so much bait in the area
they never bothered us. As a matter of fact
we seemed to hook up anytime we came close
to a group dozing with their fins raised.
I think they were "holding" yellowtail!
We trolled up to Punta el Muerto where we
had lunch aboard the Erik and enjoyed our
siesta. We stayed anchored in the same place
for our afternoon fishing.
I put another yellowtail in the box before
we shifted to bottomfish. Alecia had a big
strike and we judged it to be a shark by the
look of her leader when she brought her line
up. I think it visited me too. My fight with
the suspected culprit lasted for a minute
or two. My line had only a head and part of
a shoulder left of a huge spotted bay bass.
We put a bunch of assorted bottomfish in the
boat before calling it a day.
On Wednesday Alecia needed to do some filming
that required her to use the panga so I teamed
up with Kathy. She had been fishing with Ruth
but Ruth had chose to take a break from fishing.
Azore was Kathy's pangero. We headed off to
fish for bottomfish and Kathy and I had some
very nice spotted bay bass. We came across
Alecia and Alex just before lunch and they
had found some time to fish. Alecia had a
sheephead, some sierra, a few yellowtail and
a bunch of bottomfish.
That afternoon Alecia remained aboard to
do some film editing so I had a chance to
fish with Alex by myself. We trolled near
shore looking for cabrilla. I released a few
small fish and brought a couple of yellowtail
and a large cabrilla back to the boat.
It was fiesta night and as we turned the
corner of the final cove we could see the
vessel brightly lit up like a cruise ship.
Everyone gathered to dine upstairs on the
top deck. It was a beautiful calm night. We
had carne asada with grilled vegetables and
everything was delicious!
Thursday was our last day and we spent the
morning on Golden Reef about 18 miles offshore
with a light wind coming from the west. As
the morning progressed the wind died to a
gentle breeze. We were hoping to get some
grouper, and a few pangas did. About an hour
before we packed it in a huge school of yellowtail
boiled and we scrambled to bring up our lines
and run over to them. A few people were able
to cast into them and hook up. It was incredible
just to watch. It was the largest school of
yellowtail I have ever seen.
Fish were filleted after lunch as we motored
back to San Felipe. We arrived late in the
day and started to assemble our gear to debark.
The tide was extremely low but we managed
to offload with no trouble. I had just enough
room in my two ice chests to hold my fish
fillets nicely bedded down in crushed ice.
I would recommend fishing the Erik to anyone
who enjoys a laid back fishing adventure with
lots of scenic views and pristine waters.
The crew is very friendly, talented and aim
to please.
April 18
I needed a change of scenery and with luck
I had a chance to run down to Southern California
for an extended weekend. On Sunday my friend
Alecia and I drove to Santa Barbara to hop
aboard the Wavewalker
for some fishing fun. Kevin Reyes rode up
with us and Captain Tiffany Vague, her husband
Shaun and their daughter Vivy met us at the
marina.
Tiffany's dad Captain Dave Bacon had some
GPS numbers plugged in for Tiffany to check
out so it was a practice run for her while
the rest of us got to play. I had faith in
this boat and it's crew so I just showed up
with my fishing license and a brand new Smitty
belt that Alecia had picked up for me. Tiffany
brought out an arsenal of brand spanking new
Penn/Seeker rod combos that were virgins and
rigged up a few with dropper loops. A couple
dozen nicely cured live sardines got tossed
in the live well and we were ready to shove
off.
On calm water under sunny skies we proceeded
to hit spot after spot enjoying friendly banter
and the occasional company of Pacific whiteside
dolphins. My first fish was a salmon
grouper which we released. I contemplated
looking for a magic marker and writing "devirginized
by Baja Bev" on the rod handle... LOL!
Next I caught a sand dab
which I added to the live well... they make
great lingcod bait. I followed that with a
frisky mackerel. Alecia and
Kevin were getting nice whitefish
and Kevin scored a male and female sheephead.
Kevin also landed a cool barber pole
rockfish that had it's picture taken
before being released. A couple of starry
rockfish got to return to the sea
as did a hard-hitting calico bass
that was a joy to fight on that light rod
combo.
I had one nice hook set on a bottom dweller
but it got caught in the rocks and I couldn't
retrieve it. Later at the gas dock I was foiled
again by what was most likely a decent halibut
when it ran though some discarded junk under
the dock. Tiffany has promised me another
shot at that fish next time I come back!
April 15
Today it was just Cheryl, Dave and I out
fishing. The weather was beautiful but all
we managed to catch and release were two salmon
grouper.
April 14
Cheryl, Dave, Sam Fahmie and I launched Alibi
II from Santa Cruz and fished for salmon
again . The fish
were still very deep and not wanting to bite.
Sam brought our only keeper in although it
was a very nice fish about 16 pounds. I had
one shaker that was close to legal size.
April 7
With a little sleep we decided to replay
yesterday's tactics and troll the Soquel Hole
again off Santa Cruz. I released one shaker
and Cheryl brought in our one keeper salmon.
The wind had picked up a little more today
and made for a tougher troll especially since
the fish were still between 150 - 200 feet
down. We packed it in around 2pm and gave
the boat a well deserved washing.
April 6
Local salmon fishing is
back this year and with the weather cooperating
enough to give it try, team Alibi II hit the
launch ramp in Santa Cruz. Cheryl, Dave, Dennis
and I trolled very deep with downriggers.
We all got to bring in a nice salmon and Dennis
reeled in fish number five for the day. All
fish were caught on hootchies except one on
bait; an anchovy. They ranged in weight from
8- 16 pounds and most were feeding on krill.
March 1
Cheryl, Dave, Jeff & I took off out of
Santa Cruz late this morning for a little
over a 3 hour tour aboard Alibi II. Today
was a sea trail for Jeff, not the boat. He
tried Scopace for the first time today and
managed to hang in there. We had no rain,
no wind, and a fishable swell. While it wasn't
perfect for Jeff today we'll get him dialed
in enough to be able to go on a dive trip
to the Galapagos Islands this Summer with
Cheryl, Dave and me.
We hit depths from 150' to 250' to catch
7 sand dabs but we culled
kingfish to use later this
year for lingcod and halibut baits.
The water was really clear and there was
lots of birds working just off the harbor.
The swell was dropping but it's getting ready
to blow again. Might be worth a look around
for halibut after the weather settles again.
February 28
Jerry, Leanna, Steve, Doug and I joined Patrick
and Debra on "Peridot"; a beautiful
36' Albin. We left pier 39 in San Francisco
bay and headed for the San Pablo bridge as
the first bloody Mary's were mixed. Doug had
scored us 2 pounds of live grass shrimp and
a few trays of herring. The sun was out and
everyone was hell bent on having a great time
and maybe catching some sturgeon.
We starting on an incoming tide and got hammered
by dungeness crab. We kept flicking the little
buggars off our lines and trying again. I
hooked the first shark of the day. Considering
this was my first foray into the new year
I was very pleased to get a new species to
add to my conquests... Of course my little
leopard shark would've looked
much cooler if I'd held it "color side
out" for the photo before I let it go.
Leanna's awesome sherry cake was laid out
for us, followed by Debra's ham with egg salad
sandwiches. The beer and wine flowed freely
too. During our continuous food feast the
outgoing tide stared to kick into high gear
and some striped bass made a showing as well
as a larger leopard shark that Leanna fought,
photographed and released. Doug had a sizeable
striped bass on but it escaped
just off the stern after rolling to show us
just how fat he was! Patrick, Steve and Leanna
all managed to catch and release stripers
as well.
Just before we called it an afternoon Jerry
ducked into the galley and made some tasty
stombollies in feta cheese sauce. The food
was off the hook all day and all I managed
to bring were some weak ass brownies. Somehow
I even managed to gain 3 beers when I got
home and looked in my cooler, lol!
On the way back in the top deck had fun with
the lower deck with a few slalom-style moves
which had us sliding back and forth in our
deck chairs. I don't think we spilled a drop,
ha-ha.
Link
to my 2009 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2008 Fishing Diary
Link
to my 2007 Fishing Diary
