The Action in the Pacific out of Punta Lobos, Todos Santos, BCS Mexico
August 5, 2023:
Well, after a few weeks of eating the Dorado we caught back in July, I had room to fill in the freezer. That means, time to hit the water again. So I checked the Windy app, checked the water temp and checked the next few days to find the right wind pattern, the right water temp and low waves. Turns out, There’s a Tropical storm cruising up the Mexican Pacific coast. Perfect! I think. Fishing in front of a storm is extremely productive. I believe the fish sense the pressure change, and they start thinking hard about their next meal. If the fish can gorge, then ride the storm out deep while digesting their Big Meal, they feel safe, full and relaxed during a storm. Ideal advice for anyone I suspect. So far, I’ve planned about three fishing trips right before a storm, (tropical depressions and/or tropical storms so far). It’s been my experience, the calm before the storm means hungry fish! Yesterday continues my belief in that concept. The day started at 7:00am, well to be honest, the day starts at about 5:30am. I wake up, check the surf and see smooth water. Water is a go! and then I start loading the truck. Rods, check. Tacklebox, check. refreshments, ice and food, check. I load up on sun block, wash my hands, make coffee and I’m out the door at 6:30am to pick up clients. 7:00am, we show up at Punta lobos beach, where we load the panga, and I introduce the clients to Uje and Bruno; our Panga crew today. We get pulled out at 7:30, and we head North to what I call the Dorado Superhighway area. North up past Agua Blanca and about 3-5miles off shore, and the action starts. The lure color de jour is PINK. Pink/Blue, Pink/white and Pink/black seem to attract the most action. We load up all three rods (my two clients’ and a rod for myself) I put the two outside rods, set up with pink/blue and pink/black/white lures, out deep (approx 50yards). The middle rod, a pink/light blue, and short (approx 30yrds). Many strikes and Dorado dancing shows later, it’s noon, and we have a full box of Dorado, and we head home. We had multiple doubles, and landed most of them. The dorado we caught were juveniles (delinquent? perhaps). Mostly in the 24-28 inch class. One dorado was 36 inches. Overall, this size of Dorados are my favorite to eat. they are tender, and one filet feeds two people perfectly. My two clients had a great time with lots of opportunity to catch fish. As both had never been on the fish, in a panga and in the Pacific ocean. I would say they thoroughly enjoyed the day. Most people are apprehensive regarding deep-sea fishing. Possibly because of ocean sickness or the tackle that is used. Conventional reels are had to manage, and most boats use them. Conventional reels can be intimidating. I hear ya. My tackle is easy. I use PENN Fierce Spinning reels, big ones. Most people, if they have fished for trout or bluegill, well, chances are they used a spinning reel. So it’s easy, effective and productive; which makes for a good fishing and an outstanding catching day! check out the clients pictures at the end of the day.
August 11, 2023:
So The wind from the past tropical storm died out, and my friend Ron came down for a few days. I’ve been fishing the Pacific with my friend Ron since 2005. We’ve had many “great” days on the Pacific. Today was another one of them. Ron is quite athletic, a great baseball player, but when it comes to fishing, he’s a novice at best. I’m not letting any secrets out here. Ron will tell you the same. Today, Ron earned his green belt, if we were discussing Karate or some other martial art. I put Ron on the right side of the boat and loaded his rod with a Pink/Black/White Cedar Plug lure. I put my trusty Pink/Blue squid lure on my rod, and my friend Mark put on a multi-color hoochie (a small squid lure that uses an egg weight for the head/body of the lure). So, we had three distinct color patterns out there. Fishing with cedar plugs, it is best to have them far back from the boat, and they have the best action when trolling at 18-21knots (approx 24mph). I put Ron’s rod out long (100+ yards back), Marks was medium length and my middle rod was short (approx 30yards). We were in the northern Dorado Superhighway area again. And immediately, Ron’s rod starts singing! Fish on Baby! And the next few minutes we enjoyed our first Dorado dancing show of the day. Seeing the action on the pink/black/white cedar plug, I offer another pink/black/white cedar plug to Mark, who graciously accepts. So now we have the color de jour. Its a pink/black/white lure day. So I have two cedar plugs out long, and a pink/black/white squid lure medium. Then the mayhem begins! Many Doubles (two fish on at the same time) and a triple are hooked up and landed. It was an awesome fishing day, and a catching day. We did not see another panga all day! We had the Dorado Superhighway all to ourselves. Perfect. It was a hot day. Not so much wind to cool down, so refreshments were definitely required. We were loaded for Dorado, and the fish did not disappoint at all. We were hooking up so frequently, that I started recording a video explaining the action, and while recording, a nice sized dorado came ripping in like a dolphin (hence1 why they are called dolphin fish) from the right, screaming at my lure at a 90 degree line of attack! the video ended with my bent rod and a screaming reel! You can’t get any better than that my friends! Oh, and my friend Ron caught a majority of the Dorado that day. Check out the pictures and video on the services page. We took some of our 12 good sized dorado to my Friend Brando’s Shaka Bar/Grill that night. Sauteed and Panko fried Dorado with Veggies and mashed potatoes were the Bomb. Nothing better than to eat the fish you hooked just hours before. What an amazing day on the Pacific. Oh, and Ron slept like a baby that night. Thoroughly exhausted, happy and exhilarated all in one day/night. The Pacific doesn’t disappoint again. Until next time my friends, Tight lines and bloody decks.
September 26, 2023:
Well, Sorry for the delay in posting what’s happening in the Pacific off of Todos Santos, BCS. The weather has been nice lately, and the water is heating up. With the storms passing and the resulting cloudy water, plus the wind, the action has been all’s quite on the fishing front. Well, I’m happy to post that the Pacific is warming up, the Mackerel are in and the Dorado are prolific. What’s even better, stripped Marlin are showing up again for the Makerel! Game On!! Having discussions with my friend Mark, it was determined that we need to get out on the water and try our luck. Wait, I mean skill. So Mark’s friend, and one of my new friends here in Baja, Isaac has a boat and is itching to fill his fish box. Isaac has a 16 foot Macgregor aluminum boat that has a nice new gel-coat, a good working 40hp two stroke, and a bimini top for shade! Awesome. So we make plans to head out Tuesday. Being so excited to go out with friends, I didn’t bother checking out windy app or anything. It was a choppy morning with 6-8ft swells. In a 16 ft. aluminum boat in those waves made me a little nervous, but at the Dorado started biting, and the sea relaxed a bit, I began enjoying the day. First strike was at 8:00am! A nice sized Dorado. How it was caught, you ask? Well, I chose my favorite lure of all. Yep, the Cedar plug fits that role. I have so found that the CEDAR PLUG provides THE ABSOLUTE BEST TOP WATER LURE ACTION, bar none. Today, I wanted to challenge my mindset. I used nothing but cedar plugs. My friend mark was using his jet heads, and Isaac was using a skirted lure. Out of the gate, and down the home stretch, the Cedar plug won hands down. In fact, the final score was 13-3, and the reason is the action of the cedar plug. Not so much the color, but it certainly helps, but does not hurt it one bit. Another fact. As the afternoon bite was on us, and was happing so fast, it was easier and quicker to leave the hook in the fish after putting it in the fish box and just releasing the leader from the snap swivel. then load up another cedar plug! I have many. Yes, we all know I’m an addict. But I used 6 different cedar plugs, and all six caught Dorado without fail. The primary reason is the action of the lure. It slashes and acts erratic on the top of the water like a fish chasing or being chased. It drives the fish crazy. and to see a Dorado attack a cedar plug from the left or right is absolutely something to see in real life. Trust me, it’s inspiring. So, at the end of the day. It was Cedar plug 13 Dorados verus other lures 3 Dorado. My challenge proved that the cedar plug is the best top water lure for pelagic species. Check out the video and pics of the day. Tight lines and bloody decks mate!
October 29,2023
So for all you fishermen, the old adage of fishing after a full moon has plagued your mind, right?! The idea that the fish have gorged on bait all night like a college fraternity guy at a $1/shot night at the local bar. That idea has steered me away from fishing the morning after a full moon my entire life. Well, last night was a full moon. In fact, when I woke up at 5:00am, yes I do that on fishing days, the moon was so full it looked like a setting sun! I wish I would have taken a picture of it. It was amazing! My only thought looking at the full glory of the enlarged moon that Saturday morning was, “Man, I hope the fish got some sleep last night.” I assumed it would be around 11:30am-12:30pm before we hooked up, as the fish were sleeping off all of those “dollar shots”. My friend Mark joined John (my customer from Oregon) on the trip yesterday. John wanted to catch a Marlin. John being an Oregon angler, wanted to feel the pull of one of the biggest pelagic species in the Pacific. Mark and I had a gentleman’s bet; He said it didn’t matter about the moon the night before. If the fish are hungry, and the bait is present, they will eat! He thought we should hook up earlier than 11:30am. I said it’ll happen after 11:30am. We decided to fish the Finger Bank, approximately 30 miles west into the deep Pacific. It is a hotbed for big Marlin (Striped, Blues and Blacks)! We launched at 7:30am, and after 2 hours of cruising in rough 8-10 foot swells, we hit the finger bank. Birds were dropping on the bait, Marlin and Dorados were everywhere, and they were hungry! I thought, “Wow! Maybe the bar stopped doing the dollar shot night!” so we loaded our bait hooks with dead Mackerel, hooking them from under the mouth through the skull, so they swim upright as we slow troll them. Well, right away, we are getting bites. Awesome! With fishing for bait, either for Marlin or Dorado, the fish like to injure the bait and swoop in and swallow it. Especially Marlin. They use their spear-like bill to beat up and render the bait fish unconscious, and as the bait is sinking the Marlin dive down and swallow up the bait. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE when fishing with bait for Marlin. Either by sight (it looks like a sword or spear swashing back and forth upon your trolled mackerel) or your rod quickly shows a strike and releases. When either of those two are observed, the bail is released quickly and your line on your reel starts peeling off. That’s when the count begins! I recommend counting to 10 seconds. Seconds 8,9 and 10 are the absolute longest seconds in your life! Trust me. You will want to set your bail and drag on second 5! But it takes time for the Marlin to swallow the bait and ultimately the hook! John learned this concept the hardway. A premature hookset led to a mackerel that was half gone when he reeled it in! But I’m ecstatic to share that a marlin was hooked up, and John and the 140lb striped Marlin went 7 rounds! before the TKO of the Marlin (the Marlin had seven big runs and danced for us on many of the runs). It fought with honor, and we enjoyed it Aquachili style, both red and green at Shaka’s Cantina in Cerritos. I highly recommend it. The only way to eat Marlin in my humble opinion. Ultimately, I learned something yesterday on the water. When the fish are hungry and bait is available, the fish will eat! Even when they are hungover and tired. I’ve been there. I was that fraternity guy on a limited budget back in the day!
December 7, 2023
Did someone say WAHOO?! Last week I hosted my parents at Villa Piazzas. It was their first true vacation to my beachfront villa on Cerritos Beach, BCS Mexico. My paents stayed in the Mermaid room downstairs as climbing the stairs was not a good option for octogenarian parents. Being in the twilight years of their lives, My Mom celebrated her 86th birthday in Cerritos, and we had a phenomenal birthday meal at Tre Galline, Italian Restaurant in Todos Santos. They had a great vacation with lots of sun, ocean views, whale watching from my pool deck, and some outstanding fishing, or should I say catching! My father, who turned 86 in August, is no stranger to finding his line tight. In my early years, my Dad taught me through watching him catch BIG Striped Bass in the San Francisco bay estuary. He instilled in me my passion for fishing, and for teaching people how to catch big fish. There is an art to it, as you can imagine. Well, getting back to the Wahoo, my Dad said he wanted to feel the tug a tight line one more time. So, I took him out on a Panga. We heard that the Wahoo were in, and people were hooking up Wahoo, Tuna and of course, the chicken of the sea, Dorado. We went out with the intention of catching Wahoo and Tune to be honest. My freezer is filled with Dorado. I’d like to have some Tuna and Wahoo in there. Not sure it’d last long though. Wahoo sashimi is spectacular, only second to Tuna sashimi. So off we go! 30-miles north to the old shrimp farm wharf. We landed a few big Dorado and a handful of Tuna! We saw a few Wahoo get in other boats (although small), but not in ours. It was a great day; Both fishing and catching. It was a very memorable day watching my Dad feel the tug of a big, strong fish. And he did it several times that day. I put a new lure on my dad’s rod. It was a 8” pink/white skirted, acrylic head lure. I wanted a pink/white/black striped pattern lute, but had to settle for the pink/white set up. Out came the black sharpie pen to make the black stripes on the lute! Perfect. The proof of its effectiveness was in the pudding. That new pink/white/sharpie black lure rocked the Dorado that day. The Tuna were caught on purple/black shirked jet-heads. I think in total, my Dad caught five dorado, and one big bull Dorado. He was worn out at the end of the day, but the smile on his face was worth every wince of pain in his back, hips and shoulders. Infact, he was relaxing in the the air-conditioned truck while photos were being shot at the boat. Check out the pics of the Dorado and Tuna we hooked up that day with the person who taught me how to fish.
Tight lines and bloody decks my friends!
January 28, 2024
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
“MARLIN! MARLIN! MARLIN! As a regular Baja California Sur angler, those three words quicken my pulse rate; I must admit. The first time I heard those words spoken on a boat was in December of 2006. The captain of the panga out of cabo only spoke these three words all day! I booked him on a reference from a fellow surf fishing buddy out of Playa Grande. He said, “He is a fisherman, and he doesn’t say alot, and nothing in english, but the man can fish!” So I booked a trip with him. I arrived on the dock at 6:00am with my light tackle, ready to fish for Roosters and Sierra (Pez Gallo and Pacific Mackerel). I met the captain & first mate of the panga. There was only one man standing in front of me. I shook his hand, told him in my best spanish, I want to fish for Roosters and Sierra. He affirmingly shook his head and said, “MARLIN! MARLIN! MARLIN!”, in a high squeeky, spanish accent. I laughed, and said ok. This should be a fun experience. Well my captain did not disappoint. Within a few hours, 5 marlin were hooked, fought, captured and released. I was back at my Playa Grande suit within 4 hours, exhausted and exhilarated, all at once. My wife asked, '“Why I’m back so early?” I told her we ran out of beer!
Well today was one of those days. Traveling to Cabo a few days ago, I noticed a TON of Cabo boats 3-5 miles off the coast of central Elias Calles. When you see that from the road, that only means one thing: Huge Bait Ball, and ultimately Marlin. I was right, and when we got out there today, the Cabo boats were there! Big Mackerels, in the 14-16 inch range were caught jigging Sabiki flies down about 300 feet! BIG BIG Mackerels I tell you! They could have been a meal in themselves they were that big. With our live well filled with bait, we hit the area teaming with Big fishing boats. Drift fishing in a pod of other boats can be tiring work for the boat captain. But our captain Kawichi performed marvelously. KEY POINT: when using large live bait and drift fishing, it’s important to allow the Marlin to swallow the bait. For normal sized mackerel, (6-8 inch range), a simple 10 second countdown is in order for a proper hookset. Well these mackerel were almost three times the size, so I gave the Marlin ample time to swallow the bait; say about 20 seconds. Sure enough, we came home with 3 out of 5 marlin on the day! My friend Ira smoked most of it. YUM, and we took some to La Casita in Todos Santos. Our friend Sergio and his son Sashimi’d the Marlin and Dorado we caught. My lord, Sergio can throw down an amazing meal! Check out the Marlin in the pictures. Tight lines and bloody decks my friends!
February 15, 2024
Happy Valentine’s Day my friends!
I love Dorados. Especially, BIG Dorados! From the way they strike the bait, to how they dance on the water for you, to the gorgeous color patterns, I just love catching Dorados. Boy, did we have a baby book day today on the Dorado our of Punta Lobos area. I have talked about the Dorado Superhighway before. Today, the Dorado Superhighway was like Los Angeles’ Interstate 405 at rush hour on a Friday. They were parked everywhere! And they were big. Every single Dorado we caught was 25+ pounds!
I was able to take my Friend Logan out on the Dorado for his first time. My friend Mark came with us. We first jigged for Mackerel in the morning for bait. Just a day of jigging for Mackerel is fun. But I knew what was in store soon. BIG DORADO Baby! And the Dorado did not disappoint. Logan got his first Dorado at 8:30am, and by 9:00am, he was catching his second! And the day went on. After many doubles, a few triples, and at one stop, we took in 9 big dorado as they were just milling around the boat waiting for bait to swallow! Logan even tried his hand at hand fishing with Chocko’s hand fishing spool! He hand fished a nice 25 pound bull Dorado in and landed him! It was quite the day. I told Logan, he’ll be chasing a fishing day like today the rest of his life! You anglers our there know what I’m talking about. It was a prolific fishing and catching day no doubt. Check out the pictures in the gallery of the day. Holy Toledo it was a day! Tight lines and bloody decks my friends!
March 7, 2024
What does the month of March typically bring to the table? Day-light savings?. Yep, we lose an hour of sleep. St. Patrick’s Day? Well, we lose a few brain cells. First Day of Spring? If you live in eternally 75 degree weather, does Seasons even make sense?! One significant event this year is Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Holy Week, falls within the 31 days of March! During the past 200 years, Holy week (Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday) has only occurred within the month of March 15 times! The last one was 2008. Perhaps that is what’s driving the Dorado out in the Pacific! Oh My Gosh; the Dorado are prolific, BIG and hungry! The mackerel, (All pelagic species love, love, LOVE mackerel for breakfast, lunch and dinner) have been equally prolific. Jigging for bait can sometimes seem like a chore, but when you bring up a full Sibiki rig of big mackerel, it is quite exciting knowing what you will eventually catch with them. Well, the past week has brought some serious big dorado in. The Dorado Superhighway, as I mention often, is jam packed with dorado in the 20-40lb class. The females are thick, curvy and strong. The males have a 8-12” forehead and thick shoulders. Did I mention thick? The thick nature of these recent Dorado are making them so strong as a fighting fish. My advice for my charters, Let the Dorados fight out in front of the panga! It brings other big dorado around!” This is exactly how we catch them. We troll with cedar plugs quickly to find the first dorado. then we cast live or dead mackerel out as we fight the first dorado to the boat. It may seem like madness to the bystander, but once you get 3-4 dorados on the line at the same time, it takes a we[[ orchestrated and communicating team of crew and fisher-men/women to get each hooked fish in the box! Especially with only one gaff! One of the few charters I had this week, we stopped once to attend to a caught dorado on the cedar plug, and we did not move for 3 hours as we kept hooking big dorado. I didn’t even have a moment to quench my thirst with a frosty adult beverage! 10 Big dorado later, it was 12:30pm, and my charter was exhausted, thrilled and exhilarated! And a little sore. Literally, we had at least 1-3 fish on the line continuously for three hours. What a Blessed day. I look forward to the next time Holy Week falls totally within the month of March, in 2035! In the meantime my friends, Tight lines and bloody decks. He has Risen, let us be thankful and rejoice!
April 19,2024
Wow, it’s been a while since I hit the Pacific! I have been busy. My new build has started, and I’m working with Cesar Perez. He’s got things under control. I’ve been traveling a bit, which is nice. But OMG! The Dorado are defying nature this year! Last year was a pretty good Dorado season. It ended in March though. This year????? Uh, WOW!! God is treating us to a LONG Dorado season. Normally, the Dorado Superhighway fizzles out by March. I tell you the truth; This year, the Dorado continue to be present, active, BIG, hangry and aggressive. And, their numbers and size is Crazy for Mid April. We are blessed to have these Dorados in the Pacific near Todos Santos, BCS, Mexico. I went out yesterday with my friend Tim, his Daughter Jillian and her boyfriend Ethan. We had a wonderful fishing and catching day! The weather was awesome. And, when we arrived at the Dorado Superhighway, my chartreuse, bull-headed friends definitely showed up in the state of mind, I like! (see above for my favorite Dorado description). After catching monster mackerel with my new handmade sibiki’s (they worked wonderfully, if I do say so), we hit the DSH (Dorado Super Highway) and hooked up frequently. It was very good action. We had lots of intra-activity learning about how to hookset a Dorado with mackerel bait, and how to fight these amazing fish. It was an awesome day all around. Many smiles, fist pumps and high fives. Come get in the fun!!! Call, Text or whatsapp me at +1-559-681-1738. Tight lines, and bloody decks my friends! PS: check out the pictures in the gallery of Tim, Jillian and Ethan’s day.
August, 6, 2024
The 2024 Summer has officially dropped on us in the southern Baja! With it comes, heat, humidity, tropical storms and rain (blessings from God). The water temp heats up and so does the 2024-25 Pelagic season. Last year it began in July, with the juvenile Dorado showing up, as well as the striped Marlin. Those species are now all around the Todos Santos area. With the lag in the water temp, things got fun hitting the bottom and going after Grouper, Cabrilla, Barbosa, Lenqua, Yellowtail, and Pargos. Over the past year, I’ve been learning more about Slow Pitch Jigging. From the new ideas in rod size, reels, line weight to fluttering jig sizes and weight distribution, it definitely has a learning curve to the new style of fishing. I have to say, I love it! It reminds me of shore fishing, with a bigger percentage of hook-ups! Moving the jig so it looks like an injured bait fish 250+ feet down is an art, just like ripping that shinny silver lure through the waves on the surf. Getting that jig to fall back to the sea floor fluttering and swimming like an injured baitfish is the key. That specific action (the heart of Slow Pitch Jigging system-SPJ) creates opportunistic fish strikes on the fluttering fall! The strikes are hard, fast and fun. It reminds me of largemouth Bass fishing in the lakes of Northern California. The SPJ rods are tiny on comparison to saltwater rods. They are strong, limber and durable. They come in spinning and conventional styles. I have both. I recently caught a 30lb yellowtail on a blue/pink 120g fluttering jig. It hit that bait like a ton of bricks, and had my little rod bent in half for 40 minutes. Check out the picture in the gallery. I highly recommend SPJ type of action. Amberjack Tuna, Marlin, Dorado, Groupers, pretty much any bottom dwelling fish will hit a small defense-less looking injured little fish. That’s the idea; let the flutter down activate the bite! Then, hold on for a killer ride. Give it a try, I promise all of you bassmasters, you will fall in love with this type of fishing. It happened to me. God bless and tight lines my friends!
October 16, 2024
Welcome to the 2024-25 Pelagic fishing season! We’ve made it through the hurricane season, the humidity is heading down, the Mexican snowbirds are showing back up in the Todos Santos area, and more importantly, the Pelagics: (Dorado, Wahoo and Marlin) are showing up! It’s so exciting to start a new fishing season. And, from the looks of the first trip of the season, 2024-25 is going be stellar. A couple years ago, the wahoo showed up and stayed for a few months. but it was mid season, and the wahoo were quite small in relation to the size we are seeing today. So it looks very promising to getting into Big Wahoo this early in the season. The Dorado are bigger than usual at the beginning of the season. I even heard big blue Marlin are present in our Todos Santos fishery! That would be a first for me, a big 300+ lbs Blue Marlin, and to hook, and land a big blue with 60lb.-test equipment, in a panga; yeah that would be a major battle. And they are out there folks! Big Marlin, Big Wahoo, and Big Dorado. Did I mention the bottom? The Rock fish are present in a big way baby! Punto Lobos had a fishing tournament a couple Saturdays ago. Estecudo (Grouper), Dorado and Cabrilla were the targets of the fishing tournament. I did not participate as I was just getting back from my September hiatus, but, Big Groupers were weighed in in the 30-50lb class. My capitan, Eugenio Orozco won the Dorado part of the tournament with a 19lb bull Dorado! Congrats mi Amigo Uje! If you’d like to book a trip for these pelagics and ride with an award winning capitan, give me a call and let’s get out on the fish. I’m looking forward to hearing from you all soon. Tight Lines, and bloody decks, my friends!